PALM COAST — A split City Council voted 3-2 to approve an amendment changing the 320 townhomes originally planned for the sixth phase of the Sawmill development.
In a discussion that considered the proposed lot sizes, affordable housing opportunities and yearslong damage to the nearby historical Hewlett Sawmill site, the board’s decision grants developer D.R. Horton’s request to change the townhomes proposal to 244 single-family units.
Mayor Mike Norris and Councilmen Ty Miller and Charles Gambaro approved the request; Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri and Councilman David Sullivan opposed.
The board’s decision May 19 comes after the first read April 21, which received a 4-1 vote with only Sullivan opposed.
Changes made to the amendment since then include the addition of a 20-foot wide landscaping break for every 12 lots, as well as requiring the developer provide a small amenity area (such as a playground).
Sawmill developer says ‘no damage’ from project to historic site
The project’s Phase 6 is part of the Palm Coast Park Development of Regional Impact (or DRI) — which encompasses a nearly 4,700-acre area west of U.S. Highway 1, south of Old Kings Road. The DRI was approved back in 2004, and the development master plan agreement came in 2011.
The detached 244 single-family units would be built on 2,550-square-foot lots, each with a minimum width of 30 feet, according to the amendment proposal.
During the request’s first reading, councilmembers brought up damage to the Hewlett Sawmill, a historical Revolutionary War-era site in the city.
Sullivan had described the damage as irreparable to the historic site — the result of a retention pond adjacent to the land and equipped with a sluice that “dumps water directly on top of Hewlett’s Mill.”
Other council members raised the same concerns, asking the development team to explore the possibility of repairing the site.
However, in an email to the board, the developer said that the historical site was not damaged by work done on the proposed Phase 6.
“I personally toured the site (on April 21) to verify that,” the developer’s email read.
Sullivan acknowledged that while the damage may not have been caused by work on the development, work on surrounding tracts of the DRI (during which time the retention pond was operating) led to the site’s deterioration.
“My statement was to make the point that sometimes development can have unintended consequences that are serious,” Sullivan said, adding that while Phase 6 might not be to blame, “I don’t want to let anybody think there wasn’t an impact on Hewlett’s Mill from the other clearing that went on along that series of projects along Sawmill Branch.”
Council members discuss affordable housing inclusion in Sawmill project
Besides the Sawmill issue, some council members expressed concern over the individual lot size variation resulting from the request — from approximately 4,000 to 2,550 square feet.
Councilmembers discussed the possibility of making affordable housing part of the request, but a majority of the board did not support making it part of the Sawmill Phase 6 amendment.
When referring to the lot size changes, Pontieri said she was not sure if the smaller lots would “create more of an affordable product here.”
“Is this council prepared to approve such a diversion from what is otherwise supposed to be 4,000-square-foot lots without ensuring that we are providing a more affordable product?” she said.
Miller brought up the board’s recent discussion over the Housing Needs Assessment report, where a majority of the City Council voiced its support for exploring partnerships for affordable housing opportunities, while also rejecting the idea of direct financial incentive toward such efforts. Instead, the majority agreed, market forces should ultimately determine home prices.
Miller and Gambaro also said saw the reduction in the project’s density as a “positive” aspect of the proposed amendment.
The developer’s representative, Robert Porter, said it would be difficult to say what the Phase 6 houses will ultimately go for, “but if it were here today, $250,000 to $290,000.”
“It depends on what happens to inflation and pricing between now and then.”
(Editor’s note: This story was updated with new information.)
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast approves Sawmill units. Will they be affordable housing?
Reporting by Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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