'Come up with real solutions': Palm Coast drainage committee suggests offering surplus dirt to aid residents with drainage problems | Observer Local News

Palm Coast could use repurposed dirt to help city residents struggling with struggling with drainage issues.

The idea stems from the city's Residential Drainage Advisory Committee, which established in February by the Palm Coast City Council. The committee was formed in response to an outcry from Palm Coast residents who said neighboring new build homes that were built higher than their own was causing flooding on their properties.

The dirt would be cleaned, screened surplus available dirt from various city projects, which can then be used by residents "to make improvements on their private properties," city documents state.

"We're not certain that there's going to be a big demand for this, but at least we wanted to put the ask through to you," Donna Stancel said, the committee chair.

This program would limit each resident to 5 cubic yards of dirt, where one cubic yard is 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. Deputy Stormwater Director Lynn Stevens said that amount of dirt could easily be loaded into the back of a pickup truck for transport.

Residents would also be required to move the dirt themselves, both transporting it to their homes and placing it in their yards, Stevens said. And if they need machinery to place the dirt, those residents would be required to get a city permit for regrading. A lot regrading permit could cost $82, according to the city's website .

The committee's proposed solution is not one-size fits-all, Stancel acknowledged. For one, the dirt would legally have to be available to all Palm Coast residents, not just residents with these specific drainage issues.

I'm telling you right now, this is not going to work."

— CELIA PUGLIESE, Palm Coast resident

She said the committee is still working on other potential solutions for residents who have drainage problems because of neighboring lots.

In the fall of 2023, residents band together to ask the council for a building moratorium until the situation was reviewed and a solution made. A moratorium proposed by council member Theresa Carli Pontieri was shot down, but Vice Mayor Ed Danko later proposed the advisory committee to begin brainstorming solutions to help impacted residents.

At the same time, the city's building and stormwater departments made several changes to the city's technical manual. Previously, the city did not have a height limit on how high the new, infill-lot homes could be built, just that they had to be a minimum of 12 inches above the crown of the road.

The technical manual also did not have any regulation about how much higher than a neighboring home the new build could be. Since November 2023, the city has updated its technical manual: new homes cannot be more than 22 inches above the crown of the road and there can be no more than a 10-inch height difference between the floor elevation of neighboring homes.

Ideally, the change to the requirements will prevent this from happening again, Stevens said in the Nov. 12 meeting. But the updates do not help residents who already had neighboring homes built higher than their own.

Some Palm Coast residents in attendance at the council meeting said that amount of dirt would not be enough.

"I'm telling you right now, this is not going to work," resident Celia Pugliese said.

P Section resident Jeremy Davis has been one of the council's most vocal critics on how the council and city has responded to residents' drainage issues. He has told his story multiple times: a house was built in the empty lot next to his at a much higher height and since then, he said he has had water coming on to his property and even in his home that was never there before.

Davis called the 5 cubic yards offered "hilarious."

"That's not going to help me," Davis said. "This is a waste of my time."

That's not going to help me. This is a waste of my time."

— JEREMY DAVIS, Palm Coast resident

Davis said it would be equally unfair for residents like himself to be required to pay for a permit to fix a problem caused by city staff and builders approving a home built higher than existing homes.

"Come up with real solutions," Davis said.

While the council agreed this was a good first step, Danko said he hopes the committee continues looking for more solutions.

"I think some of these homes are going to require a much bigger fix," Danko said. "An expensive fix, probably, but we just can't let people hang out there."

Stancel and Stevens said the committee has been working on educating residents on what programs are available to help homeowners, like the county and city's Community Development Block Grant program. These programs do have limited funding, though, as well as income and other restrictions.

"We're still looking for other solutions, but this is what we have so far," Stancel said.