- September 16, 2026
Palm Coast and Flagler County officials agreed to move forward with planning for a second animal shelter, shifting their focus to city-owned property on U.S. 1 while directing staff to determine how quickly the site can be developed and what the project would cost.
The direction came during an Aug. 26 joint workshop between the Palm Coast City Council and Flagler County Commission. The workshop continued discussions that began at a Jan. 29 joint meeting and have been carried forward by an animal control task force.
The task force had been evaluating a privately donated site in Flagler County where S.M.A.R.T. of Flagler County could operate a nonprofit shelter. But during the workshop, officials increasingly focused on Palm Coast's existing Public Works property on U.S. 1 as a potentially less expensive and quicker alternative.
The city-owned Public Works property is slightly more than 6 acres, according to the presentation. The site already has buildings, cleared areas and room for dog runs, although the original proposal anticipated waiting until Public Works operations relocated to Palm Coast's new Municipal Operations Center.
Officials discussed instead beginning construction on currently available portions of the property while Public Works remains there and expanding the shelter as additional land becomes available.
Mayor Mike Norris called the Public Works property the simplest path forward.
"This is an Occam's Razor kind of thing. This is like, for me, this is like the quickest solution to this problem," Norris said.
Commissioner Andy Dance said the property appeared to have advantages over the donated site, particularly because utilities are already available.
"I agree. I think this is probably the, from a location plus utilities in place, and will cost less money to get it ready than the other option," Dance said.
Dance said, however, that questions remain about phasing the project and creating safe access to the shelter. He pointed to another city-owned parcel adjoining the property that could potentially provide access from Industrial Drive.
The previously proposed donated site is part of a 22-acre property, with 10 acres proposed for donation and five acres initially targeted for development. While the land itself would be donated, the presentation identified several challenges, including the lack of potable water and sanitary sewer, possible fill requirements and a northbound left-turn deceleration lane.
The preliminary estimate for developing the donated-site concept was just over $3 million. The plan included modular kennels, an administration building and a veterinary building.
Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri said officials should not rush into construction simply because modular buildings are part of the proposal.
"I'm sorry, we can't be dismissive about this. This has to be properly planned," Pontieri said. "You can't just drop modulars and call it a day. We need to plan for that."
Pontieri said the city needs to account for parking, administrative and adoption areas, veterinary services, stormwater and access while making sure the first phase fits into a larger long-term design.
"We can't afford to waste money, so let's be very diligent and orderly about this," she said. "I think it's good that we — it seems we've landed on a site — but I think the task force needs to get back with staff and let's look at resources in the community."
Council Member Ty Miller summarized several of the questions staff will now need to answer, including how much of the Public Works site can be used immediately, whether a secondary access point can be created on the south side and how the change in location affects project costs.
"So we need to know size of usable space from Matt. We need to know the feasibility of a secondary access point on the south side. We need to know revamped costs associated based on all these changes," Miller said.
Officials also agreed that planning should consider the property's long-term potential rather than designing only for the portion immediately available. When staff asked whether the entire approximately 10-acre area should be considered for future expansion in the master plan, Norris said there was consensus from the council.
Funding remains another major question.
The state Legislature awarded Flagler County $250,000 for shelter development, and officials discussed a $250,000 local match from the county and another $250,000 contribution from Palm Coast.
Pontieri said she supports the city's share.
"I'm in favor of matching that from the city," she said. "I think $250,000 to match what the appropriations were given is appropriate from the city."
Officials said they still need clarification on the deadline attached to the state money. The legislative request indicated the facility would be completed by September 2027, and County Commission Chair Leann Pennington urged staff to move quickly enough to determine whether that deadline can be met.
"I think a minimum you need to find to get at least the initial site plan done in 60 days," Pennington said. "Because that money may very well come in hard and say no, you have to have it done by X."
The proposed shelter would be operated by a nonprofit. S.M.A.R.T. was the only organization to respond to the city's request for information seeking interest in operating a 501(c)(3) animal shelter, according to the presentation. The initial concept calls for intake and housing of lost and stray animals, triage care, adoptions and outreach and education. The shelter would initially house dogs, with plans to phase in accommodations for cats as the operation expands.
S.M.A.R.T. founder Carolyn Johnson told officials the organization is committed to moving forward but would need assurances about its use of city property before raising money and purchasing buildings.
"We would definitely need some security as far as the land," Johnson said. "We don't want to buy buildings and put it on city land and something go haywire."
The discussion also addressed whether animal control services themselves should eventually be consolidated under Flagler County rather than having separate city and county operations.
Dance said consolidation should only move forward if it produces measurable benefits for taxpayers.
"I think the taxpayers depend on us to have these conversations about consolidation of services in order to be efficient with taxpayer dollars," Dance said. "The goal would be to improve service and reduce cost."
But Dance said the boards do not yet have enough information.
"Nothing I've seen yet makes me feel comfortable that's happening yet, and there's not enough information," he said. "We're not anywhere near close in my mind to making a decision yet."
Pontieri supported allowing city and county staffs to continue exploring consolidation, including what an interlocal agreement and future costs could look like.
"I do think that even though we don't have the numbers in front of us, I agree with you, Commissioner Dance," Pontieri said. "I do think that it would probably fair it out to be a little bit more efficient if we could get it under one roof."
The discussion drew a large crowd and included competing views from supporters of S.M.A.R.T. and the Flagler Humane Society.
Amy Carotenuto of the Flagler Humane Society told the boards that the organization is not going anywhere and said it continues to provide around-the-clock animal control and shelter response.
"I can assure you that the Humane Society will not be vacating," Carotenuto said. "We have plenty of work to do."
Pontieri, who serves as the city's liaison to the Humane Society, said the city's effort to establish another shelter should not be interpreted as an attempt to eliminate the existing organization.
"We're not defunding the Humane Society," Pontieri said, noting that Palm Coast is proposing to increase what it pays for Humane Society services by 10% this year. "We are growing. We are going to need both."
Pontieri said the city's pursuit of another provider stems in part from frustration over information the city has sought from the Humane Society.
"My goal is to ensure we have another service provider in this community," she said. "It is not my goal to put the Flagler Humane Society out of business."
Dance also pushed back against the idea that the issue should become a competition between the two organizations.
"The back and forth, the us versus them needs to end," Dance said. "This should have been a meeting more about us coming together on future plans for the benefit of our community and for the animals."
Dance said Flagler County's continued growth will likely create a need for both organizations.
"I believe there's — with the growth of the county, there's going to be room for both," he said. "We will continue to evaluate this on a cost benefit analysis to make sure that our funds are used wisely to be able to accommodate the needs of our animal community."
No final construction contract or project budget was approved at the workshop. Staff was instead directed to continue evaluating the Public Works site, develop a conceptual master plan, determine immediate usable acreage and access, update project costs and clarify requirements associated with the state appropriation.
Norris closed the animal shelter discussion by saying the city intends to move ahead with an additional provider.
"We don't need a one sole source provider," Norris said. "That model is not going to work, not from the feedback we've received. So we're going to move forward and we're going to do the best we can."
