As Palm Coast government plans for a long-awaited YMCA in Town Center, albeit without a pool for now, a covenant restriction requiring the land to be used only for arts and cultural purposes may stand in the way. It isn’t an immovable restriction. But to get around it, the city may either have to pay back some state grant money that helped build a stage there, or it would have to use creative–to not say Orwellian–maneuvering that would allow it to redefine Y spaces as an arts and culture venue.
The covenants are one more complication in a souring relationship between the city and United We Art, the non-profit organization overseeing the city’s development of an arts district. The city created the district with Fanfare for Tomorrow enthusiasm in late 2020, as Covid was ramping up on its way to ravaging some of the the city and the county’s main arts organizations.
When the Palm Coast city administration revealed plans for the 30,000-square foot YMCA in Town Center, United We Art members were dismayed to learn that the Y would be built on the land previously pledged to arts and culture.
The city countered that the co-location will not diminish the place reserved for the arts in Town Center, even if the Y were to use some of the land directly behind an open-air stage for a soccer field, since that would prepare the way for better parking down the road, once the cultural facility was more than a stage.
The Legislature in the last two years has appropriated $8 million for a Y in Palm Coast. Some of that money is in hand. Some is awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis’s signature. If the money survives a veto, the city will begin designing the Y and, perhaps a year after that, build it on a 12.5-acre parcel at 1580 Central Avenue, immediately adjacent to the 4.8-acre parcel at 1500 Town Center Boulevard, where the the Palm Coast Arts Foundation built a stage, where the city built bathrooms for patrons, where the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra performed for PCAF’s annual Picnics and Pops concerts, where City Repertory Theatre performed its Shakespeare in the Park plays, and where the Foundation held its monthly arts bazaar.
The original lease was for the 12.5-acre parcel at 1580 Central Avenue. A 2014 amendment added the 4.8-acre parcel adjoining it to the west, the parcel where the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s stage was then built. (See: “More Land For Pops as City Embraces Partnership With Palm Coast Arts Foundation.”) In 2015, the lease term was extended to November 2034. The stage was supposed to be just the first of four phases, filling out both parcels with two stages and parking, as this master plan illustration from a 2014 document shows:
The city had the same idea. The foundation has since disbanded. It was one of the organizations that did not survive Covid. (JJ Graham’s Salvo Art project in Bunnell and the Flagler County Art League were others.) Last October, the city released the foundation from its obligations to the city in a “partial release of covenants.”” But the foundation–the site–had benefited from a $150,000 state cultural grant in 2016 that helped pay for the stage, which was inaugurated in December 2016.
That triggered the restrictive covenant, which states that the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs has authority by law to require the use of the facility “as a cultural facility” for at least 10 years following receipt of a grant. That restriction runs “with the title to the facility and the associated land,” and “shall encumber them, and shall be binding” on what was then the foundation, but also, whether the foundation was there or not, on the “land owner and their successors.” So even with PCAF gone, the covenant applies to Palm Coast, the land owner.
With or without PCAF, the Palm Coast City Council embraced the concept of an arts and culture venue on the site. The venue as conceived by a consultant would be expensive when completed: over $70 million. But Lauren Johnston, speaking as the assistant city manager in February 2023 (she is now the interim city manager) said the city could start small with the construction of a roof on the existing stage, amplifying an arts venue that already has significant city investment in infrastructure.
Meanwhile, even if no one has taken it up on it, the city is making the former PCAF facility–the entire park and amphitheater–for just $50 for an entire day for non-profits (a steal: the Flagler Auditorium charged $300 per event for non-profits).
But the covenant language controlling the former PCAF land is explicit: “The facility shall be maintained as a ‘cultural facility,’ defined as a building which shall be used primarily for the programming, production, presentation, exhibition or any combination of the above functions of any of the cultural disciplines, such as: music, dance, theatre, creative writing, literature, painting, sculpture, folks arts, photography, crafts, media arts, and historical and science museums.” Sports or activities usually associated with a YMCA are not part of the language.
Nor does the language make distinction between the two parcels–the one where the stage sits, and the one where the Y would rise.
That doesn’t mean the city cannot get around the covenant. But then it would have to pay a penalty to the state, which currently appears to be a reimbursement of 20 to 35 percent of the state grant–what would amount to $30,000 to $50,000.
Lisa Love, president and CEO of United We Art, last week wrote of her dismay over the Y plans that, apparently, did not include discussions with the organization. “The decision to construct a YMCA on the former PCAF site is an alarming development,” Love wrote. “It raises concerns about the commitment from our city officials for the arts. In addition, there are concerns about the near and long term potential impact on existing cultural amenities, such as The Stage. This stage, built with state cultural funds and city resident donations, should be a vibrant hub of artistic expression and community engagement, but it receives no programming or support. The construction of the YMCA around it could exacerbate this issue, further marginalizing the arts in our community. While athletic and aquatic facilities are undoubtedly valuable assets for any community, it’s essential to recognize that a vibrant arts scene is equally crucial for our citizens’ holistic well-being and enrichment. We have no concerns about a YMCA in the Town Center of Palm Coast. In fact, we applaud it for bringing much needed resources.”
The letter also noted concern “with the lack of a strategic plan for the Arts” and asked: “Given these changes, is there still commitment from the City and City Council for an Arts District in Palm Coast?”
The May 30 letter, Love wrote, was the result of a May 13 meeting of her organization’s board, after some of the directors of United We Art’s eight-member board met with DeLorenzo. It was at that meeting that DeLorenzo spoke of the plans to co-locate the Y with the arts facility. Walker Douglas, a member of the United We Art board, distanced himself from the letter: “I disagree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. I was not part of this board discussion as I was out of town and my request to dial in was denied,” he wrote. (The meeting was held in person with no dial-in option, Love later told Walker, and minutes of the meeting had been disseminated afterward, when she heard no concerns raised.)
More pointedly–the line was written in bold—Love raised the possibility that “Without commitment to the arts district from the City Council, there is no need for United We Art.” The group’s board meets again on June 24.
