The Flagler County Commission on Monday resolved to prepare to mount a legal challenge against a recently approved landfill in Bunnell. Dubbed ‘Project Butterfly’, the development was approved earlier this month by the Bunnell Planning, Zoning, and Appeals Board against public opposition with slim public notice of what the project entails.
During Monday’s workshop, the County Commission unanimously agreed to direct legal staff to begin work toward filing an administrative appeal to the PZA Board’s decision. Their legal challenge could be the last lifeline for residents who oppose the project, and the September 1 approval of a special exception was the last required public hearing and vote needed for it to move forward.
Project Butterfly is a 610-acre landfill planned for construction off State Road 100 west of US-1. The developers invoked all available options to keep the nature of their project secret from the public until the day before it was voted on. Confidentiality was in place until 10:46 a.m. the day before the meeting. Prior to that, all residents knew was that the vote would involve a ‘special exception use for Project Butterfly within the AG&S Zoning District’.
Bunnell City Manager Alvin Jackson maintained the application’s secrecy until Palm Coast City Council member Theresa Pontieri brought up her concerns in a public meeting. Pontieri is presently running for County Commission, and may well inherit the county’s legal battle against the landfill if elected.
Two members of the Flagler County Commission spoke during the September 1 PZA Board meeting: Chair Leann Pennington and Andy Dance. Both urged the Board to hold off on approval while any number of potential conflicts could be resolved. Pennington warned that the reality of the landfill differentiated from how it was represented in application documents. The Board still approved it 3-1.
Even had the Board rejected the application, it wouldn’t have doomed the project. It would’ve allowed the developers to appeal to the Bunnell City Commission, where another public meeting and vote could be held. They could’ve also tabled it, allowing them to vote at a later date. Both choices would’ve afforded residents more than one single day to prepare to weigh in with informed opinions. For better or worse, the PZA Board denied their constituents this avenue by approving in their first opportunity.
The county government isn’t alone in appealing the PZA Board’s decision. Multiple residents of Bunnell have filed their own appeals, as have other Flagler County residents. These appeals appear to give the Bunnell City Commission the ability to have their say on the landfill after all. If they stop it or sufficiently alter it, the county may decide to drop potential legal challenges.
If legal challenges advance, the two parties will first meet for mediation under the Florida Governmental Conflict Resolution Act. This requires opposing government bodies to attempt to reach an out-of-court agreement before a lawsuit can move forward. If this process is unsuccessful, the county and the city may indeed battle it out in court over whether the landfill is an allowable usage of the land in question.
