- December 4, 2025
On the heels of a rejection from the Flagler Beach Planning & Architectural Review Board, Veranda Bay developers have delayed a City Commission review of the project until November.
The Flagler Beach City Commission was set to review applications to annex, adjust land use and rezone hundreds of acres of development on the east and west sides of John Anderson Parkway for Flagler Beach at its Oct. 9 commission meeting. Now the items will be reviewed at the Nov. 13 commission meeting.
The Oct. 9 meeting would have been the first time in a year the project had been before the Flagler Beach Commission, after it was indefinitely tabled because of threat of a possible lawsuit in late 2024.
Right out of the gate at the Oct. 7 PAR board meeting, Veranda Bay developers saw push back from some of the board members who wanted to table the items until they had more time to review the applications. PAR Board member Barbara Revels said she did not feel there was enough time to properly review the 400-page packet, when the packet was still being revised on Monday, Oct. 6.
Veranda Bay representative Ken Belshe pleaded with the board not to table them, as it would likely lead to a final decision being put off until the new year.
“We are ready to be a champion of Flagler Beach, to be its best corporate citizen,” he said. “But I can't keep doing this, being fought back, all push and push and push. Last year, it was delayed many times because of hurricane issues, and pushed us into a workshop and on and on. So I really don't see the benefit at this point of delay.
WIth two of the seven board members absent from the meeting, a motion to table the item failed 3-2.
The Veranda Bay development proposed to Flagler Beach in 2024 was for a 899-acre, 2,200-home development. The applications came to the Oct. 7 PAR board for two separate developments: Veranda Bay, 234 acres on the east side of John Anderson Parkway, and Summertown, 545 acres on the west side.
The new Veranda Bay is already partially under development already. The application outlines plans to build 377 total residential units – a mix of single family, townhomes and condos – and 16,200 square feet of commercial space. Veranda Bay would also include a private marina with a restaurant, ship store, fueling station and other potential commercial uses.
Summertown would be much larger. The application proposes a maximum of 1,640 residential units, or 3 units per acres, and 840,000 square feet of commercial space.
The applications for annexation, land use changes and rezonings included analysis on waste water demands, landscape buffers, a commitment to 40% of open space designation, wetland conservation and potential benefits to the city, like in impact fees, property taxes and built-in infrastructure for the developments to use Flagler Beach’s recycled, treated waste water on its lawns.
But some of the PAR board members had concerns. Paul Mykytka wanted to see more of what the potential economic benefit to Flagler Beach would be and expressed concerns that the data in the reports for water and waste water infrastructure demands didn’t fully encompass Flagler Beach’s future needs.
“I'm still concerned that the numbers don't reflect what the total demand will be in 10 years from now for both existing values plus the development,” Mykytka said.
Revels said she felt aspects of the analysis were rushed.
“I think that your economic analysis is very, very flawed, and it just seems like it was done in such a hurry without proper backup.”
Sarah Spector, an assistant attorney with Flagler County, brought additional concerns to PAR board including the construction of a new spine road to accommodate the development, and a lack of plans to address the traffic impact to John Anderson Parkway. John Anderson Parkway, she said, is at a ‘Level D’ service designation.
“The most that they've said in their analysis is that they will not go below the level of service D,” Spector said. “The only place from there is F, and then you're failing. So that is a definite concern.”
Former mayor and current PAR Board Chair Suzie Johnston passed the gavel to motion to recommend the city commission approve the applications. After a long silence, board member Joann Soman seconded the motion “just to have a vote.” The motion failed 1-4, with Johnston the sole vote for approval.
Salmon then motion for the board to recommend denial, which passed 4-1, again with Johston the sole dissenting vote. The following two Veranda Bay items had the same result. Johnston then voted with the majority to recommend denial for the Summertown applications, all three items ending in a 5-0 vote.
