Update – November 2025

On September 8th, 2025, the Bunnell City Commission voted 3–2 to approve and adopt The Reserve at Haw Creek during its final (adoption) hearing.

 

While this vote allowed the City to transmit the plan, it does not end the fight.

A statutory legal action is now being prepared to hold the City accountable for missing critical state deadlines under Florida law — a violation that could void the adoption entirely.

 

We’ve launched a GoFundMe legal fund to cover attorney fees, certified records, and expert review.

Even small donations make a difference:

• 200 people giving $75 each = $15,000 goal met
• 500 people giving $30 each = goal met
• 1,000 people giving just $15 each = goal met

 

🔗 Donate or share HERE: https://gofund.me/644a4ce07

 

Your support — whether financial or by spreading the word — helps us keep this legal effort moving forward and gives time for conservation partners like the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation and NRCS to explore protection options for the land.

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We, the undersigned, urge the Bunnell City Commission and Flagler County leaders to withhold approval of The Reserve at Haw Creek as currently proposed. This 2,700+ acre development is not aligned with Bunnell’s rural character, comprehensive plan, or long-term infrastructure capacity — and if built in its current form, it would place irreversible strain on our community, our environment, and our tax base.

 

We are not anti-growth. We believe in smart, sustainable growth — the kind that strengthens existing neighborhoods, protects the environment, and ensures fiscal responsibility. But this sprawling development would do the opposite.

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📬 Contact Your Officials

Even though the second transmittal hearing passed, regional and state-level review is still ahead. These elected leaders need to hear from us now:

Senator Tom Leek – Florida Senate, District 7; Contact form: https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s7?pref=full

 

Rep. Sam Greco – Florida House, District 19; Contact form: https://www.flhouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/contactmember.aspx?MemberId=4906&SessionId=113

 

Rep. Randy Fine – U.S. House, Florida District 6; Contact form: https://fine.house.gov/contact/email-me

 

Senator Rick Scott – U.S. Senate, Florida; Contact form: https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/contact/contact

 

Senator Ashley Moody – U.S. Senate, Florida; Contact form: https://www.moody.senate.gov/contact-us/

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⚠️ September 8, 2025 – 2nd Transmittal Hearing Update:

Despite overwhelming public concern, The Reserve at Haw Creek passed its second and final transmittal hearing in a 3–2 vote by the Bunnell City Commission.

 

Voted YES: Mayor Catherine Robinson, Commissioner Pete Young, Commissioner Dean Sechrist

Voted NO: Vice Mayor John Rogers, Commissioner David Atkinson

 

We do not agree with this decision, and we believe it undermines the integrity of Bunnell’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan, which prioritizes rural protection, smart growth, and fiscal sustainability.

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🔎 What’s at Stake:

 

🌿 Irreplaceable Ecological Systems

The project area overlaps wetlands, aquifer recharge zones, floodplains, and rare habitats mapped by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) and Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). It sits within Priority 2 of the Florida Ecological Greenways Network (FEGN) — a crucial wildlife corridor pinch point connecting Ocala’s wildlands to the coast. Fragmenting this landscape threatens wildlife like black bears and bobcats, disrupts flood storage, and reduces natural resilience in a time of growing climate risk.

 

🛣 Traffic, Services & Rural Roads

Thousands of new homes and RV sites would funnel cars onto roads never designed for this scale of traffic, with no clear plan for widening, turn lanes, or safe pedestrian access. Increased emergency response times and school transportation delays are foreseeable impacts.

 

💸 Fiscal Risks for Taxpayers

This project would require major new infrastructure — roads, drainage, fire protection, and potentially long-term water and wastewater oversight. Research and case studies show that low-density residential sprawl often costs more in services than it generates in taxes, leading to long-term deficits. The City of Bunnell would bear that burden — not the developers.

 

📜 Violates Bunnell’s Own 2035 Comprehensive Plan

The Reserve site is currently zoned agricultural and lies far outside Bunnell’s designated Urban Core. Bunnell’s adopted plan calls for preserving rural lands, protecting natural systems, and focusing growth in areas already served by infrastructure. This proposal undermines those goals and weakens the integrity of the plan that residents helped shape.

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We understand that The Reserve at Haw Creek passed its second transmittal hearing in a 3–2 vote — but that does not mean the project is finalized.

 

There are still opportunities for intervention, modification, and accountability at the county and state level. The people of Flagler County deserve a say in how this land is developed — and under what conditions.

 

We now call on the City of Bunnell, Flagler County, and state oversight agencies to:

🔁 Reevaluate or condition the proposal before any final adoption or certification

🛑 Delay or deny approval until independent studies are completed — including environmental impact, traffic capacity, water demand, and long-term taxpayer costs

📘 Honor the 2035 Comprehensive Plan, which prioritizes smart growth, rural preservation, and environmental stewardship

🗣 Guarantee public input on any future revisions, mitigation measures, or developer agreements — especially for residents living near the proposed site

 

This project is too large, too risky, and too misaligned with our shared values to proceed unchecked.

Let’s demand a better outcome — one that protects our environment, respects our rural character, and ensures transparency at every level of review.

 

For maps, updates, and more info: https://linktr.ee/ProtectRuralBunnell