- April 25, 2024
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The developers of a proposed 3,966-home community on John Anderson Highway had not anticipated the size of the opposition: When they held a community meeting about the proposed community in a conference room at the Hilton Garden Inn July 1, residents — more than 330 of them — packed the room, then lined the rear and side walls and spilled out into the lobby.
Attorney Rob Merrell, representing developer Ken Belshe, was tasked with moderating the discussion, and the atmosphere was contentious from the start: People booed as he introduced Belshe.
"I'm actually very glad that you did that," Merrell said. "We have four sheriffs in the back. The next boo is going out to the parking lot."
The crowd booed louder and longer.
Jim Revels, a John Anderson Highway resident, said it would be devastating to see what happens to Bulow Creek if the development is built. He asked the development team members if they'd ever traveled the creek in a boat. "Just go see it for yourself, and see what you’re going to destroy — because you're going to destroy it," he said. "Please, just keep it in mind that there are people out there that this means a lot to, a tremendous amount."
Three Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputies made their way through the crowd and stood behind the development team at the front.
"Here's the good news: I don't have to be here and they don't have to be here, and if you guys don't want us here, we can leave," Merrell said.
Some people yelled, "Go home!" Another yelled, "Why don't you listen, people? You don't speak for me."
At one point, a Fire Department official arrived and implored people to leave the room and stand outside, for safety's sake, because the room was over capacity.
"The room holds 260, and we're way over 260," he said.
“So is the development!” someone shouted. People laughed, and didn't leave.
A few residents proposed adjourning the meeting, then reconvening at a later date at a larger venue. Merrell said a second meeting is already planned, and suggested that residents could email their questions so that they could be answered later. People jeered.
Most residents who spoke during the meeting opposed the proposed development, saying they thought it would bring too many people, stress the area's infrastructure and degrade nearby Bulow Creek. Several said they'd moved to Flagler from South Florida precisely to get away from overpopulation and overdevelopment.
Merrell began with a presentation. He said the development team is doing what it can to preserve green space in the area, and that the proposed development's density — 3,966 homes on 825 acres of land — is actually an improvement, in terms of environmental impact, over the existing development plan for the parcel, which would involve a golf course and about 450 homes on large lots. The greater density in Belshe's plan would reduce sprawl, he said.
"I think most everybody in this room, regardless of how you feel about people, population and growth, understand that it’s happening," he said. "So the question is, what are we going to do about it?"
Pointing at slides showing renderings of the development, he noted the areas in the north, near State Road 100, that would become commercial areas under Belshe's plan, and the other areas that would be single family homes, and the ones that would become 10-story apartments.
There would be a marina with wet and dry slips along the Intracoastal, boat docks behind residences, and a new public boat ramp. There would be a 100-foot vegetated buffer on either side of the community.
"Where are you seeing 100-foot vegetated buffers in Flagler County now?" he said.
He noted that the proposal still requires the approval of the county's planning board and County Commission.
Residents lined up to speak.
The first speaker said the roads in the area are already deficient, and asked what impact fees the developer would be paying. And, she said, the proposed community would be in a hurricane evacuation zone, and would add stress to the county's EMS system, schools and the Bulow Creek watershed.
The next speaker, Matt Hathaway, urged attendees to bring their opposition to county commissioners. "I want to make this very clear: This project has not been approved," he said. People cheered. "This group needs to stay strong, and need to understand that if you bring this effort and you bring this energy to the commissioners, where it counts, that's how you stop it."
Parker Menchenberg, the civil engineer on the project, said that the Water Management District has "very stringent criteria that we have to meet" in terms of stormwater runoff, and that the development will provide a combination of dry and wet retention for the runoff, which will then be discharged into the Intracoastal and Bulow Creek.
"I grew up in the Daytona Beach area — lived here my whole life — the last thing I'm going to do is pollute Bulow Creek," Menchenberg said. "We do have standards and criteria that we have to design to."
R. Sans Lassiter — president of the Lassiter Transportation Group, the traffic engineering firm working on the project — said LTG has not yet done a full traffic analyses on the proposed development's impact on roadways. "That will be done at the next level," he said. "... These are an ongoing thing; these studies go on for the life of the project."
Pat Ferraro, a resident of John Anderson highway for 18 years and Flagler County for 36, had other concerns about the proposed community's impact.
"If you want to just close the gates, that's a discussion for some other time. But if you’re accepting the idea that people are coming here, then it needs to be done in a way that's smart growth. And trust me, density is not the enemy. Urban sprawl is the enemy."
— KEN BELSHE, developer
"I lived here during the early days of Palm Coast, and I lived through the PUD (planned unit development) that was presented at that time," she said. "And my fear is that whenever a planned unit development is approved, it is very difficult after the fact to get that changed," she said. "Palm Coast changed Flagler Beach significantly. When I moved here, there was right at 10,000 people in the county; we're at about 112,000 now. Some of it was not for the good, a lot of it was for the very good, but we want to be more proactive for this next big step: 825 acres is going to bring in a lot of people."
A few people saw benefits to the proposed development.
One resident identified herself as an environmentalist, and said she liked the project's density.
"My concern is, I cry every time a tree is cut down," she said. "So if we squeeze people together and save trees, I’m a happy girl. ... But I do have a problem with 10-story buildings in Flagler Beach."
Another, nurse practitioner Mary Murphy, she'd moved to Palm Coast after active duty service in the military, and found limited opportunities for healthcare providers. "I look at this as a potential opportunity," she said. "I'd just like to plant that seed, that with growth and with the possibility of families, new healthcare opportunities could exist, and that’s not a bad thing."
