Crews began clearing land on nearly 200 acres for the future Sabal Preserve subdivision, a development of 333 relatively affordable single-family homes at the northeast intersections of Royal Palms Parkway, Town Center Boulevard and I-95 to the east in Palm Coast.
Sabal Preserve is one of the city’s larger developments not to get much attention before groundbreaking. The application went before the Palm Coast planning board in April 2023 under a different owner. It did not go before the City Council, as the size of the development did not trigger that form of review. The development is considered part of Town Center even though geographically, cohesively, it is part of the P-Section.
The development will consist of one and two-story homes, in an area where heights can be as high as 80 feet, had the area been used for taller apartment buildings. The minimum lot size for the single-family homes will be 4,400 square feet, with a minimum width of 40 feet, and up to 60 fet. According to the preliminary plat, a couple of the lots are 8,500 square feet, about a dozen lots are just over 7,000 square feet. The rest are between 4,400 and 7,000 square feet. (Regulations call for a minimum lot size of 2,500 square feet and a width of 25 feet.)
The land forms a triangle, stretching south to north, along I-95 to the east and canals to the west and south, where FPL power lines also parallel the development’s boundary. Those power lines veer east, across the development, toward its north end, in a zone that will not include homes.
The land boundaries narrow to a point as they go north. The northernmost part of the development parallels the weigh station on I-95. About two third of the houses will be built in the southern tier of the acreage, with the rest to be built along a road that will parallel I-95, making the homes nearly adjacent to the highway. That would be no different than the homes along Pilgrim Drive and Pickering Drive just north of the development. Much of the land to the west will remain as unbuilt wetlands. A large borrow pit turned lake sits in the center of the southern tier.
Sabal Preserve is one of two of the most significant ongoing developments in the (contiguous) P-Section. Not far to the west, between Point Pleasant Drive and Ponce DeLeon Drive, crews are clearing 35 acres for a 74-home subdivision is
“This project,” a staff analysis found, “will warrant two east bound left turn lanes on Royal Palms Parkway to enter the project, which should prevent traffic from backing up on the road and impacting the existing neighborhoods.” Those left turn lanes have not been built yet. There are existing west bound right turn lanes into the project that had long ended at the tree line.
Sabal Preserve will rise near the most overburdened intersection of Royal Palms Parkway and Town Center Boulevard, where the absence of a traffic light can back up eastbound traffic from Royal Palms quite a distance during rush periods. It is also rising near one of the most poorly engineered intersections in the city–Town Center Boulevard and Old Kings Road, an intersection the city is planning to re-engineer as Old Kings Road develops.
Most of the infrastructure necessary for the development is part of the Town Center build. “Essentially,” the staff report states, “this project will assist in getting some use of this public infrastructure. Construction of this project will assist in providing for numerous construction jobs over the next two years or so and the additional rooftops will encourage commercial services in the Town Center area.”
The proposed master planned development drew no questions from planning board members last year and no public comment, and was swiftly approved by a unanimous board.
Florida Landmark Communities, formerly known as Palm Coast Holdings, sold the land in December 2022 for $5.8 million to MG Palm Coast 2 LLC of Beaufotr, S.C. It was MG Palm Coast that submitted the application for the master planned development there. That company in turn sold the land to Starlight Homs Florida of Alpharetta, Ga., last Dec. 27, for $9.96 million.
Starlight Homes markets itself as a developer and seller of affordable homes (“We believe everyone deserves the chance to make their dreams of home ownership a reality”) with developments in six states, including more than half a dozen in the Orlando area and some in Tampa. Sabel Palms would be its first on Florida’s east coast.
Sabal Preserve #5320
