18 minute read
Briefs ........................PAGE 2
Sexual predator sentenced to 23 years
A Mobile, Alabama, man is in the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility awaiting a transfer to state prison, where he’s been sentenced to spend 23 years for sex crimes he committed against a teenage girl.
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A judge sentenced 44-year-old Aaron Duane Carpenter on Jan. 27 for the three felony sex offenses, which dated back to 2018.
One of the incidents took place at a Flagler County hotel on Sept. 11, 2020. Four days after the attack, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and the Major Case Unit opened an investigation.
Detectives learned that Carpenter had sexually battered the victim and had also sexually abused the victim several times in 2018.
Carpenter later admitted to detectives that he had sexually abused the victim.
Upon completion of his 23-year sentence, Carpenter will be placed on lifetime sex offender probation and designated as a sexual predator.
In addition to his sentence for crimes in Florida, Carpenter also has similar charges pending in Alabama.
The Flagler Humane Society is seeing rising numbers of raccoons with suspected canine distemper, a viral disease that affects multiple organ species and is often fatal. The disease causes abnormal behavior, and locals who report it to Animal Control often mistake it for rabies.
“If anybody calls and says there’s a sick one or an injured [raccoon], we will respond, and the calls are definitely up,” Flagler Humane Society executive director Amy WadeCarotenuto said. “[The animals] end up coming to us. When they’re sick like that, we really don’t have any choice but to euthanize them.”
Over the last two months, the Flagler Humane Society has euthanized 18 sick raccoons — 15 in January, and three in December, Wade-Carotenuto said. There had been no raccoons euthanized in January 2021 or December 2020.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 25 posted on its Facebook page that the FCSO’s Agriculture Unit has seen more sick raccoons around the county, and that locals who encounter one should keep their distance and contact Animal Control or the FCSO’s non-emergency line.
The Sheriff’s Office, using a grant through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, tested several sick raccoons during a previous outbreak; all came back with canine distemper, not rabies, according to an FCSO spokeswoman.
People should keep their distance from wild animals and should not feed wildlife, Wade-Carotenuto said. Keep your pet’s food inside: Food for dogs or cats can also attract infected raccoons that could contaminate the food or bowl, passing the virus to other wild animals or to pets.
Simply seeing a raccoon during daytime isn’t in itself cause for concern, and the Flagler Humane Society doesn’t respond to regular nuisance wildlife calls, Wade-Carotenuto added.
Canine distemper is transmitted through contact with an infected animal or its waste or bodily secretions, including saliva, and tends to appear in five-to-seven-year cycles. Canine distemper is not known to pose a direct threat to humans.
Symptoms include watery discharge or a crusty buildup around the eyes and nose, hardened footpads, coughing and sneezing, diarrhea, confusion, stumbling, aggression, aimless wandering, fits of chewing, convulsions and paralysis. The disease can cause permanent neurological damage in animals that survive it.
Bites or scratches from a sick raccoon or other wild animal should still be treated as if the animal may potentially have rabies, and should be reported to a doctor immediately for evaluation and potential postexposure rabies vaccination.
Palm Coast residents can report a sick raccoon to Animal Control at 386-986-2520. Other Flagler County residents can call the Flagler Humane Society at 386-246-8612. To report a sick raccoon during non-business hours, call the Sheriff’s Office’s non-emergency line at 386-313-4911.
Courtesy photo A (hopefully healthy) raccoon.
JAN. 8
POOR PLANNING
6:51 p.m. State Road 11 at County Road 304 Possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting an officer. A deputy was stationary at an intersection and noticed a pickup truck hauling a large trailer with no license plate, tail lights, brake lights or signal lights.
The trailer’s load was not secured, and items were tumbling into the road.
The deputy conducted a traffic stop. When the deputy approached the truck, the pickup’s driver tried to conceal a burnt piece of folded aluminum by shoving it inside a day planner.
The deputy demanded the planner, but the man initially refused, then opened the planner, crumpled up the tin foil and tossed it out the window onto the road.
Deputies detained the man and found the piece of foil, which tested positive for narcotics residue. The man was arrested.
JAN. 13
LEGAL ADVICE FROM YOUTUBE
1:16 p.m. State Road 100 at West County Road 302 No Florida driver’s license, resisting an officer. A deputy conducting traffic enforcement saw a pickup truck heading east on State Road 100 with no license plate.
The deputy conducted a traffic stop and demanded the driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance.
