FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – The Flagler County Commission approved a special use allowing a telecommunications tower at the Hunter’s Ridge Storage property on Airport Road, then followed with approval of an amended site development plan — both on narrow 3-2 votes amid concerns from neighboring residents.
The requests involved the 10.44-acre property at 2730 Airport Road, owned by Hunters Ridge Airport Road LLC.
Commissioners first considered a special use request to permit the telecommunications tower within the property’s Planned Unit Development zoning. After extensive discussion, the commission approved the request 3-2.
The board then considered an amendment to the Hunter’s Ridge Storage PUD site development plan necessary to incorporate the newly approved tower.
County staff explained that the property had previously been identified for light industrial use and was approved as the Hunter’s Ridge Storage PUD in 2022. The existing development includes a three-story storage building, outdoor RV and boat storage spaces, a stormwater pond and approximately 3.2 acres of wetlands.
“We’re just amending the existing site plan to add that telecommunications tower within that landscape area, in between the RV parking spaces,” staff told commissioners.
Residents Push Back on 190-Foot Tower
Several Hunter’s Ridge residents urged commissioners not to view approval of the tower’s special use as automatic justification for approving the site plan amendment.
James Jiloty noted that the tower request had passed by a “very close 3 to 2 vote” and asked commissioners to consider the protections included when the property was originally approved for storage use.
“This property has history, including discussion around not exceeding the three story height of this storage facility,” Jiloty said.
He pointed to landscaping, downward-directed lighting, fencing and buffering included in the original development approval as protections intended to balance commercial development with the surrounding residential community.
“Those protections absolutely mattered. They mattered then, they mattered today,” he said.
Jiloty described the proposed tower as dramatically different from what neighbors anticipated when the storage development was approved.
“A 190-foot tower literally towers over us,” he said. “Proving one special use should not automatically erase the considerations and protections incorporated into the development of this property made years ago.”
Resident Mary Jiloty raised similar concerns.
“In 2022, the board approved a storage facility not to exceed three stories in height,” she said. “When they approved that, I don’t think there was any thought given that 190-foot monopole cell tower would be installed in the parking lot of said storage unit.”
Resident Bobby Caliendo acknowledged the commission’s earlier tower decision but asked commissioners to independently consider the PUD amendment and preserve the protections contained in the original plan.
“You approve the tower, the question now is, how you protect the people who have to live beside it,” Caliendo said.
Landscaping Protections Added to Approval
Discussion among commissioners and staff subsequently focused on ensuring that existing landscaping and other requirements from the original PUD remain in place.
Staff told commissioners that because a telecommunications tower is a special use permitted in zoning districts, it is not subject to the PUD’s dimensional requirements, including its height restriction.
However, because the county was considering an amendment to the site plan, commissioners could impose additional conditions.
Staff suggested requiring the existing landscaping to comply with the originally approved plan, meaning dead or missing vegetation would have to be replaced according to the original specifications.
“Anything that’s not there or is dead has to be replaced,” staff said.
Compliance could be checked as part of the permitting and inspection process before the tower project receives final approval.
Commissioners also discussed lighting. Staff said the proposed tower is below the height at which FAA lighting would be required.
“The FAA requires lighting if you’re taller than 199 feet,” staff said.
Commissioner Greg Hansen ultimately made the motion to approve the site plan amendment with the requirement that the applicant comply with the original PUD site development plan.
“I move that we approve item 9B with the proviso that the applicant fulfill the requirements of the original PUD site development plan,” Hansen said.
Commissioner Pam Richardson seconded the motion.
Richardson sought additional assurance before casting her vote that the original plan contained the protections residents had discussed.
“I want to make sure that it’s gonna have what these people are asking for,” Richardson said. After receiving confirmation that those provisions were included in the original plan, she voted yes.
The amendment passed 3-2, with Chair Leann Pennington, Hansen and Richardson voting in favor. Commissioners Andy Dance and Kim Carney voted against it.
Dance stated his vote was “no for consistency,” maintaining his position from the preceding tower decision.
With the two votes, the county approved both the special use for the telecommunications tower and the related PUD site development plan amendment, while making compliance with the property’s previously approved development requirements a condition of the site plan approval.
