- March 3, 2026
After wrapping up one possible lawsuit with Flagler Beach, the Flagler County Commission is considering its legal options over the Veranda Bay development.
The Veranda Bay development is one of two controversial and large properties being annexed into Flagler Beach from Flagler County. Flagler County just closed out dispute resolution negotiations over the Summertown development’s alignment with the Flagler County and Beach comprehensive plans.
In the March 2 meeting, Flagler County Commission Kim Carney said, in her opinion, the Veranda Bay annexation is illegal.
“They’re using every loophole they can find to get this property annexed,” Carney said.
The Veranda Bay development, 234 acres of land located on the east side of John Anderson Parkway, will have a 150-slip marina with retail, restaurants and fuel, surrounded by 157 condominium units. There will also be 98 new residential homes built near the existing 122 residential homes.
The issue stems from existing homes in the Veranda Bay development. State statute, she said, requires all existing property owners to agree to an annexation and the Veranda Bay developer does not have that.
Developer representative Ken Belshe and attorney Michael Chiumento have told the Flagler Beach City Commission that they do not need the individual signatures of the property owners, as they have deed restrictions for annexation written into the closing contracts of those homes.
Carney disagrees that this is sufficient.
Now, Flagler County will discuss its options at a March 16 workshop. A special meeting will follow immediately after the workshop should the county decide to file another dispute resolution.
Dispute resolution is a legal process two municipalities must enter into before a lawsuit can be filed in the courts, per state statutes. Flagler County cited five areas of concern with the Summertown development, chiefly around environmental land preservation, the maintenance of John Anderson Parkway, and who will be providing water and reuse water to the development.
The county began the dispute resolution process in January and finalized agreements with Flagler Beach on Feb. 23.
With the seeming end of potential lawsuits from Flagler County, the Flagler Beach City Commission went forward with approving the Veranda Bay development and annexation applications. The City Commission voted 4-1 with Commissioner John Cunningham dissenting, on Feb. 26 to approve the Veranda Bay applications.
The City Commission had specifically delayed the second vote on the Veranda Bay applications until the Summertown dispute with Flagler County was worked out.
At the Feb. 26 Flagler Beach meeting, several members of the public and Cunningham brought up the signature issue. Though Belshe and Chiumento maintain the have the authority through a declaration of covenant, City Attorney Drew Smith said, “It is a litigable issue.”
At a January meeting, Smith said this would be a novel issue the city would have to litigate, with no court precedent to fall on.
But the County Commission’s hesitation to file another lawsuit is tied to the 153 acres it is attempting to purchase from the developer. So far, Belshe has said they are a willing seller, and in the Summertown dispute negotiations, has agreed to a period of three years to work out price negotiations and give the county time to gather potential grant funding.
But some commissioners are leery that willingness will dissolve with another dispute resolution against Veranda Bay.
“Worst case scenario, if we go into this agreement, we say, ‘Show us the signatures,’” Commission Chair Leann Pennington said, “[and] the developer may at that time pull those houses out of the agreement and still continue to annex, just leaving those folks there, but also we lose the ability to purchase [the land].”
Pennington said does not feel the county has strong enough language to guarantee the continued sale of the property to Flagler County.
She said she felt the state statutes were clear in that there needs to be a voluntary position for annexation. But there is no case law that decides that based on deed restrictions, like the Veranda Bay developer has. It is also, she said, on Flagler Beach to ensure the signatures are there, not on Flagler County.
“It is very foolish, in my opinion, what Flagler Beach is doing,” Pennington said.
Ultimately, she said, this might not be a case for the county, but for the existing property owners within Verdana Bay.
Carney said it is a difficult situation the county is in, but, ultimately, she swore an oath to uphold state statutes.
“If I, or we as a board, decide to overlook this, we are basically in violation,” Carney said.