But the driver, a 32-year-old man, only lowered his window two inches and said that he was “traveling” and “not engaged in commerce” and therefore didn’t need a driver’s license or license plate.
The deputy told the driver that he was giving him a lawful order, but the man continued to argue until the deputy used a spring punch to break the driver’s side window, haul the man out of the truck and arrest him.
When the deputy asked the man where he’d gotten the idea that he didn’t need a license plate or driver’s license, the man said he’d heard on YouTube that it was legal to drive without them.
He was taken to the county jail.
JAN. 27
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN ...
10:45 p.m. First block of Kingswood Drive Trespass after warning. People at a fast food restaurant called the Sheriff’s Office after seeing two men pulling on car door handles in the restaurant’s parking lot.
A deputy found the men and confronted them. The deputy let them go only to see one of the men walk onto the property of a convenience store from which he’d previously been trespassed. The deputy arrested him.
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Flagler Beach will hold its event on July 4. How the cities will schedule the event in future years has not been determined.
JONATHAN SIMMONS
NEWS EDITOR
Palm Coast will keep its Independence Day fireworks celebration on July 3 this year while Flagler Beach will hold its traditional fireworks show on July 4, despite the Palm Coast City Council’s previous discussion about switching Palm Coast’s event to July 4.
What will occur with Independence Day fireworks scheduling in future years remains uncertain, and Palm Coast City Council members are expected to discuss it at a meeting at some point in the future. Palm Coast will work with Flagler Beach and the county government to "formulate a long-term approach for future events," according to a Palm Coast city government news release.
The Flagler Beach City Commission is at this point not scheduled to discuss the issue again, Flagler Beach City Manager William Whitson said.
This will be the first time Flagler Beach has held its July 4 fireworks event since the beginning of the pandemic: The July 4 celebration was canceled in 2020 and 2021, and Flagler Beach had considered not holding fireworks in 2022. It convened an “Ad Hoc Fourth of July Findings Committee” to study whether the city should hold a fireworks show this year, and, if so, how it could do so while mitigating some of the problems — underage drinking, littering — that have tended to accompany the flood of revelers.
But a few weeks after the committee delivered its findings, recommending that the Flagler Beach Independence Day event move forward with July 4 fireworks, several City Council members from Palm Coast — which has traditionally held its Independence Day fireworks event on July 3 to avoid conflicting with Flagler Beach’s July 4 event — proposed switching Palm Coast’s event to July 4.
When the Palm Coast City Council discussed fireworks again at a meeting on Jan. 18, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Community Policing Division Chief told the council that simultaneous events in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach on July 4 would strain local law enforcement.
Council members then discussed the possibility of Palm Coast swapping dates with Flagler Beach every year, so that Palm Coast would have a July 4 event one year while Flagler Beach would take July 3, and the two would switch dates the next year.
Flagler Beach, which traditionally launches its fireworks from the end of the Flagler Beach pier, won’t have a pier next year: The pier is scheduled for reconstruction.
But Scott Spradley, the chairman of Flagler Beach’s Ad Hoc Fourth of July Findings Committee, had noted a potential complication with holding a Palm Coast event on July 4 that could remain even if Flagler Beach doesn’t hold July 4 fireworks: People tend to flock to the beach on July 4.
Holding a fireworks event in Palm Coast on July 4 and moving or canceling Flagler Beach’s July 4 fireworks event wouldn’t necessarily mean that there wouldn’t still be a large gathering of beachgoers in Flagler Beach the same night, requiring heightened policing there as well as at the Palm Coast event.
Since the Jan. 18 Palm Coast City Council meeting, Whitson and Palm Coast Interim City Manager Denise Bevan coordinated and planned for a Palm Coast event on July 3 and Flagler Beach event on July 4 this summer.
Palm Coast’s event will be different this year: Instead of its usual site at Palm Coast’s Town Center, the Independence Day celebration will be held at the Flagler Executive Airport.
The shift to the airport will allow for a greater clearance area around the launch location, so the city will be able to use larger fireworks shells, Airport Director Roy Sieger told Flagler County commissioners during a Jan. 24 County Commission meeting.
The Independence Day celebration would be a joint event between Flagler County and the city of Palm Coast, starting at 4 p.m. and ending after a 9 p.m. fireworks show, he said.
Flagler County Commissioner David Sullivan noted that the county’s Tourist Development Council money would fund the fireworks show, and, with the shift the airport, would now be held at a county venue.
