FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. — The Flagler Beach City Commission is considered a temporary moratorium on some development activities in special flood hazard areas, in a workshop at City Hall Thursday.

Thursday was the first reading of the proposed ordinance. If ultimately passed, it would impose a temporary moratorium on the placement of fill material in certain flood zones.

What You Need To Know

  • Thursday’s workshop was the first reading of the proposed moratorium on the placement of fill material in certain flood zones

  • If passed, the moratorium would temporarily stop fill placement in AE Special Flood Hazard Areas across Flagler Beach

  • City Manager Dale Martin said there are community concerns that some types of fill elevation may be increasing flood risks for neighboring homes

  • Martin said he doesn’t expect an official ordinance to be in place any sooner than Aug. 22

The goal of Thursday night’s workshop was to work out the details of the potential moratorium on fill placement for properties in AE special flood hazard areas. Fill is used to elevate properties, often to prevent flooding.

However, there’s community concern that some types of fill elevation may be increasing flood risks for neighboring homes.  

According to the city’s proposed ordinance text: “The placement of fill material within high-risk flood zones can alter natural water flow patterns, reduce flood storage capacity, and increase the potential for flood damage to surrounding areas.”

Joseph Pozzuoli, who owns Joseph Pozzuoli Architect P.A., has been an architect for 35 years.

He has designed and built more than 500 structures in Flagler County. Over the decades, Pozzuoli said building technology has advanced, but flooding is still affecting development.

“Flagler Beach is flood-prone,” he said. “A lot of our anxiety comes from worrying about floods, not hurricanes.”

Pozzuoli said that when Flagler Beach was being built, a lot of the homes were built at 4- or 5-foot elevations, which now makes them flood-prone. 

“Those folks certainly flooded during Irma and Nicole,” he said. “If there’s a heavy, heavy rain or torrential downpour, a lot of those areas will still flood in the south part of town. And that’s the reason for this fill moratorium.”

The proposed moratorium would apply to properties in AE Special Flood Hazard Areas, which Pozzuoli said are very low-lying.

“What’s happening, though, is there are some AE zone lots that are very low,” he said. “They’re bringing in truckload after truckload after truckload and they’re raising, you know, some of the lots, four or five feet.”

Pozzuoli said AE zones often don’t have stormwater drainage systems to handle that difference in elevation. 

“I’m hoping that they can come up with a stormwater design solution that will remove the water as it rises,” he said. “All the experience that I have, the only thing I could think of is like some kind of a lift station that would gather all the water and then they would pump it up to a higher elevation or to an estuary somewhere.”

Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin said the goal of the moratorium would be to give staff time to research and review current fill regulations. 

“This is an opportunity, I believe, for the City Commission and the community to review what is the long-term solution or what is the possible long term solution for addressing regional flooding,” Martin said.

Although Thursday was the first reading of the moratorium, Martin said he expects some parts of the proposed ordinance to change, which would warrant a new first reading on July 25.

From there, Martin said he doesn’t expect an official ordinance to be in place any sooner than Aug. 22.

If passed, the moratorium would last 180 days but could be reduced or extended.

Reagan Ryan is a 2023 — 2025 Report for America Corps Member, covering the environment and climate across Central Florida for Spectrum News 13. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.