- December 13, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council has approved the first of two votes to lift some restrictions on work vehicles parked in residential driveways.
The ordinance will allow one work vehicle in each at each residence, with restrictions. The ordinance changes will still prohibit swale parking, trailer parking and vehicles larger than 10 feet high and 18 feet long.
Councilman Ty Miller said he felt this ordinance was a middle ground between getting rid of all the restrictions and keeping some.
“This is the medium that we came to,” he said. “I’m in favor of it.”
The council voted 3-2 to approve the ordinance changes at its first reading on Oct. 21, with Councilmen Charles Gambaro and Dave Sullivan voting against it. Sullivan said most of the work vehicles allowed in the changes would fit in a garage anyway.
“I don't see why people can't put their commercial vehicle in the garage, and keep their car in the driveway,” Sullivan said. “I just feel that any move forward on this will begin to change the nature of the community. And I'm not ready to do that.”
The ordinance removes advertising restrictions and the restriction of carrying capacity of more than one ton. The new exceptions will allow some attachments onto the roof of the vehicle and tools and attachments will be required to be kept in “a safe, neat, clean and well-kept manner.”
Hazardous or offensive materials or materials with a bad odor can not be stored on the vehicles at the residences, per the ordinance. Duplexes with a shared driveway will count as two separate residences.
Gambaro called it a “slippery slope” and said loosening the code may end with seeing more people violating the code and parking in the grass and swales.
Mayor Mike Norris and Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri also voted for the ordinance change. Norris did also suggest the city limit the allowed work vehicles to those that are less than 26,000 pounds. Above 26,000 pounds, he said, “that’s when you start talking about real commercial.”
According to the Department of Energy’s website, vehicles above 26,000 pounds are classified as “heavy duty,” and include buses, garbage trucks and truck tractors.
Pontieri said this ordinance would also help tradesmen who are on call 24/7, allowing them to keep a work vehicle at their homes. She called the ordinance a “reasonable medium to be business-friendly” in Palm Coast.
“I constantly hear the need to bring in working families, younger families, improve our workforce,” she said. “I think this is a step in that direction, without taking away a lot of the restrictions that continue to make our neighborhoods beautiful.”
To address the concern about a possible increase in swale parking and code violations, Pontieri suggested the council do a six-month check in to see how many violations there are. The ordinance will still need to be approved at one more reading at an upcoming business meeting.