“I suppose it’s still Palm Coast’s fireworks, but to a certain degree it’s really the county’s fireworks,” Sullivan said.
County commissioners supported the plan to hold the July 3 fireworks event at the airport.
“I think it’s a wonderful way to utilize the airport in other ways as we grow into the Executive Airport,” Commissioner Joe Mullins said.
Email jonathan@palmcoastobserver.com.
WILLIAM WHITSON, Flagler Beach city manager
JOE MULLINS, Flagler County commissioner
FIRST INSERTION
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA will hold a public hearing as authorized by law at 7:00 P.M. on the 14th day of February 2022, for the purpose of a second and final reading of Ordinance 2021-44, in the Chambers Meeting Room of the Government Services Building located at 1769 East Moody Blvd., Bunnell, FL 32110.
ORDINANCE 2021-44 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA, PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE BUNNELL CITY CHARTER; PROPOSING A CHARTER AMENDMENT PROVIDING FOR RESIDENCY DISTRICTS FOR THE ELECTION OF CITY COMMISSIONERS; PROVIDING FOR A REFERENDUM ON THE PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT; PROVIDING FOR A BALLOT TITLE AND BALLOT SUMMARY FOR SUCH REFERENDUM; PROVIDING FOR DIRECTION TO THE CITY CLERK AND COORDINATION WITH THE FLAGLER COUNTY SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS; AND PROVIDING FOR FINDINGS, CONFLICTS, SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ALL INTERESTED PERSONS ARE
INVITED TO PARTICIPATE as may be legally permitted on the day of the meeting. Instructions on how to participate by electronic or other means if in person participation is not legally permitted can be found on the City of Bunnell’s website at www.bunnellcity.us by clicking on the banner on the City’s homepage. Questions regarding use of available technology to access the public hearing can be answered by calling (386) 437-7500. The public is advised to check the City’s website for up-to-date information on any changes to the manner in which the meeting will be held and the location. The failure of a person to appear during said hearing and comment on or object to the proposed Ordinance, either in person or in writing, might preclude the ability of such person to contest the Ordinance at a later date. A copy of all pertinent information this ordinance can be obtained at the office of the Bunnell Customer Service Office, 604 E. Moody Blvd. Unit 6, Bunnell, FL 32110. Persons with disabilities needing assistance to attend this proceeding should contact the Bunnell City Clerk at (386) 437-7500 x 5 at least 48-business hours prior to the meeting. If a person decides to appeal any decision 374107-1 made by the City Commission on this matter a recording of the proceeding may be needed and for such purposes the person may need to ensure that a verbatim record is made which includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. (Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes) February 3, 2022 22-00010F FIRST INSERTION
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA will hold a public hearing as authorized by law at 7:00 P.M. on the 14th day of February 2022, for the purpose of a second and final reading of Ordinance 2022-02, in the Chambers
Meeting Room of the Government Services Building located at 1769 East Moody Blvd., Bunnell, FL 32110. ORDINANCE 2022-02 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA PROVIDING
FOR THE REZONING OF REAL PROPERTY TOTALING APPROXIMATELY 552.5± ACRES, OWNED BY MIIDDLE HAW CREEK LAND LLC, BEARING
PARCEL ID’S: 19-13-30-1650-01060-0030, 18-13-30-0000-01020-0000, AND 07-13-30-0000-03010-0030 LOCATED ON THE EAST SIDE OF STATE ROAD 11 APPROXIMATELY 1.1 MILES NORTH OF COUNTY ROAD 304 WITHIN THE
BUNNELL CITY LIMITS FROM FLAGLER COUNTY, “AC, AGRICULTURE”
TO CITY OF BUNNELL, “AG&S, AGRICULTURAL & SILVACULTURE” AND
“C-1, CONSERVATION”; PROVIDING FOR THE TAKING OF IMPLEMENTING ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS; PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF MAPS BY
REFERENCE; REPEALING ALL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING
FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR NON-CODIFICATION AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ALL INTERESTED PERSONS ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE as may be legally permitted on the day of the meeting. Instructions on how to participate by electronic or other means if in person participation is not legally permitted can be found on the City of
Bunnell’s website at www.bunnellcity.us by clicking on the banner on the City’s homepage. Questions regarding use of available technology to access the public hearing can be answered by calling (386) 437-7500. The public is advised to check the City’s website for up-to-date information on any changes to the manner in which the meeting will be held and the location. The failure of a person to appear during said hearing and comment on or object to the proposed Ordinance, either in person or in writing, might preclude the ability of such person to contest the Ordinance at a later date. A copy of all pertinent information this ordinance can be obtained at the office of the Bunnell Customer Service Office, 604 E. Moody Blvd. Unit 6, Bunnell, FL 32110. Persons with disabilities needing assistance to attend this proceeding should contact the Bunnell City Clerk at (386) 437-7500 x 5 at least 48-business hours prior to the meeting.
