Flagler Beach Commission hears developer presentation on Summertown annexation; tables Veranda Bay items to Jan. 22, 2026

The Flagler Beach City Commission on first reading took up the Summertown annexation, comprehensive-plan amendment and rezoning — a large mixed-use proposal that would bring roughly 545 acres into the city — and agreed to transmit the package to state reviewers for detailed agency comment.

City Planner (identified in the packet) told the commission that staff believes Ordinance 2025-22 meets Chapter 171 statutory requirements and is consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and recent legislative updates; the planner said the site-specific policy caps the development at a maximum of 1,640 residential units, 840,000 square feet of nonresidential uses and 250 hotel rooms. "The staff recommends the city commission find that ordinance 20 25 22 meets chapter 171 statutory requirements," the planner said during the presentation.

Applicant counsel Michael Schimento and project team members described Summertown as a mixed-use development with 98 acres of commercial uses near State Road 100, clustered low-density residential across the balance of the site and about 40% of the acreage reserved as open space. Schimento asked the commission to approve first reading so the city can send the package to state agencies including FDEP, St. Johns Water Management District and FDOT for technical review. "We do ask that you approve on first reading tonight so that we can continue the process," Schimento said.

Developer representatives and technical consultants outlined several commitments built into the master plan development (MPD): a minimum 75-foot setback from the project property line plus an additional 100-foot natural buffer in many locations to protect Bulow/Beulah Creek; a tree-preservation program; on-site stormwater measures required to meet pre/post discharge conditions; and construction of a Spine Road (with sidewalks and an 8-foot path) to be conveyed to the city. Jay Livingston, part of the applicant team, said the MPD requires no-net-loss of high-quality wetland function and that "40% of the projects will be open space."

On utilities and infrastructure, the applicant said Flagler Beach has planned capacity and that the project would generate impact fees the developer estimated at roughly $7.8 million for the city and about $2.123 million in utility-related fees; the team also said the project would create demand for reuse water and therefore help reduce treated effluent discharged to the intracoastal.

Commissioners pressed the applicant on design details that remain for later engineering review: where clustering will concentrate density inside the overall cap, exact stormwater pond designs and control structures, the timing and conditions for transferring the Spine Road to the city, and how AE/flood-zone areas would be addressed. The developer repeatedly said detailed stormwater engineering and final roadway design happen at the site-plan/engineering stage and that state agency review will scrutinize those technical elements.

No final (second-reading) approvals were held; the developer sought only transmission for state review. The commission also simultaneously approved a motion — taken earlier in the meeting — to table several Veranda Bay items and set a date certain for those items. The MPD and the related ordinances will return to the commission after state comment and as engineering details are completed.