Three hours of tense discussion about rezoning abandoned farms near Lakewood Park took up most of the Sept. 15 Board of County Commissioners meeting.
Commissioners, in a 3-2 vote, delayed plans to rezone a 126-acre plat directly south of Indrio Road between Seminole Road and Emerson Avenue for more houses. They will revisit the item at their Oct. 20 meeting.
Developers from Haley Ward floated plans to establish The Club at Indrio Creek, a community of up to “375” single-family homes, county documents say. Like many St. Lucie communities, it would take up space in abandoned citrus farms out west.
Frayed talks between county workers and developers that evening coalesced around county code that prevented new roads being built at Indrio Creek.
Seminole Road, a dirt road, would remain unpaved as Haley Ward did not propose any improvement there, wrote Land Planner Brad Currie, AICP, in a Sept. 4 letter to County Planning Director Irene Szedlmayer.
Miscommunication led to the evening’s disagreements.
“I think we are equally to blame on this,” Currie said on the dais. He brought forth his complaints in an 11-point presentation outlining which parts of the mobility plan he took issue with, mostly around Seminole Road.
The layout of Indrio Creek uses a curved, 80-foot-wide right-of-way between Emerson and Seminole, county schematics show. Another 50-foot-wide road would run almost the same length directly south.
Both roads would link to an urbanized network of sidewalks and bike paths. Currie had not planned a community “that has this much pedestrian circulation on it,” he said.
But no progress could be made toward its proposal.
“I agree; I could’ve been a little more clear on it,” Currie said. “My experience with the county is that they have not required paving it to a standard if it’s only there for emergency access.”
Currie introduced Robert Raynes, a land use attorney with the Gunster firm of Stuart, to reinforce his points. Raynes took to the podium with road planner Shaun MacKenzie of Mackenzie Engineering, Inc.
Questioned under oath by Raynes, Mackenzie agreed that emergency vehicles needed connections along Seminole Road. But he disagreed with two points regarding the nature of what the road gave both homeowners and visitors.
The plat would still have to contend with more cars despite parks within the development and along Indrio Road. “Building more roads does not reduce vehicular trips,” Mackenzie said. “It does quite the opposite.”
“Future” code given in the comprehensive plan allows for paved roads and sidewalks linking “adjacent developed” neighborhoods, Mackenzie said. But no such neighborhood exists nearby. “There is nothing developed around it.”
Mackenzie doubted Seminole could ever be paved to provide access to the community. “I don’t believe that it can,” he said.
Even in agreement, the commission took issue with the traffic Indrio Creek would generate. “You got 300-some-odd units dumping out,” said Commissioner Larry Leet, who approved the delay. “The majority of this is, I’m going to say, working-class families; they’re going to be dumping out on one road.”
Commissioners Erin Lowry and James Clasby dissented. Both brought attention to “restored habitats” bordering the community. Lowry, despite praising Currie on planning more habitats, said Indrio Creek could not handle “600 cars” a day. “As much as we don’t want to pave Seminole, I’m really concerned of what that’s going to do down the road.”
Clasby, before voting no, agreed with Lowry and Leet on how the plat could be “incompatible” for such dense traffic, he said. His “grounds for denial” focused on surrounding habitats allowing for more homes there.
Szedlmayer confirmed this was true. She added their inclusion would be a “multiplier” toward holding 2.5 acres of homes for every acre of habitat.
Commissioner Cathy Townsend, in her approval, noted the disappointment of two locals near Seminole Road who voiced public complaints that night. “This is a lifestyle that they’re accustomed to,” she said. “I would want to do everything I could to keep traffic off of it.”
But she stressed there’s a limited window to give final approval for Indrio Creek, given Haley Ward’s need to close on the land. “If it goes to November, it’s beyond their closing date,” said Townsend.