Palm Coast Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri sharply criticized a major landowner for a proposed development document which she feels doesn’t live up to prior promises. Pontieri took time at last week’s City Council meeting to levy her criticisms against Rayonier, which owns 20,000 acres that are slated for major developments.
The core of Pontieri’s dispute was an apparent retreat by Rayonier from previous commitments to pay for road, amenity, and public safety costs. There are also an additional 10,000 housing units beyond what was originally agreed to, Pontieri pointed out.
“I got the master plan development about two weeks ago,” she said. “When I read it the first time it read to me like a horror novel. When I printed it out and made notes all over it, like I do all the City Council packets every week, I was so disgusted and disappointed.”
“Not only do they add 10,000 dwelling units to what was previously in place, but they don’t pay for the sports complex,” Pintieri continued. “They don’t pay for any fire stations or police stations or schools.”
Two days after her comments, Pontieri met with representatives Rayonier to discuss her concerns. In an interview Wednesday morning, she said this helped her outlook on things.
“I have spent 100 hours in the last two years meeting with Rayonier, reviewing materials that they’ve provided, walking their properties, talking with them on the phone, meeting via Zoom with other stakeholders in the community having to do with the westward expansion, whether it’s the sports complex, other commercial development, meeting with residents about what’s planned for out there,” Pontieri said. “I’ve spent so much time trying to express to so many different stakeholders, including Rayonier, what we need desperately as a city in the westward expansion.”
Still, in this week’s City Council meeting, Pontieri voted against the consent agenda that included an approval of state funds for Loop Road, a westward expansion of Palm Coast Parkway. This road was initially supposed to be paid for by Rayonier, but the City Council obtained state appropriations to cover the cost at a prior date. Pontieri last week expressed her discomfort with taxpayer dollars – state or local – going toward something the landowner was initially supposed to fund themselves. The consent agenda passed by a 4-1 vote.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
