- May 15, 2024
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There are already 83 cases on the docket of Palm Coast’s newly implemented task force to investigate residential drainage concerns.
City staff members are also proposing a regulation that would limit the height of the floor elevation in new builds, Stormwater Director Carl Cote said during a Dec. 12 City Council meeting. The city currently requires that the floor elevation of new builds is at least 12 inches above the crown of the road, but the city's technical manual doesn't list a maximum height.
The proposed regulation would allow the floor elevation to be up to 22 inches above the crown of the road, so that there would be no more than a 10-inch height difference between the floor elevation of neighboring homes.
City Manager Denise Bevan had announced at a City Council meeting on Nov. 14 that the city would be forming a task force to address stormwater drainage and flooding concerns from Palm Coast residents on a case-by-case basis. The Observer first covered the topic on Nov. 7, when Birchwood Drive residents said they had reached out to the city multiple times to stop a neighboring home from being built at a much higher elevation than their own.
Efforts to bring attention to the problem have gained traction, with dozens of residents showing up to City Council meetings saying the same thing: A new home was built next door, and now their yards are retaining water.
The city’s task force has so far visited 21 homes on its list, Cote said. Residents can add their home to the list by submitting a ticket on Palm Coast Connect at palmcoast.gov/connect or calling customer service at 386-986-2360.
Whether the builder caused it, nature caused it, we caused it doesn't matter. It's been done, and they need help.”
— ED DANKO, vice mayor
The City Council urged staff to speed up the process of visiting all of the homes on the list and to gather as much data as possible.
Vice Mayor Ed Danko said fixing the problem for future residents isn’t enough. He suggested the council look into ways to help Palm Coast residents who are dealing with flooding issues now.
“Whether the builder caused it, nature caused it, we caused it doesn't matter. It's been done, and they need help,” he said.
City Attorney Neysa Borkert said the council must be cautious about using taxpayer money to fix problems on private properties. The city can legally only expend public funds to help the “general public,” she said.
“That has to be a threshold question when considering what type of assistance you’re going to provide to property owners,” Borkert said.
Borkert said there wouldn’t be anything wrong with other communities that may have dealt with similar issues or investigating potential grants available to help residents.
The other council members did not oppose the idea of helping residents who are struggling, but wanted to exercise caution in using taxpayer dollars.
“I'm not averse to looking at funding mechanisms to help certain homeowners who, by design, are having these issues,” Pontieri said. “But I want to tread very lightly as to what we open ourselves up to as a city.”
Bevan told the Observer that the task force will comprise people from multiple city departments, not just stormwater.
“This is one of our top priorities,” Bevan said. “So, discussions are happening daily.”
The task force is in the data-gathering stage, Bevan said, which is dependent on information from residents. Staff will go out to each home to review the problem and return to present the information to the task force to find a solution.
Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo said staff is looking at any condition that has changed or could have changed since a home was built that impacts water flow in a yard. Those conditions could include erosion, unmaintained drainage ditches, installed fixtures like pools and even raised garden beds, and a new house built next door.
In some cases, DeLorenzo said, the city may find that the solution is a simple fix. At a home on Royal Oaks that butted up against city property, city staff solved the resident's drainage problems by cleaning out a city drainage ditch.
The onus may be on the resident to do the repair.”
— LYNN STEVENS, stormwater deputy director
But, DeLorenzo said, the solution may not always be something the city can help with. Stormwater Deputy Director Lynn Stevens said staff has found that older homes were designed to drain onto empty lots.
Stevens said each case will require a different solution.
“The onus may be on the resident to do the repair,” Stevens said. “It just depends. Each situation is going to be unique and different.”
DeLorenzo said the residents' assistance will be important for the task force's investigations.
“Without the resident helping us understand what conditions we're dealing with, we would have a really hard time understanding the problem,” he said.
Bevan said that while the task force will review the homes with flooding problems, the technical manual revision will address residents’ greater concerns about new home construction.
The city has been working on updating the stormwater section of its technical manual for the last three months, Stevens said.
“We're looking at a larger scope, a larger review process, when we look at that initial plan that comes in for drainage,” Stevens said.
She said the city is communicating with the Flagler Home Builders Association throughout the process.
“It doesn't necessarily mean we'll utilize their input, but we want to hear ... from their perspective,” Stevens said. “They’re the ones that have to abide by the technical manual.”
The manual currently requires both that a home’s finished floor elevation be 12 inches above the crown of the road, and that, if there is no canal or ditch in the rear, the property drains to the front swale. The 22-inch height maximum city staff is proposing, Cote said, would ensure that there is no more than a 10-inch differential with the adjacent home "unless there are extenuating circumstances and [then it's] approved by a licensed engineer."
Until staff implements a height requirement, Stevens said, the city will ask builders to explain their reasoning when staff notices that a house is being constructed to a greater height than neighboring homes.
Palm Coast resident Candace Stevens is one of many residents who have contacted the city about water collecting in her yard. She said that neighboring homes, built years after her home, caused the drainage problem.
She said she is happy to hear that at least some steps are being taken to address the height of new builds while the city works on the manual.
“I think that that is a great start to solving this issue, actually,” she said. “I don't know why it wasn't there before.”
She said she feels that whoever approved the grading on some of the builds in Palm Coast did not take neighboring homes into account.
“There's other places in town where homes have been built and that they're not having this problem,” she said. “They should have looked at how the houses around it were set to drain.”
They should have looked at how the houses around it were set to drain.”
— CANDACE STEVENS, Palm Coast resident
Dipan Math, who bought his home in the R Section a year ago, said two new builds are going up on two sides of his home. He said he has submitted multiple claims on Palm Coast Connect about flooding in his yard and, separately, in his swales.
He said he's never received a response from the city until he emailed City Council members. Based on his experience, Math said, he is not very hopeful anything will come of the task force.
“At least it’s getting traction. ... But will something actually happen? I’m not actually sure,” he said.
