The Palm Coast administration made a surprising announcement today: for weeks, the city has been requiring builders to follow new rules, such as limiting new homes’ fill elevations, designed to lessen a slew of flooding issues existing residents have been complaining about since last fall. The city has been implementing the rules even though the technical manual containing them has not yet been formally approved, though it will be next week–a month ahead of schedule.
That information might have been useful several weeks ago, as it may have blunted Council member Theresa Pontieri’s startling proposal last week for a building moratorium on Palm Coast’s ITT lots. Pontieri was going to propose that moratorium next week. If she had support, it would be in effect until the technical manual rewrite was completed.
Pontieri’s proposal sent home builders and others in a tailspin, as such a moratorium could derail building schedules and throw people out of work. “I have a real problem with the word ‘moratorium’ right now in our county,” County Commissioner Donald O’Brien on Monday wryly commented during a workshop of his commission on an unrelated matter, a reflection of how far Pontieri’s proposal had rippled, and with what effects.
For months, long-time residents within Palm Coast’s original boundaries have been complaining about new homes suddenly getting built at far higher elevations than their own. The new builds have resulted in flooded yards and, at times, water intrusion in homes, in a city that has gone its entire life since 1999 with barely a handful of cases of homes flooding, and only after severe weather events. Now, it was happening as a result of human action. It’s been happening to residents who live on the quarter-acre lots ITT had platted years ago, the so-called infill lots, because there are some 9,000 of them yet to be built up. But that’s where new builders are booming, and rising, literally.
A few complaints turned to dozens, and the City Council had a crisis on its hand, with streams of residents bringing their complaints to meetings and workshops. All along, the administration would say that it would soon be addressing the issue through its technical manual, the regulations builders are required to follow, with new rules limiting fill elevations, for example. That rewrite was to go before the council in February.
But Carl Cote, the city’s construction management and engineering division manager, was unequivocal today, leaving no doubt that the technical manual’s update was being enforced already. Clearly, the city was sending message to Pontieri, if not a plea, to back down.
“Even though the technical manual is not formally implemented, since this began, we started working with the builders on those elevations and having them reduce them,” Cote told the council at a workshop today, “and there’s been no kickback from the builders on us kind of enforcing that new technical manual changes, even though they’re not in effect yet.” The use of the word “kickback” was unfortunate, and unintentional: what he meant was that there’s been no push-back. “They’ve been happy to oblige and make adjustments. We will be formally adopting that technical manual here shortly, but it is something that we’re really paying a lot of attention to, and have been.”
To make extra sure that the council was getting the message, Cote added: “Next week, we plan to walk you through our recommended changes of what will be implemented in that technical manual. It won’t be for adoption. It’s not a policy thing that will be voted on. It’s just something that we just want to make you aware of: these are the changes that we’re implementing.” So did City Manager Denise Bevan, for good measure: “We do expect to bring that sooner than previously advised. Originally it was in February we were going to give a comprehensive update. And so we’ve accelerated that as well.”
None of it was lost on Pontieri, who, in an interview subsequent to her original proposal of a moratorium, explained that her intention all along was not a moratorium, but to accelerate the adoption of the manual, which she thought had been dragging.
“I don’t want to have to make a motion for a pause on building to get movement. That should not be necessary. Apparently it was,” Pontieri told her colleagues today. “I’m glad that it was supported by Council to an extent, and I’m hopeful that we never even get there. I’m hopeful that the technical manual comes before us on Tuesday of next week, that we’re able to agree on the changes that staff has suggested, and that it will provide some real relief in the future to our current residents who are having new builds next to them.”
Cote’s news was surely a relief to other council members as well, none of whom would have wanted to be put in a position to support a moratorium even though at least two of them, Ed Danko and Cathy Heighter, had thrown their lot with the residents complaining of flooding, and promised them a fix. Heighter last week said she wanted to sit in the audience, among those residents, to show her solidarity, and Danko has been making the rounds of flooded properties and keeping the issue front and center for the city.
“From this moment forward though, we are using those changes, correct?” Danko asked Cote.
“We have been already since this started,” Cote said. “We started looking at elevations and coming up with some assessments.” Some of the changes we made are reducing the elevation of the new home construction, Cote said, with come builders asked to make changes and drop their proposed elevations. “We’re going back to them with the proposed modifications and they’re revising and resubmitting it.”
“I’m hoping that we do not have to impose a moratorium on building because I know that it will affect a lot of people,” Heighter said today. “So hopefully the changes that are being made will be effective, and we’ll be able to rectify this matter.”
