Flagler Beach residents will get an opportunity this week to weigh in on an annexation-and-development proposal that could more than double the city's with more than 2,700 homes plus commercial sites. Developers of Veranda Bay, a sprawling mixed-use development, are asking Flagler Beach to bring in 899 acres to the city's west, south of State Road 100 and straddling John Anderson Boulevard well into what many locals say is a pristine "Old Florida" landscape. The developer is Palm Coast Intracoastal, LLC, which shares an address with SunBelt Land Management, the company that brought similar plans dubbed The Gardens, in 2019, where it was met with .
The developer can expect more opposition this week. A poll on the Flagler Beach for Friends Facebook page, with 698 votes as of Saturday evening, showed 94% opposed to adding 2,700 new homes to the city. Elizabeth Hathaway, president of Preserve Flagler Beach & Bulow Creek Inc.
, said she is hoping the development can be scaled back to include more preserve land or a passive park. “John Anderson is a scenic highway and it’s part of the Ormond Loop on both sides. There’s some really beautiful hardwood hammock canopies,” she said.
“The west side (of John Anderson) is the one we as a group are most concerned about, because of the ecological value.” Some of the development extends to Bulow Creek, one of Florida's paddling trails, and designated an Outstanding Florida Water by the state as a measure of protection. “We are concerned about the downside of massive development and what could happen to the creek,” Hathaway said.
“The degradation of water quality is something we’ve been very opposed to.” Flagler County has already approved a smaller phase of the project, the Estates of Veranda Bay. Land has been cleared for construction of 453 homes along what's being billed as "the last stretch of Intracoastal property along Florida's East Coast.
" Homesites are being marketed as "three minutes from the picturesque town of Flagler Beach" that is "nestled along a part of the coastline often referred to as ‘the Quiet Side of Florida’ because of its tranquil setting and uncrowded beaches." A marina and boat launch into the Intracoastal Waterway are sketched into the plans. Annexing into Flagler Beach, which lands on various lists of best coastal cities, figures to add to the project's marketability.
If Veranda Bay attracts a typical household size, 2.5 persons per home, it's 2,735 houses, condo units and apartments would more than double the city's population of 5,500. Yet city officials said in a memo that under an agreement with the county, Flagler Beach has the capacity to provide water and wastewater utilities to the development and the ability to expand if necessary.
The Veranda Bay plan covers 899 acres. In addition to the residential units, there is 480,000 square feet of commercial development, while more than 300 of which would be left undeveloped. The property already has development rights through a 2005 agreement with Flagler County, under which the developer provided the county with 1,100 acres for preservation, public safety use and public recreation.
That plan allowed for 4,000 homes and units − plus commercial and office space − on the same properties. The development has gone through at least one ownership change. The City Commission has for 5:30 p.
m. Tuesday at its chambers, 105 S. 2nd St.
, where public comments will be followed by a discussion among commissioners. They will then meet again Thursday evening to continue a first reading of a rezoning for the larger Veranda Bay. The commission has already passed on first reading the annexation and a comprehensive plan amendment.
Thursday's meeting will pick up the rezoning piece on first reading, and a second reading on each is expected Oct. 24..
