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Palm Coast Council unanimously approves backyard-chicken rules, recovery-residence ordinance, brownfield designation and assessment-administration contract
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Summary
At its Dec. 16 meeting, the Palm Coast City Council unanimously approved a second-reading ordinance permitting backyard chickens (with a companion fee schedule), an ordinance to conform to Florida’s recovery-residence law (SB 954), designation of Track 17 as a brownfield under Florida statute 376.8, and a professional-services contract to administer the Old Kings Road special assessment roll.
Palm Coast — The Palm Coast City Council on Tuesday approved several ordinances and resolutions in unanimous votes, including a second-reading ordinance allowing backyard chickens, a recovery-residence ordinance to conform the city to Florida State Bill 954, a brownfield designation for Strategic Employment Zone Track 17, and a contract with a finance firm to administer a special-assessment tax roll.
Council members adopted the backyard-chicken ordinance after staff said they had clarified definitions and added language addressing excessive insects; the council then approved a companion resolution setting permit fees. "We want to be cost recovery," a council member said during debate on fees, noting enforcement and code-compliance costs. Public commenters raised concerns that permit costs could make backyard chickens unaffordable for some residents.
On the recovery-residence ordinance, the council moved to bring the city into state compliance with SB 954. The ordinance was presented as a required locally adopted regulatory framework; after no public comment, the council approved the second-reading ordinance unanimously.
The council also voted to designate Track 17 as a brownfield under section 376.8 of Florida statute to make the site eligible for state and federal remediation and redevelopment grants. Staff told the council the property’s current institutional zoning and existing entitlements limit industrial development and that rezoning or acquiring entitlements may be required before construction. Tony Amaral, a resident, said Track 17 has been presented as multiple uses over several years and urged consistency in planning.
Michael Vespucci of finance presented a resolution to hire MBS Government Finance Group to provide professional administrative services for the Old Kings Road (OKR) Special Assessment District, telling the council that the district had grown from 35 parcels among eight owners to 247 parcels among 35 owners and that outsourcing administration would improve efficiency. The council approved the contract by unanimous roll call.
All formal motions recorded that required votes were passed unanimously: the minutes from the Dec. 2 meeting, the backyard-chicken ordinance (second reading), the recovery-residence ordinance (second reading), the backyard-chicken fee resolution, the Track 17 brownfield resolution, and the MBS contract for special-assessment administration.
The council will proceed with implementing the new ordinances and resolutions according to staff timelines; several items noted the need for follow-up (rezoning or entitlement discussions for Track 17, and staff enforcement and program administration steps for the backyard-chicken permit program).
