- March 25, 2026
After the Palm Coast City Council rejected a concrete batch plant application over compatibility with neighboring businesses, Palm Coast Economic Development Manager Craig McKinney said there is a lesson to take away from it: the need for pad-ready sites.
“What was really underscored through what happened with Hard Rock,” McKinney said, “is the need for communities to have sites and buildings that are ready to go that would not involve rezoning.”
Hard Rock Materials is a concrete batch plant company that was hoping to build a new site along Hargrove Grade. It’s the second time in a year the City Council has rejected a rezoning application for a concrete batch plant in Hargrove over the compatibility of surrounding businesses.
Though the Palm Coast City Council has long espoused a desire for more business, and especially more industrial business, site-ready land is in short supply. McKinney said that is where his focus is.
“We're working hard to try to find new opportunities to get new sites and buildings online,” he said, “but it's a challenge.”
One of the driving factors for businesses deciding to go to a community, McKinney said, is speed to market.
“The more that any city or any community can do to really prepare a site and build an inventory that is ready to capture the projects for the industries that they've targeted,” McKinney said, “they're going to be putting themselves closer and closer to pole position to landing those projects.”
But how can Palm Coast build that inventory when there is a limited amount of city-owned property? McKinney said that is where the Town Center CRA comes in.
The Town Center CRA, or community redevelopment area, spans from Belle Terre Parkway to Interstate 95 along State Road 100. It was established in 2004 to encourage, in part, economic development. Part of that strategy is to acquire properties in the CRA.
“Especially as we don't have a lot of industrial sites right now,” McKinney said, “We're really pivoting and putting a lot of focus into the community redevelopment area.”
The CRA expires in 2034, so, McKinney said, it's important the city try to maximize the revenues in that district. When it expires, he said, the funds will be used to redevelop the area.
But the city is not just limiting itself to industrial businesses. McKinney said the city is actively working on recruiting healthcare business and exploring interest in advanced manufacturing and aerospace and defense.
City Manager Mike McGlothlin said any effort the city can make to bring in higher paying jobs and additional employment opportunities will help.
“No two projects are the same, but there is a process and methodology for it,” McGlothlin said. “All of it is really in support of what the council has charged us with, the desire for high paying jobs to help kind of flip the script somewhat on our tax base.”
During the March 17 City Council meeting, Councilman Dave Sullivan was the sole vote to approve the Hard Rock Materials application.
“We're at the point where it's time to do something that tells the world that this city is open for business," Sullivan said. “Like it or not, we’re growing and we have to have business if we're going to exist.”
Neither McGlothlin nor McKinney said they’ve heard of any negative impact from council rejections. On the staff’s side of things, McGlothlin said all they can do is present all the information to the council so the council can make the best decision.
“I think as we get projects that are right-sided for the suitability, we'll see those wins,” McGlothlin said.
McKinney said in the case of Hard Rock Materials’ project, the site is what the council found incompatible, not the business.
“I don't think it's an overarching theme for the city that we're not interested in diversifying our tax base, bringing in new investments,” he said.
As economic development moves forward, Palm Coast is looking to residents to hear what kind of businesses they want to see coming to the city. Palm Coast launched Prosperity 2035 in October, a joint survey project with the Northeast Florida Regional Council that gave residents a chance to share their ideas and priorities for the future of Palm Coast.
The survey was open from October to January and the council will be reviewing the results of the survey and learning about residents’ feedback over the summer.
In the meantime, McKinney said, the city is working on more projects in the wings, and looking forward to the projects already green-lighted for Town Center: the Promenade, Serenity Falls Mini Golf, development on S.R. 100 and a data center that has Google as a client.
Already the city has seen more commercial growth, just in the area of S.R. 100 and Belle Terre Parkway: a new shopping plaza on the southwest corner of the intersection, three new major retailers and, near the BJ’s Wholesale, plans for a second Walmart.
“We’re excited for the future,” McKinney said, “both in terms of the ability to eventually put more sites and buildings on the board, but especially for the energy and investment that's going into the Town Center.”
