Project Butterfly is a proposed 610-acre Class I landfill west of Bunnell that has drawn strong opposition from Flagler County residents and local officials. After Bunnell’s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board approved a special exception for the project in a 3-1 vote, Flagler County moved to formally challenge the decision. The appeal will now go before the Bunnell City Commission, while the proposed landfill still faces additional permitting, environmental review and public hearings before construction could begin.

After Project Butterfly was revealed to be a proposed 610-acre Class I landfill west of Bunnell, residents pushed back — hard.

A packed Bunnell City Hall on September 1 heard resident after resident raise concerns about groundwater, nearby farms, truck traffic, odors, property values and the limited amount of time the public had to review the proposal. Details of the previously confidential Project Butterfly were made public only shortly before the hearing. Despite requests from residents and county leaders to delay or reject the proposal, the Bunnell Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board approved the special exception in a 3-1 vote.

Flagler County Is Now Challenging the Approval

That vote is no longer going unchallenged.

On September 14, Flagler County commissioners agreed to appeal Bunnell's approval of the special exception. The appeal will take the issue to the Bunnell City Commission. County officials say they have identified at least four significant concerns involving Bunnell's land development code, the Bunnell and Flagler County comprehensive plans, compatibility and coordination between the two governments.

Commissioner Andy Dance also pointed to the limited amount of time the county had to fully evaluate the proposal before the September 1 hearing.

Commissioner Greg Hansen made the county's position particularly clear: “We just have to stop it.”

What Happens Next?

The county's appeal does not mean Project Butterfly has officially been stopped.

The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board's special-exception approval remains in place while the challenge moves forward. The Bunnell City Commission will hear the appeal. If the city upholds the planning board's decision, county officials say Florida's Chapter 164 governmental dispute-resolution process could be the next step before potential litigation.

The September 1 approval also does not give the developer permission to begin construction. The proposed landfill would still require additional environmental permitting, technical studies and major site-plan approval, including another public hearing.

For residents who packed City Hall after learning what Project Butterfly actually was, the county's appeal represents the first formal governmental challenge to the landfill proposal.

For now, Project Butterfly isn't dead — but the fight over the proposed Bunnell landfill has entered a new phase.