Residents say a proposed 610-acre landfill in Bunnell, Florida, threatens farms, water quality, roads, and the character of the town. The backlash reached a tipping point at a city commission meeting Monday after the project moved ahead without public input.
Here's what to know
According to FlaglerLive.com, five residents and the Flagler County government are challenging the Bunnell planning board's Sept. 1 vote, which approved a special exception for a landfill 3-1.
One of the arguments in those appeals was that the case should have gone to the City Commission instead of the planning board. At Monday's meeting, one of the main targets of the criticism was City Manager Alvin Jackson, who "kept [the landfill] secret for months," the outlet reported.
FlaglerLive.com said residents only learned about the project after Palm Coast and county officials, along with the media, pressured city leaders to reveal why they filed a land use application for a special exception. Residents accused leaders of letting a major industrial project move forward without enough public notice or adequate time for review.
"This is not how transparent, good faith governance works," West Flagler resident Matthew Ryden said at the meeting, per FlaglerLive.com. "It blindsides the public and severely limits the community's ability to review vital information, digest the impacts, and prepare informed feedback."
More background
For locals, the concerns go far beyond procedure. They warned that pollution from the landfill could damage nearby farms and ranches and argued that economic growth doesn't have to be at odds with preserving the town's natural resources and character.
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"I want to know whose brilliant idea it was to put a trash depot out here and truck all the trucks up to [State Road] 100 and tear up our roads, cost the community money," Cindy Stephen-Racin said at Monday's meeting, per FlaglerLive.com. "... Please, we beg you, don't put that landfill out there in our farms where our food is. Please don't destroy our land."
Neftali DeJesus, co-owner of Split Oak Ranch, told officials: "This landfill is atrocious. The way it's been handled, I think, is atrocious. And I'm kind of disappointed in y'all."
Another resident whose family owns about 900 acres said the landfill would be "catastrophic" and could "bankrupt the farmers."
What's being done?
City Attorney Paul Waters said the 30-day appeal window must close before the commission can schedule a special meeting to hear the appeals, per FlaglerLive.com.
At that hearing, the landfill application will be presented again, and each appeal will get its own vote. If the commission upholds the planning board's decision, any further challenge would move to circuit court.
Meanwhile, Allison Nobles has emerged as one of the leaders of the public opposition and said a petition against the landfill has surpassed 2,000 signatures.
"That number should matter," she said at the meeting. "This town was built on agriculture. Agriculture is not simply a part of Bunnell's history. It is part of our identity, our economy, and the reason many families have chosen to remain here for generations."
Where can I learn more?
The fight echoes similar clashes around the country over waste facilities, public oversight, and who lives with the consequences.
• In Miami-Dade County, officials faced backlash over the projected unequal impacts of a proposed trash incinerator.
• In Maine, lawmakers neared approval of a controversial landfill expansion despite fierce local resistance.
• In Oregon, landfill operators withheld details about where garbage juice goes amid expansion talks.
• In Tennessee, residents warned rural towns were at risk as lawmakers weighed changes to landfill control.
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