PALM COAST, Fla. – Residents in Palm Coast will soon see their utility bills go up. Many people in Flagler County went to the city council meeting to talk about this change. Some also wanted to stop new buildings from being built.
The city council discussed and passed a motion to raise utility rates, but the mayor previously said he would only agree to the rate hike if the city imposed an indefinite building moratorium on residential housing.
Hundreds of construction workers and developers showed up to protest against the moratorium before the meeting.
“The reason everyone is here today is because for an employer one day off of work or one payday not working is a lot safer than a year, two years, indefinite amount of time,” said Annamaria Long, from the Flagler Home Builders Association.
They were met by dozens of homeowners and residents who showed up, too, wanting to see a moratorium put in place.
“The rate of growth is just appalling to me and there’s nothing wrong with growth when it’s controlled and planned for,” said resident Jonathan Parmet.
In the end, the mayor’s idea to stop building new homes was not approved. This is the third time in the last year and a half that such an idea has failed.
Some people in Palm Coast have said that new buildings are causing flooding because the city’s roads and sewers can’t handle it.
“The water that comes out of our faucets is yellow and it’s because our water treatment plant is so outdated that it can’t produce quality water and we’re just going on with building and building when we don’t even have the resources for what we have,” Parmet said.
Developers have argued, though, that the city’s past mistakes and not using resources correctly are causing the problems, not the new buildings.
“Right now, they have $45 million in impact fees ready to use, they’ve been using them on smaller projects and that money is available,” Long said.