- December 20, 2025
An application to increase a development in the Easthampton neighborhood has been recommended for denial by the Palm Coast’s Planning & Land Development Regulation Board.
The board recommended dial in a 6-0 vote, with one member absent from the meeting. Developer CP and HG Residential Lots LLC — a subsidiary of ICI Homes — has approval to build 58 dwelling units on the 37-acre lot through a 2012 settlement agreement with Palm Coast.
The property is located along Eric Drive and Easthampton Boulevard, and is an infill project on a lot within existing neighborhoods. The application was to increase the number of units by 13 and reduce the minimal lot size to 5,500 square feet from 8,250 in the East Hampton Master Planned Development.
The request was also to reduce the internal lot widths and the interior building setbacks.
ICI Homes representatives said that the change is because it is more expensive to build housing now because of a change in market conditions. The additions would make the project “more feasible,” representative Dick Smith said.
Planning Board Chair Sandra Shank said that is not enough.
“Financial feasibility is not enough to warrant deviating from what is required for them to be able to meet the consistency of the land development code,” Shank said.
The settlement agreement stemmed from a 2004 lawsuit. A change to the city’s comprehensive plan redesignated the land to City Greenbelt from Flagler County’s residential-low density, reducing the density from 1-3 units per acre to just one unit per acre.
ICI Homes’ John Stowers said the settlement agreement gives the developer the ability to request changes and costs have increased dramatically to construct homes since 2012.
“It's not about re-trading a deal,” Stowers said. “It's about the evolution of the marketplace.”
Many residents showed up to protest the additional units, stating the infrastructure, specifically the water utilities, capacity was not there to support the increase in size. City planner Michael Hanson said that as of now, Palm Coast has the capacity to handle the requested increase.
But, Board Chair Sandra Shank said, there are other, evidence-supported reasons to deny the request. She and her fellow board members listed several reasons to deny the request, including the proposed lot sizes’ incompatibility with surrounding neighborhoods and a lack of a secondary entrance or exit to the neighborhood for emergencies.
The developer’s application would require a modification to the settlement agreement, which only the Palm Coast City Council can approve. The council will review the item, with the planning board’s recommendation for denial, at a later council meeting.
