Proposed apartment community gets initial clearance for site on Old Kings Road

Palm Coast Observer
News

A 246-unit apartment community may be coming to a parcel of land on the east side of Old Kings Road about third of a mile north of its intersection with State Road 100.

"The one-bedrooms are what are really lacking in Palm Coast right now. It's very hard to find one bedrooms, and they lease up as soon as you have one available."

— NEEL STACY

The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Regulation Board on Feb. 16 voted 7-0 to approve a master site plan for the community, to be called The Tribute.

It is expected to go before the City Council for a decision on March 1.

"The name 'The Tribute' is to memorialize the preservation of the Old Kings Trail," Neel Stacy, representing developer Ravenshill Holdings, said at the meeting. "That's the inspiration for the project, and basically flows through the entire design of what we have."

The architectural style, accordingly, is an Old Florida style, mostly white with bronze and black trim.

Fire Department, Animal Control rescue dog

The Palm Coast Fire Department worked with Animal Control the afternoon of Feb. 15 to rescue a dog named Jake that got trapped under a shed in the backyard of its Buffalo Grove Place home.

"The little dog, Jake, was probably chasing after an animal and got himself stuck," said Fire Department lieutenant Patrick Juliano, who was on scene.

The dog disappeared from sight and at one point stopped responding to the homeowners, increasing their concern that he might be hurt, he said.

Palm Coast Fire Department Engine 23 arrived on scene to help.

"We started digging out around him, beneath the shed, and we were able to see him," Juliano said.

Palm Coast Animal Control Officer Kasey Hagan then used a catch pole to pull Jake out from under the shed.

"It was a great effort between animal control and our fire crews," Juliano said.

Consultant to study utility rates

Palm Coast will pay $149,948 to have consulting company Stantec study the city’s utility rate structure.

The City Council voted unanimously Feb. 15 to approve the rate study.

“Ultimately, the approach is intended to be done with city staff, reviewed with your city manager, but then to be brought back to you in terms of initial findings and initial results,” Stantec Vice President Andy Burnham told the council at the Feb. 15 meeting.

Stantec would hold workshops with the city before proposing rate adjustments for formal council consideration, he said.

The community will be fenced and gated. It will spread across 20.27 acres, and would have a density of 11 units per acre. The existing multifamily zoning allows for up to 12 units per acre. About 2 acres of the site are wetland areas.

Five of the apartment complex's seven buildings would be three-story, while the remaining two would be four-story, about 60 feet tall, and would front the northern side of the 15-acre Kings Lake.

"We wanted to design the entire project around that area," Stacy said. "So we envision taking advantage of those views as much as possible. ... We're going to take advantage of that entire lakeside area, with fire pits and seating areas and some other amenities to make an activity lawn, where we envision a gathering place viewing the lake."

There will also be a gazebo, he said, and two dog parks: One on the community's eastern side, and one on its northern side.

Three three-story buildings will look out over Graham Swamp, one three-story building will overlook a retention pond, and the fifth will overlook the Old Kings Road trail.

Palm Coast recognized by National Customer Service Association

The city of Palm Coast has been named the National Customer Service Association's 2022 Service Organization of the Year.

“I am so proud of our incredible team on achieving this wonderful recognition for the city,” City Manager Denise Bevan said, according to a city of Palm Coast news release. “Our team at the city of Palm Coast shows up to work every day with one goal in mind: serving our residents. Congratulations team, and thank you to the National Customer Service Association for selecting the city of Palm Coast as the recipient of this incredible award!”

The National Customer Service Association selected Palm Coast for the "tremendous strides made towards developing a citizen centric city in 2021 with an emphasis on the enhancements to the citizen centric customer service portal," according to the city's news release.

The city's customer-service portal, Palm Coast Connect, lets residents report water, sewer, traffic, road condition and other issues or ask a question of city staff.

Most reports receive a response the same day (if they created the case during business hours) or the next day (if they created the case after business hours), according to the news release.

After-hours emergencies, including sewer, water, or a street and traffic issues, are automatically routed to an on-call technician.

Some of the units would be one-bedroom, some would have a bedroom and a den, others would be two-bedrooms and a handful would be three bedrooms. The one-bedroom units will have extra closet and storage space to cater to retirees.

"The one-bedrooms are what are really lacking in Palm Coast right now," Stacy said. "It's very hard to find one-bedrooms, and they lease up as soon as you have one available."

There would be a main entrance on the community's southwestern corner, and an emergency access in the northwestern corner.

The development would have a clubhouse of about 5,000 square feet, with a pool, fitness center and coffee area, near the entrance to the community.

The proposed community is surrounded by land that is zoned neighborhood commercial, and the nearest residential properties would be in the Hidden Lakes community, about a mile north.

The city set a few conditions, requiring the developer to provide 4.72 acres of recreational space for residents.

"That's not so easy to do on a 22-acre site, but the number of acreage is based on how many residents you have," Senior Planner Bill Hoover said at the meeting. The city requires one acre per 125 residents, and estimates that there would be 2.4 people per unit.

Of the 4.72 acres pf recreation space, three-eighths of the total must be "resource-based" — for instance, conservation areas — while the rest must be "activity-based."

The technical site plan will go before city staff for approval.