97-Room Hotel For Flagler Beach Would Replace Farmers’ Market

A South Florida architect and resort developer is proposing to construct a 97-room resort and 10 walk-up city homes for short-term renters in Flagler Seashore on the oblong vacant acreage within the coronary heart of metropolis finest recognized for its weekend farmers’ market, which has not been energetic previously 12 months. The resort, 35 ft tall at its peak, would vastly change the complexion and skyline of downtown, although it might even be a return to type of kinds.

The 1.3-acre lot was as soon as the positioning of the Flagler Seashore Resort, its four-story stony stature lording it over sparse environment from 1925 to 1972, when it was demolished. Nevertheless it was by no means a marvel of structure, its boxy facade and slit-style home windows evoking extra of an institutional really feel than a seashore resort. The distinction between then and now’s a metropolis–and a metropolis heart–that has grown considerably, with vacant tons the exception fairly than the rule, as within the resort’s heyday. However there’s no query as to the permitted use: the land is zoned for unrestricted use for motels and motels.

Cooper Metropolis, Fla.-architect and resort developer Joseph Pasquale of Anjon Resort Houses submitted the appliance on Nov. 18 for a particular exception to construct the resort. Pasquale’s website plan proposes a 116-space underground parking storage. The resort would come with an “oversize foyer” in keeping with the plans, with an inside gallery, occasion room, restaurant, cafe, pool and solar and viewing decks. “The architectural template combines options exhibited within the charrette doc and mixed-use district character space depicted within the Downtown Design Tips,” in keeping with the appliance. Some two-way site visitors can be modified to one-way, and parallel parking alongside the property can be modified to angled.

A traffic analysis produced for the developer anticipates a most of 702 further weekday journeys generated by the resort and its city homes. (The city homes can be let both as short-term leases or as everlasting leases, and managed by the resort.) The evaluation, nonetheless, pegs the typical variety of residents within the city homes at 2.72, the extra standard quantity for residential properties, fairly than a better quantity related to short-term leases.

The property is owned by Zoee and William Forehand. It’s valued at just below $1 million, in keeping with the Flagler County Property Appraiser, and is promoting for greater than that, Dennis Bayer, the Flagler Seashore lawyer representing the Forehands within the transaction, mentioned at present, although he was not licensed to be extra particular for now. The property had not been actively listed although the Forehands had entertained some curiosity from varied events just lately. Bayer mentioned closing might happen inside 60 days. Due diligence is ongoing. Zoee Forehand shall be making a presentation on the listening to on Tuesday.

“I feel it’ll be an enormous carry for our downtown enterprise in addition to our tax base,” Bayer mentioned. “I feel it’ll be a game-changer so far as enterprise in Flagler Seashore, in a constructive approach. That was a resort again within the day, it’s what used to carry loads of the vacationers and the guests to our group.”

It’s virtually sure, nonetheless, that the proposal will draw fervent curiosity from residents and companies because it goes earlier than town’s regulatory bioards within the subsequent few weeks. The primary public listening to is scheduled earlier than the Planning and Architectural Overview Board on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. within the fee chambers at Metropolis Corridor, 105 South 2nd Avenue. The Metropolis Fee holds its personal listening to on the matter the night of Thursday Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. or later, on the identical location. The general public response is already churning.

“From what I’m seeing on Fb it’s fairly adverse,” Jane Mealy, who chairs town fee, mentioned this morning. Metropolis Commissioner “Rick Belhumeur posted a discover about tomorrow night time’s planning board assembly, there have been some 30 feedback I feel, of the 30 I’d say about 25 of them have been adverse, however I’m fairly enthusiastic about it. I haven’t had time to review the plans but as a result of I used to be busy studying metropolis managers’ purposes.” (The town is within the means of hiring a brand new supervisor to interchange the late Larry Newsom.)

hotel rendering — The resort, in keeping with a rendering, can be 35 ft tall.

There might develop considerably of a dichotomy between residents and metropolis officers, with residents tending to see the proposal extra negatively and metropolis officers and companies extra positively. “I hate predicting what native authorities goes to do on a neighborhood challenge. All of the suggestions we’ve had thus far has been constructive,” Bayer mentioned, referring to metropolis officers. “For probably the most half the suggestions has been constructive.” He mentioned the event complies with guidelines, together with environmental issues: there are not any wetlands on the parcel, and it drains correctly. Flagler Seashore’s planning and improvement employees is recommending approval of the event.

“I feel that strolling alongside on 100 in direction of A1A to see one thing fairly like that as an alternative of an empty lot can be an enchancment,” Mealy continued. “Within the preliminary discussions I had with Larry Torino over a month in the past”–Torino is town’s planner–“as a result of this was imagined to be on the final Planning Board assembly, he felt the developer was trying on the environment and attempting to make it slot in with what’s already there, not making this enormous imposing factor. It’ll be an enormous change at first, as a result of we’re used to this empty lot. However I feel it’ll be an enchancment.”

Veterans Park is the sq. simply to the east of the parcel, fronting A1A and the ocean. Within the previous resort days, the resort managed that piece of land as properly, making certain that visitors had a direct view on the ocean. When the Forehands deeded the land for a park to town, they reserved air rights over the park, making certain that nothing can be constructed there that will block the view from the opposite parcel. That’s nonetheless in impact.

“We have been by no means allowed to, as a metropolis, construct something greater than 18 inches excessive,” Mealy mentioned. There’d beforehand been hopes for a bandshell at Veterans Park, however the plans have been blocked due to the peak restriction. “Apparently this new architect has designed some adjustments to the park as properly, that I assume Zoee has gone together with, however not peak smart. I feel he’s going to place a bandshell in however a collapsible one, which shall be great for us once we get again to First Fridays, after which some designs with seats in circles as an alternative of the previous benches we’ve now, some sort of design like that. So he actually is trying massive image.”

As in all land use issues, regulatory boards should observe what’s of their codes. They could not arbitrarily block a challenge if it doesn’t violate zoning and improvement guidelines. “The planning board goes to need to go by what the principles are,” Mealy mentioned, and if parking, stormnwater, and peak rules are met, “I’d suppose they’d need to go together with it.”

The property is on the southwest nook of the intersection of State Street 100 (Outdated Moody Boulevard) and South Central Avenue. Anjon Resort Houses is a family-owned enterprise that presently options two properties it’s developed in Flagler Seashore, at 1205 North Central Avenue, and at 716 North Daytona Avenue.

The previous resort was constructed by Dana Fellows Fuquay and George Moody. It opened on July 4, 1925. Its most well-known customer was Charles Lindbergh, who touched down together with his airplane in Flagler Seashore due to fog in 1931. He stayed the night time on the resort, which remained extra the exception than the rule as far as resort improvement was involved in Flagler.

“The actual fact that Flagler Seashore has lagged in resort improvement offers it a sure benefit for these low-budget vacationists who take pleasure in being close to the ocean,” a New York Occasions article headlined “Flagler Seashore Has Extra Sand Than Folks,” reported in 1969. “There are not any chain motels and none that may be categorized within the luxurious class.” Lodging charges on the time have been within the $4 to $10 an evening, or $29 to $73 in inflation-adjusted {dollars}. A stroll on the pier price 65 cents, or $4.75 in at present’s {dollars}, and month-to-month passes promoting for $5.20, or $38 in present {dollars} (town has clearly not saved up).

A second resort was finally working a couple of blocks south of the resort–what had been the Luna Vista Residences, named after George Moody’s daughter, on Oceanshore Boulevard and South Third Avenue. It was demolished in 1979.