- July 27, 2026
A1A Scenic Pride Committee and a local development team have agreed to revisit plans for a housing development in The Hammock.
The committee met Friday, July 24, to discuss current and future projects. Two projects received the bulk of the attention at the meeting, mainly because representatives of those projects were on hand: Tiyana Jones and Casey Travers, from the development team at Stephenson, Wilcox & Associates.
One project is a proposed art gallery with studios and offices. The other proposed project is for a 27-lot planned unit housing development called Palmetto Preserve.
"We understand that there's development coming to the Hammock," said Connie Baillet, chair of the A1A Scenic Pride Committee. “We're not against development. We want the right kind of development.”
Jones said the developer is seeking a rezoning from resource conservation to planned unit development, to make Palmetto Preserve possible.
Companies like Stephenson, Wilcox & Associates have a line to walk through the developmental process, Travers said.
“We like to keep our clients happy on the building side and the development side, but we also are here today to hear out the people and the public on preserving the natural beauty and essence of Palm Coast,” she said.
Committee members expressed concerns with the Palmetto Reserve’s current design, which is 27 lots lined up.
“None of this conforms with the scenic overlay,” said Lynne Rosewater, committee member. ”That becomes a precedent. I have a lot of misgivings about that.”
The scenic overlay is a set of specific, strict rules and zoning regulations that apply to The Hammock area, specifically to protect its historic, not overly commercialized atmosphere.
Jones said that there have been efforts to create new plans that are more aligned with the vision of the committee and the community, but that they had no luck getting movement in their discussions with Flagler County. They submitted the plans as-is in order to create that movement.
“I think they're completely valid opinions to have,” Jones said. “We want to preserve as many trees as we can and make sure that we’re not disrupting the community.”
These efforts and talks between developers and the A1A Scenic Pride Committee are what make developing in the Hammock area a unique experience.
“You feel special in The Hammock because it's a natural area where we have our nice parks,” Baillet said. “We have the River to Sea, we have Bing's Landing, we have Malacampra, we have Jungle Hut, we have a lot of nice parks that are under a hammock of trees that is just a special place.”
A few of the points of improvement on the Palmetto Preserve plans that were mentioned in the meeting are as follows:
