Asking for a favor. I received a notice from the City re: an undeveloped residential lot in Palm Coast. The property is owned by my Father's Estate and I'm an Executor/Administrator. I'm hoping there's someone that lives in the area/nearby that might be able to visit the property for me and snap a couple of pictures. I will need to get down to FL re: this, and a few other properties as well, but my schedule won't allow that right now. I need to respond to Palm Coast within 30 days, so if I can get some pics forwarded to me via email I can at least have some awareness of the current status of the property. I'd also like to discuss the situation if there's anyone familiar with the city/area.

Please contact me at your earliest opportunity...Email in Profile. Thanks in advance.


ETA - Please refer to your username when contacting me via email, and post here as well, so I'm certain not to not to miss your email in case it's lost/misdirected to SPAM, etc. Thanks again!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nhracecraft,

If not one can help, I'll be driving through there next Thursday and would be able to support.

email sent.

Email sent...

If you can't get anyone there in time, try google maps, you can get down to the street level and they should have an image of the property on the internet that could suffice....

I'm a little under an hour away.
If you don't find anyone closer, I can run down there this Thursday or Friday.

Email sent. I'm an hour away. Retired with to much time on my Hands.

Thanks for the replies guys! You willingness to provide assistance to a fellow SIGforum member (especially one that lives 1300 miles away!) is a testament to yourselves as well as this community!

It's my hope that this will involve as minimal time/driving distance as possible for whomever can assist me on this. With that consideration in mind, right now it appears that 'pedropcola' and 'valkyrie1' are the closest, as both are likely 25 miles or less from the property. I will reach out to both of them directly via email with some pertinent details and see what works best for everyone. In the meantime if anyone closer/more conveniently located is identified (and willing), they may get the call.

Just so you all know, here's the situation:

I received a Notice of Violation of a 'Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Ordinance' from the Palm Coast Urban Forestry Division. They're indicating that "An accumulation of underbrush within 30' of a residential structure has occurred on my property." As this is an undeveloped residential lot, there is NO structure on my property, and therefore it's assumed that there's a 'residential structure' withing 30' of the property line on an adjacent lot. Google Maps shows that there was a house under construction on an adjacent lot in July 2022, and IMO the street view pics don't indicate any out of the ordinary or unsafe flammable vegetation on that side of the lot. The notice indicated I've got 30 days from the date of the notice to 'Remedy the Violation', so 30 days from March 24th, though I did not receive the notice until 3/31.

I find it curious that I was contacted by a contractor (Norman Gardner Services, Inc.) in Palm Cost regarding this 'Mitigation Case'. What I find most curious is that I received the solicitation by the contractor via USPS mail the very next day after I received the violation notice from Palm Coast. It would seem that this contractor was aware, or made aware of this 'Mitigation Case' before ANY attempt was made to notify the land owner! As such, I'm interested to know how 'things work' in Palm Coast in order to determine how to proceed.

I have not contacted Palm Coast as of yet, and I'm not yet aware what the lot line setback requirements are for Residential Structures' either, as that info was not easily found during a quick perusal of the Palm Coast website. I will be contacting them regarding this matter, but I'd prefer to know the answers to most of the questions in advance if possible.

The kindness shown on this forum is amazing, thanks guys!

Replies sent to all who emailed me. Thanks again guys!

I, too, am nearby. Please let me know if the others can't get to it soon enough. I can go today. My email is in my profile.

Pictures and video sent, let me know if you need more.

I’m 6 hours away so don’t have any references for you but the brush here can grow really FAST if left untrimmed/ unmanaged. I would bet my next paycheck there are more than plenty of possible contractors who do forestry mulching/ lot clearing in that area. I’m in unincorporated county and there are vacant lots here and even a handful of inhabited homes with elderly/ infirm that are thick jungles but nobody cares including the county.

Best of luck.

It’s awesome other fellow FL members covered this for you.

I’d be curious on how this ends up. Smells like a contractor making waves for their own purposes.

quote:

I received a Notice of Violation of a 'Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Ordinance' from the Palm Coast Urban Forestry Division. They're indicating that "An accumulation of underbrush within 30' of a residential structure has occurred on my property."

Central Florida is under a burn notice, we've had little rain so far this spring, everything is dry as can be, so much so that even irrigation system flaws are showing up where people are watering lawns and getting brown areas where the systems are not hitting grass.

If someone has built close by, and it's highly likely that the area is being developed as massive numbers of people continue to flock to Florida, our residential construction is still going strong, they may have called the Code Enforcement Office in the County themselves to log a complaint.

That Forestry office is under Palm Coast Code Enforcement.

Link Palm Coast Code Enforcement



Norman Gardner is a wildfire mitigation company, my guess is they are on the notification list for Palm Coast Code Enforcement and Forestry Division. Anytime someone gets written up, they get a copy.

From Norman Garner Services web page: Link

Based in Palm Coast, Florida, Norman Gardner Services, Inc. is an equipment contractor offering wildfire mitigation solutions to property owners in the North Central region of Florida.

Homeowners can take advantage of our expertise in solving drainage problems, as well as our ability to remove debris or deliver materials to their home.

