Local Funeral Home Expansion Plans Nixed by Governmental Regulations

A funeral home’s plans for an Intracoastal Waterway frontage facility failed to meet regulatory requirements.

PALM COAST, FL – APRIL 1, 2021 – A funeral home’s innovative plans for a facility in Flagler Beach failed to advance beyond the city’s planning board recently. The plans had included a full-service facility, including a mausoleum, on a tranquil setting overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.

The mausoleum presented the first hurdle. Apparently, mausoleums are not separately specified in the Flagler Beach Land Development Code (LDC). After heated debate, the planning board settled on an interpretation of the LDC that would apply the code standards written for multi-family dwellings. State fire codes require all multi-family dwellings higher than three stories to have elevators.

A strong argument was made that the “residents” of the Mausoleum would likely not be entering and leaving the facility on a regulatory base, but the plan ultimately failed on another score. It turns out that the proposed Intracoastal Waterway location was in a “NO WAKE ZONE.”

As I say each year on April Fool’s Day, I hope you are having as much fun today as I am.