INDIANTOWN, Fla. (CBS12) — The legal battle over a massive 5,722-acre development in Martin County has come to an abrupt end, as court documents show that a lawsuit challenging the annexation and rezoning of the Tesoro Groves Planned Unit Development (PUD) has been voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.

The lawsuit, originally filed by a local non-profit group and several individual residents, targeted both the Village of Indiantown and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL). On July 2, 2026, attorneys representing all involved parties submitted a Joint Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal with Prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs cannot refile the same claims against the defendants in the future.

The legal challenge began after the Indiantown Village Council voted unanimously to approve a rezoning agreement and master site plan for the agricultural parcel, reclassifying it as a Planned Unit Development (PUD) designated for light industrial use.

The Indiantown Village Council voted unanimously April 30 to assign the property a Planned Unit Development zoning classification. FPL said in court filings that the final annexation vote had occurred earlier, on Feb. 12, 2026.

Before the case was dismissed, FPL had argued the lawsuit should fail on several grounds, including that the plaintiffs lacked standing and that any challenge to the annexation was time-barred. The utility said the annexation ordinance was adopted Feb. 12, while the lawsuit was not filed until May 25, which FPL argued was outside the 30-day window for challenging an annexation. FPL also disputed the plaintiffs’ description of the April 30 vote, saying that meeting dealt with assigning the property a PUD zoning classification rather than the final annexation vote.

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While the explicit phrasing “data center” does not appear in the legal filings, the land contested in this lawsuit is the exact footprint of a heavily debated data center project. FPL’s approved framework for the Tesoro Groves site leaves the door open for multiple high-intensity technological uses, including hyperscale AI data centers, research facilities, and supplemental utility infrastructure like battery storage and solar arrays.

Local opposition to the rezoning had heavily centered on the massive resource demands of modern AI data centers, which can consume millions of gallons of water daily for cooling and put major strain on the local electrical grid.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs claimed nearby residents could be harmed by increased traffic on Kanner Highway, noise and light pollution from 24/7 industrial operations, damage to the area’s rural character and possible impacts on property values. They also raised concerns about water capacity, alleging village staff had acknowledged the village was already at capacity with water before industrial development and that the project was approved without a cumulative aquifer impact analysis.

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FPL and village planning officials countered that the PUD framework tightly restricts total development to under 1% of the total acreage, balancing economic growth with environmental guardrails.

With the lawsuit now formally dismissed, the light industrial PUD framework stands, clearing a major legal hurdle for FPL’s future development plans on the Treasure Coast.