Matanzas Neighborhood Meeting to Discuss Sawgrass Villas Townhomes
The foreclosed property in the L-section is zoned for multi-family development. Putnam State Bank seeks to clarify development rights before listing property for sale.
Palm Coast, FL – August 1, 2011 – The City of Palm Coast is caught between a rock and a hard place. Putnam State Bank seeks approval for Sawgrass Villas; 50 townhomes in an area surrounded by single family homes in the L-section. A mandatory Neighborhood Meeting with area residents to discuss the plan and seek comments will be held Monday, August 8th at Indian Trails Middle School from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M. It appears that the land development code (zoning) is on the side of the property owner, but residents are not expected to be in a receptive mood. In fact a website called StopSawgrass.com has already surfaced.
Putnam State Bank acquired the ten-acre parcel bounded by Lee Drive and Leidel Drive in the Matanzas Woods neighborhood from Tide Way Development Group through foreclosure in 2009. Prior to the foreclosure action, Tide Way had submitted plans for 72 units on the property zoned MFR-1 (multi-family). The developer withdrew the application before the city took any action. Putnam State Bank wants to pin down the development rights in order to make the property more saleable. The submitted plan anticipates 50 two-story townhouses.
Putnam State Bank does not seek to develop the property; only to firm up the development rights for a future purchaser. They currently do not have a purchaser in hand so it is unlikely that a decision to approve Sawgrass Villas would result in any construction in the near term.
Background
One hundred-acres of Matanzas Woods were platted in 1972 by the developer of Palm Coast, ITT. Apparently in a rush to beat some pending legislation that would ultimately implement DRI (Development of Regional Impact) approvals and set up water management districts, ITT platted the land as single-family lots. Subsequently, Flagler County established a land development code that placed single-family homes surrounding the Matanzas Golf Course but provided for Multi-family development on the remaining land with single-family units allowed as long as they met single-family lot size requirements.
The City of Palm Coast was incorporated in 1999.It continued to use the county’s land development code until writing its own in 2005. For reasons GoToby.com was unable to discover, Palm Coast’s new LDC dropped the single-family option for the property in question. Only multi-family units are allowed.
What happens next?
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Monday’s neighborhood meeting, which will likely be contentious.
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The Sawgrass Villas plan goes before the Planning and Land Development Regulation Board. With 50 proposed residential units, the project can be approved by the PLDRB. Only projects of 100 units or more require City Council Approval.
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Sawgrass Villas will have to be re-platted to consolidate the existing single-family plats. That step will require City Council approval.
View Sawgrass Villas in a larger map
Just Great!
What is next? Condos up either side of the No. 1 Fairway???
Adding insult to injury
The landowners in that area have already been dealt a blow to their property values when the golf course was closed. They certainly do not deserve to have these townhouses crammed into what is left of their "American dream".