Residential and commercial contractors turn to us for their grading and jobsite clean-up needs.

His lot was basically normal Florida growth, nothing weird.There's other undeveloped lots in the area. Wonder if they are having issues also.One side of the owners plot is a creek and the lot to his right is a freshly built new home, If they are looking at 30ft he will have to clear atleast 20ft off his property..

If one is interested in the city's definition of Wildfire Hazard Mitigation, Chapter 25, Article IV has everything regarding this.

Looks like undeveloped lots are a general target for Wildfire Hazard Mitigation by the city, could be a police officer drove by, city employee who was/is dedicated inside Code Enforcement Office which overseas this section drives around and reports on empty undeveloped lots, neighbor concerned over fires, like I said it's been dry here for quite a while and there was a no burn notice going on.

Basically the lot got reported, most likely because it's not being kept up and development has encroached closer and closer, so people are taking notice.

Link Palm Coast MuniCodes

Sec. 25-103. - Designation of hazardous properties.
The City Manager or designee will identify undeveloped lots determined to constitute a fire hazard. The City Manager or designee shall develop a plan for hazard mitigation for the identified area which shall include public education. The plan may include selective mowing of brush determined to constitute a fire hazard, pursuant to this article. The City shall notify owners of property within the identified area who have fire hazards and shall inform such owners of the action required to be taken. Such properties that contain fire hazards shall be public nuisances.

(Ord. No. 01-11, § 3, 4-17-01)

Sec. 25-104. - Unlawful fire hazard.
Allowing brush to accumulate on any undeveloped lot, tract or parcel of land shall be unlawful where it is held by the City Manager or designee to constitute a fire hazard under section 25-103, and is hereby prohibited and declared to be a public nuisance. It shall be the owner's responsibility to remedy the violation constituting a fire hazard. This section shall include the property owner's adjacent properties, as well as the adjacent street right-of-way.

(Ord. No. 01-11, § 4, 4-17-01)

Sec. 25-105. - Violation to permit unlawful fire hazard.
Any owner, lessee or occupant of any lot, tract or parcel of land in the City who permits a fire hazard consisting of brush on any undeveloped lot to the extent and in the manner that it creates a fire hazard, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished according to law.

(Ord. No. 01-11, § 5, 4-17-01)

Based on the pics I now have, the home on the adjacent lot that was under construction in July 2022 (as pictured on Google Maps Street View) seems complete, but is currently unoccupied, possibly unsold or just awaiting a CO (Certificate of Occupancy). It's evident that there is dense growth of Saw Palmetto right up to, and basically all along the property line, so it's a valid issue/violation of the Wildfire Mitigation Ordinance.

The linked 'Palm Coast Code Enforcement' webpage in HRK's post has a link you can click on to 'Submit an Urban Forestry Case' where apparently ANYONE can report a potential 'Code Violation'. I'm envisioning three possible (most likely?) scenarios as to how this was reported:

1. The builder (or lot owner?) that built the home on the adjacent lot reported it, which would obviously be in their interest to do so.
2. Code Enforcement, while on-site for an inspection (for a CO?) potentially reported to Urban Forestry.
3. Norman Gardner Services themselves reported it. They could've been doing work in the area and found this potential job, or they could even have an employee (business development?) whose job is to prospect for job opportunities such as this.

Regardless, I've got to deal with it from 1300 miles away! I'll be contacting Palm Coast on Monday to inquire re: what the setback requirement is for side yards in order to determine how far (minimum distance) into the property will need to be cleared based on the 30' from a Residential Structure' dictated by the ordinance. Obviously, if an add'l 5' (or basically some insignificant nominal distance) would remove all of the Saw Palmetto, I'd authorize that to eliminate further issues down the road. Also obviously, I'd like to minimize the cost of remediation as much as possible. Palm Coast indicates in their 'Notice of Violation' that I have the option of authorizing the city to remedy the situation on my behalf where they will 'certify the expense incurred' for doing so, plus $100 to cover administrative expenses. I'm torn here, and unsure whether I should just contract Norman Gardner Service directly, let the city take care of it, or pursue some other option...Again, from 1300 miles away!

There is NOT a lot of money in my Father's Estate and so, I need to minimize the associated costs to the extent that I can. In addition to this property in Palm Coast (Flagler County), I have an undeveloped residential lot in Citrus County, and multiple lots in Polk County which I'll need to deal with...And sooner rather than later! Regardless of whether we decide to sell or not, there will be travel costs, attorney fees, etc associated with determining the disposition of those properties. While I need to minimize costs, soliciting bids or quotes would seem to be challenging at best here. As such, I'm open to suggestions and/or recommendations if you've got any, especially if your familiar with Palm Coast, Norman Gardner Services or any other appropriate contractor in the area.

Letting the City take care of it will likely be the most expensive option. Like 5 times what it would cost to hire someone. I pay a guy $300 to bush hog a 1.5 acre lot I own. That’s about what it costs me to rent a tractor with a bush hog.

It doesn’t matter why or how you were reported, but you are now on the Code Enforcement radar and they will keep following up on your property. You’ll have to stay on top of it.