Flagler Beach struggles to keep up with demand VCS superintendent, attorney rated well by School Board

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

The consensus was unanimous: Flagler Beach needs help.

Representatives from all of Flagler County’s municipalities gathered at Flagler Beach City Hall on June 21 to discuss issues facing the whole county. The main topic of discussion was overcrowding in Flagler Beach as more people visit or move to Flagler County.

“You’re right, you’re in trouble,” Beverly Beach Mayor Stephen Emmett said. “We haven’t had a problem yet, but it’s coming.”

Flagler Beach Commission Chair Eric Cooley said the problem came to the commission’s attention as it was looking at the city’s and county’s expected growth over the next five years.

Flagler Beach has little room to expand or change, he said, but the number of people coming to the beach is only increasing.

“This whole county, and then also the surrounding area, is all being funneled into this little, tiny piece right here,” Cooley said.

Cooley and Commissioner Scott Spradley asked their fellow governing officials for potential solutions.

The problem has several layers. The first is a bottleneck: State Road 100 is the county’s only non-toll bridge to the beaches and dead-ends on State Road A1A, amid Flagler Beach’s businesses and across from the pier.

That ties into the city’s parking problem. Parking is limited, Cooley said, and most of the spaces along S.R. A1A serve local businesses that draw tourists looking for amenities as they visit the beach.

But that also means that casual beachgoers — Flagler County residents who are going to the beach, but not necessarily the businesses nearby — take up parking spaces in front of businesses because there is nowhere else to park, Cooley said.

Emmett said his city is already