PALM COAST, Fla. — Residents filled the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners meeting on Monday for discussion surrounding a proposed fuel terminal in Palm Coast.
Belvedere Terminals are looking to build near the city’s utility plant off of U.S. 1 after plans in Ormond Beach fell through.
That project has seen a lot of back and forth, with people for this and against.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris took to Facebook, saying he recommended to city staff to withdraw from consideration for the project.
“We are severely limited on properties zoned for industrial development and the large landowners are unlikely to offer up lands for zoning changes to bring about meaningful industrial / commercial development,” Norris stated in his post.
His post included an email sent to Palm Coast City Manager Lauren Johnston, saying in part: “In light of the quite vocal rejection of the project, by our residents, we need to withdraw from consideration for the terminal project.”
13 people used public comment at the commission meeting to speak about the proposed fuel terminal, a majority holding signs and wearing shirts in opposition.
“Most of us are against this and we’re outraged. We’re afraid in a lot of ways, we’re deeply concerned,” Palm Coast resident Narina Speaks said.
Speaks lives at Sawmill Branch, a neighborhood that’s a few minutes away from the proposed fuel terminal’s location.
She worries about the environmental impacts this project could have and its proximity to neighboring buildings.
“We have children, we raise our children, we have our elders living there,” Speaks said. “If we don’t stand and we don’t speak up about what’s going on, we’re going to have everything polluted and our environment’s going to go terrible. We’re just not going to have a chance for our kids to enjoy what we’re enjoying.”
But not everyone is against the project.
Joshua Stumbo started a petition on Change.org that’s for the Belvedere fuel terminal.
He believes the city and county need to see this through.
“I think they need to hear the facts, they’re not listening to the facts, they’re just denying it like the city hasn’t done anything yet about it, they haven’t heard anything, let everything be heard, let the facts be heard before we just say no,” Stumbo said.
Stumbo is from Pennsylvania and knows what it’s like to be close to projects of this scale.
To him and many others, it’s about job creation in the area.
“I’ve seen natural gas storage facilities, I’ve seen oil facilities, I’ve been right next to them, they’re right next to houses up there and they haven’t done anything,” he said. “When things happen, it only damages the tank and 400 feet away. It doesn’t go a mile and a half to a mile away.”
A city of Palm Coast spokesperson tells Spectrum News 13 they believe this project will be talked about more during Tuesday’s city council workshop.
When this project first got announced, Flagler County and Palm Coast leaders said the fuel terminal project would create high-paying jobs, diversification of the tax base, and increase property tax revenues.
