Planning and Growth Management – Palm Coast and Flagler Taking Right Steps

And showing why Home Town Democracy Amendment isn’t a good idea.

January 18, 2008 – Palm Coast, FL – Planning for future development is a complex process as demonstrated in a recent Flagler County sponsored workshop. The complexity is important to understand since The City of Palm Coast is revising its Land Development Code (LDC) and Flagler County is revising its Comprehensive Plan. Though the city’s effort got off to a slow and rough start, both projects are now on track to do it right.

When Palm Coast rolled out its draft LDC last summer, after two years in the making, it met with a lot of resistance from citizen and business stakeholders. They had been excluded from providing input into the planning process until the draft, developed by city staff, was released. The original plan to rush adoption was put on hold while the city wisely took additional time to solicit input from various citizens and organizations. I attended a few of these workshops with city staff and stakeholder parties. They were very cordial and productive, with constructive input and consideration from both sides. The city then contracted with an outside consultant, a specialist in planning, to review the draft in light of the public comments. A revised draft is expected from the consultant shortly. It will be subject to review by the Planning and Land Development Regulation Board (PLDRB), followed by hearings where public comments will be heard. Final approval rests with the City Council.

On the county side, Flagler County contracted with a specialist consultant, Planning Works. They also appointed the Futures Committee, consisting of representatives of each municipality, county government, citizens, and representatives of both environmental and business interests. The 16 member committee will work on gathering the information and input needed for a new plan. The comprehensive plan is the framework around which planning and zoning are based. The plan literally directs how Flagler County will develop and look in the future.

In an educational exercise on January 7, the Futures Committee, county planners, and the consultant hosted a public input and educational meeting. Over 100 people attended.  “It is a great way for citizens with a wide variety of viewpoints to take part in shaping the future of the county,” said County Planner Adam Mingel. “We want to get as many people as possible to the meeting to take part in this process.”

In a simulated planning exercise, the group was broken up into groups of 6 and after some brief coaching was given a large county map showing wetlands, etc. and some planning parameters. They were charged with the task of assigning different types of development (commercial, industrial, rural residential, medium density residential, mixed-use, etc.) to the appropriate sections of the county. The consultant and county staff were there to answer questions. A representative of each group then presented the group’s plan to the others. For more information and ongoing updates, visit the Planning Works’ Flagler County Comprehensive Plan Update website. I recommend it.

What we all learned was that planning is a very complex issue. There are so many constraints such as the limited number of east/west crossings points of I95 and the railroad, wetlands, and areas controlled by St John’s Water Management District regulations or reserved for county well sites. The plan must incorporate needs for public services – water, sewer, roads, schools, and police and fire protection. What we tried to do in a few hours will take professionals months. There were many varied and, sometimes, competing ideas. 

Both the city’s LDC and county’s Comp Plan will be the result of compromises between competing interests and it won’t be perfect. Some property owners will suffer because of restrictions placed on their property. But it will be a plan, reflecting our collective vision at the time. Think “This is how we want Flagler County to grow.” The plan is like a view from 1,000 feet. But time marches on. Things change. And individuals live at ground level, not at 1,000 feet. There will be valid reasons to adjust the plan in an ongoing process, either because things changed, or because what we saw from 1,000 feet doesn’t look the same as when we are at ground level with the property owner.

Because of the complexities of planning revealed in the Future Committee’s workshop, these decisions should be made by our elected officials based on the input of planning professionals as well as input of citizens at public hearings as is presently done. These decisions should not be made by the group that can turn out the greatest number of voters in the frequent, expensive and ill-attended elections proposed by the Home Town Democracy movement.