Palm Coast Building Moratorium Fails to Come to a Vote

The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday rejected Mayor Mike Norris’ proposal to institute a building moratorium in order to address city infrastructure concerns. Norris motioned to adopt the moratorium in Tuesday’s business meeting, and did not receive a second from any of his three colleagues. As such, the item did not come to a vote. The failure to pass the moratorium received an outbreak of applause from a crown of residents working in the construction industry, many of whom then left the meeting. Several public commenters spoke in support of the moratorium, with only a couple offering opposition. I move to place a growth moratorium on residential construction in the City of Palm Coast,” Norris said after passing the gavel to Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri. “This will not apply to any commercial business or industrial construction. The infrastructure is currently not in place to support future residential growth. At this time specifically our freshwater production capability on wastewater treatment systems. Again, my motion would be to adopt an ordinance enacting a residential construction and growth moratorium for a date uncertain to be reviewed annually to determine the continued necessity of this ordinance.” He then asked for a second on the motion, and was met with silence. The motion died. City Council Background The other three City Council members each had differing reasons not to support the motion. Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri indicated that she may have supported it had the Council failed to reach an agreement on a utility rate plan, but in any event was barred from doing so while she held the gavel. Councilman Ty Miller stated the plan wasn’t fleshed out enough for him to consider it. Councilman Charles Gambaro said he was staunchly against moratoriums as a concept. Norris had threatened at an earlier meeting to vote against a new utility rate plan if the Council did not grant him a building moratorium. He did do so, but was overruled by his three colleagues later in the meeting. The proposition sparked immediate and intense debate throughout the community, a normality for times when potential moratoriums are floated. Norris’ motion was the closest one has come to being enacted in years for Palm Coast, but it failed all the same. Reactions from the Public Even before Tuesday’s meeting began, there were dueling demonstrations supporting and opposing Mayor Norris’ mention of a moratorium. A parade of construction vehicles lined the streets leading to City Hall with workers protesting the idea, while a handful of Norris’ supporters waved signs and flags outside the door to the community chambers. Neither protest appeared to venture toward incivility, save for one resident who appeared to attempt entry with an airhorn and flag. “I think it’s great for construction,” said Daniel Smick, Marine Operations Director for Cline Construction after the moratorium failure. “There is a concern for the residents’ water usage and having to foot bills in the town that both employs me and bills me at the same time. I’m being torn through the seams, hopefully the city will come up with alternatives to not halt construction, paychecks, families, growth, and be able to facilitate the additional needs.” The decision was celebrated not only by those working within the construction companies, but by some leaders within Palm Coast’s business community. “We don’t take threats of a moratorium lightly,” said Flagler Homebuilders Association Executive Officer Annamaria Long, who organized the builders’ protest. “We’re not invisible. We contribute $574 million to the economy in Flagler County, and that is trickling down. Not only is it in the actual dollars that are put into the residential construction industry, but that is in dollars that we spend in the businesses that we support in buying products and supporting small businesses.” Still several attendees of the meeting were visibly exasperated at the moratorium’s failure. For those concerned about the effect of additional residential construction on aging infrastructure, the decision seemed to deepen existing problems that could lead to costly emergency repairs down the road.