- February 23, 2026
Despite protests from neighboring business owners, a new application for a concrete batch plant on Hargrove Grade was approved by Palm Coast’s planning board.
The owner, Hard Rock Materials, purchased the 10-acre property at 56 Hargrove Grade in April 2025 and has applied to have the property rezoned from light industrial to heavy industrial use. Hard Rock Materials operates several concrete batch plants, including one in St. Augustine that is situated next to a residential neighborhood.
The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Regulation Board approved the rezoning request in a 5-2 vote, with board members David Ferguson and Suzanne Nicholson voting against it.
“Most of you know the planning board, we dig into it, we ask the questions,” Chairwoman Sandra Shank said. “We don't just vote yes or no without asking the questions. However, at the same time, we have a responsibility to make sure our decisions are based upon the land development code.”
This is the second application within a year for a concrete batch plant on Hargrove Grade. The previous application to rezone 11 Hargrove Grade to heavy industrial was denied by the Palm Coast City Council in August. That application also generated loud outcry against a heavy industrial use near the existing light industrial sites.
One of the primary concerns from neighboring business owners is how the heavy cement mixer trucks would degrade the road. Hargrove Grade is an unpaved road that several owners say already has flooding problems.
Katherine Hunter, with Autohaus of Palm Coast on Hargrove Grade, said the proposed plant goes against the public interest.
“Hardrove Grade was not built for this level of heavy industrial traffic,” she said. “And what will it cost taxpayers to repair or place this road when it invariably fails under the weight [of these trucks]?”
Hunter said that Hargrove Grade is growing, but because of the previous batch plant application and this one, those plans have been put on hold.
“From a factual standpoint, this will have a negative impact,” Hunter said.
But Hard Rock Materials’ owner has agreed to a restricted covenant that would limit the plant’s daily trips to 200 maximum per day. If the future operating conditions were to exceed that, according to Planning Board documents, the owner will need to conduct an updated traffic analysis and seek an amendment to the covenant before the increased operations are implemented.
Without the covenant, a heavy industrial-zoned property could generate as much as 862 new daily trips, according to city documents. City planner Michael Hansen said that number is generated based on the “most intense uses that could be developed on the property’s current or proposed zoning.”
“So you’re looking at theoretical maximums,” Hansen said.
But, Shank said, the applicant is willingly restricting itself to how many trips it will generate daily.
“We have to take that into consideration,” Shank said
The covenant also limits the gross vehicle weight for trucks to 68,000 pounds and limits total water consumption on the site to a daily average of 25,000 gallons per day for any seven day period.
Attorney Michael Chiumento, representing the applicant, said that is similar to “a swimming pool.” Additionally, he said, the facility won’t be continuously drawing on the aquifer but instead store it in tanks to use.
