- December 4, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council is seemingly deadlocked on what should be done about the city’s Palm Harbor Golf Course.
Palm Harbor has been operating in the red or at breaking-even costs since the city took ownership of it in 2009. In the name of efficiency and financial prudence, the council asked staff to bring forward a draft proposal to sell the 140-acre golf course, with deed restrictions that a purchaser would be required to keep the site as a public golf course.
The draft proposal, presented to the council on June 24, placed Palm Harbor’s market value at $1.8 million, including the business interests, land and fixtures. Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo also said it could take between nine and 12 months for the property to sell.
Council member Charles Gambaro said he’d like to go forward and list the golf course, but at a $2 million price point. Not only would selling the course save the city money, he said, but the city would also receive revenue from the sale and business tax.
“I think it’s prudent, in my estimation, for this council to put this thing out to bid and see what we can get for it,” Gambaro said.
I think it’s prudent, in my estimation, for this council to put this thing out to bid and see what we can get for it,”
- CHARLES GAMBARO, Palm Coast council member
Gambaro also added that, in addition to restricting a purchaser to keeping the property as a golf course, he’d like to see that it remains a public golf course, rather than becoming a private course once purchased.
The city-owned golf course has been operating at a six-figure loss for the last several years, according to data presented to the council on April 22. It lost $168,274 in fiscal year 2023-2024 and $435,128 in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, after the city needed to purchase several replacement golf carts.
DeLorenzo said Palm Harbor is projected to bring in $1.7 million in revenue in fiscal year 2024-2025, but also have expenditures of $1.9 million.
Council member David Sullivan pointed out that selling Palm Harbor would not take away resident’s access to a public golf course. He said he’d like to see if there is some way residents can have access to golf but without costing Palm Coast money.
“We spent a tremendous amount of money to redo the golf course,” Sullivan said. “But in spite of that investment, we are still not able to run the golf course in the black.”
While both Gambaro and Sullivan agreed to send out the RFP - though Sullivan said he would ultimately support the majority’s decision - neither Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri nor Mayor Mike Norris felt the same.
Pontieri said she “had deep reservations” about the suggested $1.8 million price tag. The course’s previous owners, she said, sold the property for $5.5 million. Pontieri was referring to the 16-acres of the course’s driving range, which was sold to JDI Palm Coast, LLC in 2016 from Centex Homes for $5.5 million, according to the Flagler County Property Appraiser's website. The range was later donated to Palm Coast by JDI.
But the $1.8 million is because of the RFP's deed restrictions, according to former Vice Mayor Ed Danko. The RFP lists two restrictions: that the site must remain a golf course that is open to the public, and that the city will get the property back if it fails.
Danko said the restricitons on how the property can be used is what limits its values.
During his tenure on the City Council, Danko had, on multiple occasions, urged the city and staff to address golf course's financial losses and look into selling the course.
"It's unbelievable to me that with all of this failure, Pontieri and Norris would still want to try and make this profitable," Danko said.
Pontieri said she wants the city to look into fixing the golf course first, though.
“I don’t think we should be subsidizing people playing golf,” she said, “but I think that if we get in a little bit deeper, we can fix this rather than selling off what is a very precious asset to our community.”
One avenue she said she wanted to explore is the amount of internal allocations. Palm Harbor’s expenditures include $473,833 in internal allocations from departments like IT and fleet. Pontieri said the city needs to ensure those allocations are practical.
I don’t think we should be subsidizing people playing golf, but I think that if we get in a little bit deeper, we can fix this."
- THERESA CARLI PONTIERI, Palm Coast vice mayor
Pontieri also said the city needs to review its lease with Loopers, the restaurant in the Palm Harbor Clubhouse. In the appraisal’s comparables to similar golf courses, a semi-private, 18-hole course that sold 62,000 rounds in 2023 made $575,000 in food and beverage revenue that year. Palm Harbor made $12,000 in food and beverage revenue in 2023.
“I was floored by what other courses are making on food and beverage,” Pontieri said. “We missed the boat and Loopers got a deal.”
Norris agreed that Palm Coast should review the golf course’s finances again, raise rates if necessary and bring an in-house manager to run the golf course. He said he would never support selling the golf course.
“I’m completely against it [the RFP],” Norris said. “If we sell that golf course, it’s over.”
Norris said that not only was the appraisal too low, but that if the golf course was sold he “knew full well” that it would end up being developed into housing. Instead of selling it, he said, the city needed to find the right type of management for the golf course.
He also suggested the city review its interlocal agreement with Flagler Schools to begin charging the golf teams to play at Palm Harbor. Currently, Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston said, the interlocal agreement allows Palm Coast and Flagler Schools to use each other’s facilities.
Norris also agreed with Pontieri that the city do a further analysis of its finances.
“But I’m not going to support any selling of that property at all,” Norris said.
Gambaro said it would be “irresponsible” for the city not to sell the course.
“This city, in particular our Parks and Recreation department, has had year after year after year to run this operation in the black, and they have not,” Gambaro said. He added, “What we’ve been doing in the past is hemorrhaging money without even accounting for the capital improvement plans.”