If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Commission on this matter a recording of the proceeding may be needed and for such purposes the person may need to ensure that a verbatim record is made which includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. (Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes)
374108-1
February 3, 2022 22-00011F
Flagler Beach updates hotel design standards
The city's required architectural elements are designed to ‘reduce the appearance of high building density or bulk.’
JONATHAN SIMMONS
NEWS EDITOR
Flagler Beach is amending its Land Development Code to add regulations distinguishing multifamily housing, hotels, motels and boarding houses, with particular design requirements.
Similar requirements already exist in the city’s downtown mixed-use area, but not elsewhere.
“We have architectural guidelines for the downtown mixed-use district, but we don’t have architectural guidelines, per se, for multifamily and non-residential buildings in the balance in the city,” City Planner Larry Torino said at a Jan. 27 Flagler Beach City Commission meeting. “We ... felt it would be prudent to introduce architectural guidelines, site design principles, that are similar in nature to what we find in the next use district.”
The Land Development Code previously lumped hotels, motels and boarding houses together in one definition.
The rewritten section defines them separately, identifying a hotel as transient commercial lodging with rental units exiting into internal corridors, a motel as a lodging establishment with individual rentals exiting to the exterior, and a boarding house as a building other than a hotel, motel or restaurant where meals and/or lodging are provided for three or more people, without cooking or dining facilities in individual rooms.
All multifamily and nonresidential buildings must be constructed in one of the architectural styles recognized by the city — classic revival, Key West Caribbean, St. Augustine/Anglo Caribbean, Florida vernacular, Spanish mission, or Mediterranean. They can not exceed 200 feet in length on the mainland, or, with the exception of hotels, 150 feet on the island.
The architecture must incorporate design elements that “reduce the appearance of high building density or bulk,” like balconies, colonnades or pavilions.
FIRST INSERTION
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA will hold a public hearing as authorized by law at 7:00 P.M. on the 14th day of February 2022, for the purpose of a second and final reading of Ordinance 2022-03, in the Chambers
Meeting Room of the Government Services Building located at 1769 East Moody Blvd., Bunnell, FL 32110. ORDINANCE 2022-03
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BUNNELL, FLORIDA PROVIDING FOR
THE REZONING OF REAL PROPERTY TOTALING APPROXIMATELY 200± ACRES, OWNED BY DEEN PROPERTIES LLC, BEARING PARCEL ID’S: 11-12-290000-01031-0000 AND 11-12-29-0000-04040-0000, LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 15 AND COUNTY ROAD 302 WITHIN THE BUNNELL CITY LIMITS FROM FLAGLER COUNTY, “AC, AGRICULTURE”
TO CITY OF BUNNELL, “AG&S, AGRICULTURAL & SILVACULTURE” AND
“C-1, CONSERVATION”; PROVIDING FOR THE TAKING OF IMPLEMENTING ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS; PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF MAPS BY
REFERENCE; REPEALING ALL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING
FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR NON-CODIFICATION AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ALL INTERESTED PERSONS ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE as may be legally permitted on the day of the meeting. Instructions on how to participate by electronic or other means if in person participation is not legally permitted can be found on the City of
Bunnell’s website at www.bunnellcity.us by clicking on the banner on the City’s homepage. Questions regarding use of available technology to access the public hearing can be answered by calling (386) 437-7500. The public is advised to check the City’s website for up-to-date information on any changes to the manner in which the meeting will be held and the location. The failure of a person to appear during said hearing and comment on or object to the proposed Ordinance, either in person or in writing, might preclude the ability of such person to contest the Ordinance at a later date. A copy of all pertinent information this ordinance can be obtained at the office of the Bunnell Customer Service Office, 604 E. Moody Blvd. Unit 6, Bunnell, FL 32110. Persons with disabilities needing assistance to attend this proceeding should contact the Bunnell City Clerk at (386) 437-7500 x 5 at least 48-business hours prior to the meeting.
If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Commission on this matter a recording of the proceeding may be needed and for such purposes the person may need to ensure that a verbatim record is made which includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. (Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes)
February 3, 2022 22-00012F
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