County P&Z Board backs Angle Road rezoning | St. Lucie County

FORT PIERCE – The St. Lucie County Planning & Zoning Commission recommended the County Commission rezone a 20-acre agriculturally zoned Angle Road property to single and multifamily residential on Oct. 16 so a developer can construct an unspecified housing development in a rapidly evolving area.

Principal Planner Irene Szedimayer introduced the rezoning petition that evening that had been rescheduled from the P&Z Commission’s September meeting.

“This is the requested rezoning of 6465 Angle Road from the Agricultural/Residential-Zoning District to the Residential Multiple Family-5 Zoning District,” she said. “The property is about 20 acres and [lies] north of Orange Avenue to the east of Kings Highway. The future land use is residential urban, which allows up to five dwelling units an acre. On the west side are 40 acres of land that was the subject of the KRE future land use map amendment that allow up to 15 dwelling units per acre.”

Szedimayer proceeded to explain that other nearby proposed and approved higher-density residential developments were rapidly making the minimum one-acre lots of the current zoning obsolete. She emphasized that the Board would not be seeing a companion site plan that night because the applicant had requested a by-right zoning classification instead of a planned unit development.

“The property is in the Urban Services Boundary, so one-acre lots are may not be the most appropriate zoning,” she explained. “They’ve requested RM-5, which permits up to five dwelling units an acre. The RM-5 Zoning District permits detached single-family houses, duplexes, triplexes and multiple-family apartment buildings. This is a conventional zoning district, so there’s no development proposal before us for this application.”

The principal planner also touched on the county’s significant population growth since 1990, which has put a straining on available housing resources.

“There is belief that we need to increase the amount of housing available in St. Lucie County,” she continued. “Between 1990 and 2020, we had a population increase of 119 percent – we gained 179,000 people. In the four years between 2020 and 2024, it’s estimated that we gained a population of almost 108,000 people. We’re expected to have an additional 54 percent of the current population by 2050.”

Board Member William O’Dell was the first to pose a clarification question after Szedimayer’s recommendation of approval.

“Looking at the traffic report, it looks like the existing zoning has the potential to generate up to 1,064 daily trips,” he said. “Can Angle Road handle that increase in the level of service?”

“With the Eagle Bend and Pineapple Grove developments in the area, there will be roadway improvements required on Angle Road,” Szedimayer replied. “Right now, there’s limited infrastructure in the area, and that’s one of the reasons we have the Jenkins Road Area Plan in recognition of a more robust roadway infrastructure.”

Commissioner O’Dell still wanted more details, however.

“Do we know when that Jenkins Road connector is going to happen?” he prodded.

“It will be implemented and constructed as developments in the area move forward with final site-plan approvals,” Szedimayer explained. “As employment centers in the area develop, we are hopeful some people will have very short commutes. That will reduce the pressure on our transportation system.”

The applicant’s contracted Land Planner Leah Heinzelmann then came to the podium to provide a few more details, echoing much of Szedimayer’s presentation.

“We’re coming forward tonight with a rezoning application that matches the existing land use for the parcel,” she said. “We previously submitted this site for a land-use amendment to MXD, allowing for nine units an acre with a commercial out-parcel. However, we are looking 1761108126 to only rezone to RM-5 to match the existing land use for the property. Of all the RM Zonings, this has the lowest allowed density and supports the county’s objectives for controlled growth consistent with the comprehensive map and a future roadway expansion along Angle Road. This will allow future residents to live near the commercial and industrial job hub.”

Heinzelmann invited the developer himself, 6465 Angle LLC Principal Nicolaus Schroth, to address the Commission. Schroth subsequently told commissioners that his Islamorada Beer Company’s 60-plus employees could not find nearby housing near the company’s location across from the Treasure Coast International Airport. He also noted how the area’s industrial parks had filled up, whose employees could also just closer housing to their workplaces.

“There wasn’t any great housing options right around the Airport Industrial Park and Kings Highway Industrial Park,” he said. “Really, this [rezoning request]was driven from a little bit more than just land speculation: This was something we saw a need for.”

Afterward, Board Member Ed Lounda questioned how the developer planned to access the property.

“Is the applicant going to be using any of Jenkins Road for its entrances and exits, or is all of it going on Angle Road?” he asked.

Szedimayer emphasized that those issues would be handled when the developer submitted a site plan for consideration.

“It’s somewhat premature to try to detail what kind of road improvements will be required for this particular property because we don’t even know how many units will be developed,” she said. “We don’t know whether there’s cross-access easements and that kind of thing.”

Planning Manager Kori Benton then opined on the same issue at the request of Chairman Ryan Binner.

“To Commissioner Lounds’ inquiry, should the sole access for development on this parcel be via Angle Road before an advance of Jenkins Road connecting north to Angle Road, we would anticipate consideration of turn lanes,” he said. “In my mind, it would be a westbound left-turn in, but those turn lanes may not make it through the ultimate design plan for the extension of Jenkins Road in its intersection with Angle. The turn lanes that would eventually serve that intersection would most likely run in front of the northern property line of the site.”

The P&Z Commission then voted 5-1 to recommend approval to the City Commission, with Board Member Darren Guettler abstaining.