Proposed fuel storage facility in Palm Coast draws concerns from residents

• Belvedere Terminals has proposed a fuel transit system in Palm Coast, which would involve transporting fuel by train to a storage and transfer station.
• Residents have raised concerns about the safety and environmental risks associated with the project, citing potential for accidents, spills, and impact on property values.
• The Palm Coast City Council is currently reviewing the proposal and will have the final say on its approval.

A Tuesday meeting of the Palm Coast City Council was supposed to focus on interviewing candidates for a vacant council position, but Belvedere Terminals’ plans to build a fuel storage and distribution facility here took center stage.

Residents at the meeting expressed their concerns about the proposed project, especially the risks it might pose to the community.

If the plan is approved and the facility built, crews will load 125-car trains with barrels of fuel in a hub in Mississippi. Those trains will deliver the fuel product to “spur locations” in Jacksonville, Ft. Pierce and eventually Palm Coast.

Belvedere says it’s an efficient, safe system designed to streamline the process of accessing pipelines, transferring fuel and delivering it to other parts of Florida and the country, especially rural markets. Belvedere Terminals’ proposed Palm Coast facility could potentially handle as many as 300,000 barrels of fuel per shipment.

‘You’re putting our lives at risk’

Some residents at the meeting were skeptical of the plan.

Palm Coast resident Angela Dawson said, “It sounds as bad to me as a nuclear waste site. …homes will be devalued, and what about a mass casualty event? You’re putting our lives at risk, now and into the future.”

Another resident, Wayne Bruce, said, “This is gallons of diesel fuel you’re talking about. …” we need to study the risks. I’m very concerned about what’s going to happen to our beautiful city.”

Diesel fuel would be just one of several products such as gasoline, ethanol, propane and other sources of energy that would go through the terminal.

How safe would the fuel terminal be?

Belvedere’s Chief Financial Officer Tim Schwartz said in a follow-up interview with The News-Journal on Wednesday that he understands residents’ reservations.

“We want to allay any concerns and be as transparent as possible,” Schwartz added.

Schwartz said that the community should feel assured about the safety mechanisms and scenarios that the company has built into the depot.

Schwartz said the storage tanks will be state of the art, with advanced lightning protection systems and floating roofs to prevent vapor and air from accumulating and risking ignition. Each tank would have a foam suppression system that would be immediately triggered to put out a fire if something did happen, he said.

“Any incident — and we don’t anticipate any — would be contained within the property and not get into groundwater or be airborne,” Schwartz added.

While some residents were concerned that a hurricane or storm could knock out power to the depot, Schwartz assured them that backup electrical systems would be in place.

Also, if a locomotive or one of the cars malfunctioned, the depot would be notified immediately and the train would be pulled for repairs, he said.

“We plan to work closely with the city’s utilities, fire and police departments,” Schwartz said.

Could Palm Coast lose out on benefits of the project?

Led by Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri, the council discussed commissioning a survey study of the property before any shovels struck dirt.

Council members mostly agreed.

“If this is the spot, this is the spot,” Pontieri said, “but I don’t think we need to sell ourselves short.”

Mayor Mike Norris, who supports the project, disagreed with the idea of the study, concerned that in the interim, Belvedere could shift its focus to another community and the city would lose out on its goal of westward expansion and industrial development written into the city’s comprehensive plan.

Why Palm Coast for Belvedere Terminals?

Belvedere had first looked to Ormond Beach but its city council eventually rejected the plan in 2024 for many of the same reasons that concern Palm Coast residents.

“Ormond rejected it; it shouldn’t be here either,” Dawson told the council.

Schwartz said Palm Coast had always been on the short list of potential locations, especially the parcel of land on which the fuel farm would be built. The St. Petersburg-based company has been working on plans for the fuel system for nearly a decade, Schwartz said.

The site is adjacent to railroad tracks, making it a good fit for the fuel storage and distribution terminal the company intends to build on more than 70 acres near the city’s utility plant off U.S. 1 and Peavy Grade, according to Flagler County government. 

Relocation of the terminal to Palm Coast was made public on March 27.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, Schwartz told The News-Journal initial talks with local officials have been positive.

But a Change.org petition urging local officials to reject the project had garnered more than 1,600 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Palm Coast and Flagler County to work together on the plan

There’s a pretty big incentive for Flagler County and Palm Coast to work together through the review process: government funding is at stake.

The Florida Department of Commerce has agreed to a $10 million appropriation toward the facility. Belvedere Terminals plans to invest as much as $75 million to build it.

The facility would bring revenue into Flagler County and Palm Coast by providing jobs, diversifying the tax base and increase property tax revenue, Schwartz said.

It is early in the approval process and Belvedere hasn’t submitted a formal proposal to Palm Coast yet, but since the area is already zoned for industrial development, a variance would not be needed.

Although the state appropriation requires Flagler County to apply for and receive the grant funding, when it comes to the project itself, Palm Coast gets the final say since the property is located within its jurisdiction.

Schwartz said, if approved, construction could begin by the end of this year.

Staff writer Sheldon Gardner contributed to this story.