But James Fiske, a board member of the Friends of the Tomoka Basin State Park, said the proposed development would be disastrous for the environment. He advised residents to take action.
"Is this a development? No, this is mass destruction," he said, to applause from the audience. "This is an environmental disaster. You’re seeing Bulow Creek be totally cut off. ... I plead everybody who is concerned with this project to get in touch with the Sierra Club, to get in touch with the Department of Environmental Protection, to get in touch with the St. Johns River Water Management District, and let them know what you think about this project. We need to protect Old Florida as much as possible. … We need to think about how this environment, and destruction of the environment, will affect your children and the children that I see in this crowd tonight. ... This is not smart growth. All this is, is about this right here." He held up a dollar bill.
Jody Sisk, the environmental consultant on the project, countered that the land is permitted for development, including a golf course, right now, and that golf courses are especially damaging to the environment because they use large amounts of water, plus fertilizer that runs off into the watershed. Belshe's development wouldn't include the golf course.
One man suggested the county buy the land back from Belshe and turn it into a park so it won't be developed at all.
Colleen Conklin, a School Board member and Flagler Beach resident, noted that the nearby schools — Old Kings Elementary School, Buddy Taylor Middle School and Flagler Palm Coast High School — are at maximum capacity already. "So, where exactly will all these children, who will no doubt end up living there, attend school?" she said.
"I almost feel bad, because I don't know if, as a developer, the homework that needed to be done to understand this community is really fully understood," Conklin said. "This community has rallied before for development changes and zoning changes, and defeated them."
She asked how many units are currently in the development plans, versus the number that Belshe is proposing. Merrell said the existing planned development would be for 453 homes with big lots, a golf course and some commercial space; Belshe is proposing 3,966 units, commercial space, and no golf course.
"The impact is dramatically different," Conklin said. She added that it would affect schools, public safety, the beach and the environment. "One thing I would say to everyone in this room is: Stay involved. Go to the County Commission meetings," she said.
One man asked Belshe why he bought the parcel of land for $11 million if making it profitable would depend on a county government approval that may or may not be forthcoming.
"That answer is that we’re very bullish and very optimistic on Flagler County," Belshe said. "... I have no idea what we’ll do if we don’t get the approvals; I haven’t run those scenarios." He said the project would unfold over 20 or 30 years.
One resident said the development will likely bring crime and is a terrible idea.
Merrell said, "I'm OK with everybody wanting to make sure their thoughts are known, but saying, 'Hey, let's go kick the developer's rear' is probably not going to get us anywhere."
The next speaker who took the mic said, "I think we should kick their rears." People clapped and hollered their agreement.
Jim Revels, a John Anderson Highway resident, said it would be devastating to see what happens to Bulow Creek if the development is built. He asked the development team members if they'd ever traveled the creek in a boat. "Just go see it for yourself, and see what you’re going to destroy — because you're going to destroy it," he said. "Please, just keep it in mind that there are people out there that this means a lot to, a tremendous amount."
Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooly said he was "a little disappointed" that the city hadn't met with the developers yet.
"There's going be a lot of direct and indirect costs, and it's unnerving that at this point in the process ... we haven’t spoken," he said.
Belshe, speaking near the end of the meeting, said he commutes to Flagler daily and knows its people.
"We purchased this piece of land on an idea that we could do something different than a golf course and 5-acre lots," he said. "You can not sell that any more. The baby boomers ... are downsizing, and the millenials that are coming along, I will tell you, you can not sell them a 5-acre lot. A lot of them don’t even want to own cars. ... I get the fact that this is a hard thing to look at, but when you start talking about a community like this ... you have to have a certain amount of retail and shopping and dining and those kinds of thing to get people to come and live in a community."
Several people began yelling: "We don't want them!"
Belshe continued. "There are people coming to Florida. There are people coming to Flagler County," he said. "We're not going to do anything about that; the secret's out. Florida's a great place to be; Flagler County specifically is a great place to be. No applause on that? Flagler County's a great place to be! They’re coming here. And if they live west of Bunnell, they're still going to drive on our roads; they're still going to drive to the beach. All of those kinds of things are issues that I can't really fix on my own. ... Unless you want to just close the gates and say 'No more people' —"
The crowd cheered.
"And say, 'That's it.' And if that's how you feel, then I would encourage you to contact your county commissioners, 'Let's shut down the office of economic development. We don't need any more jobs, we don't need more industry, we don't need more businesses, we don't need any of those kinds of things.'"
Again, people cheered.
"If that’s what you want, if you want to just close the gates, that's a discussion for some other time. But if you’re accepting the idea that people are coming here, then it needs to be done in a way that's smart growth. And trust me, density is not the enemy. Urban sprawl is the enemy."
Belshe said he has two children of his own, and doesn't want to destroy the environment or overload the area schools for them. He said the development would be paying impact fees that would help support the schools.
School Board member Janet McDonald interjected: "As chairman of the School Board," she said, "... Impact fees do not do anything to build new schools."
John Anderson Highway resident Maria Dowlilng told Belshe she thought he was missing the point, or not listening.
"I don't think that people are against the density. It is the location," she said. "I came from South Florida. Have you been to South Florida?"
Belshe said that he had.
"What happened was ... little by little, developers came in, and cut down the Everglades," Dowling said. "I need you, I think we all need you, to listen. It is not about the density. It is about the location. ... You purchased this before asking anybody if this is what the community needed or wanted. This is not about our needs or wants. This is simply about money."
