STUART — The City Commission voted Aug. 10 to have staff return with a resolution for a November referendum that would give Stuart voters the choice of undoing a 2011 referendum that set aside a two-acre commercial parcel near Haney Creek as a potential revenue source to help fund maintenance of the adjoining preserve.
City Attorney Lee Baggett introduced the agenda item. The proposal was initially suggested in July 2025 by former Mayor Christopher Collins, who resigned April 30 to run for the District 2 Martin County Commission seat being vacated by Commissioner Stacey Hetherington.
Since then, commissioners have struggled to move beyond 2-2 votes on several issues, postponing some matters until after the August primary election, when the commission will have a fifth member.
Commissioners previously debated the Haney Creek referendum May 26 before postponing it until a deliberation and discussion item could be scheduled.
“In 2011, the city went out to referendum on an approximately two-acre, commercially zoned parcel it had purchased,” Baggett said. “Instead of adding it to the Haney Creek preserve, they wanted to keep it separate so they could use income generated from leasing that parcel to help fund the maintenance of the park.”
Earlier this year, the commission directed staff to begin the process of converting the parcel to conservation land and adding it to the Haney Creek Preserve.
“Since in this instance we had to undo it, we needed to go back to the voters to undo that referendum,” Baggett said.
The city also has an interlocal agreement with Martin County concerning the property. That agreement would have to be amended if the land’s status changes.
“We had an interlocal agreement in which the county and the city agreed the property would be used to generate revenue to fund the maintenance of the park,” Baggett said. “So earlier this year, we had a resolution approving an amendment to that agreement. The county also passed a resolution agreeing to amend the interlocal, obviously conditional upon voter approval of the referendum.”
Community Services Director Jim Chrulski provided commissioners with a history of the Haney Creek property, which was named for early Stuart-area physician Horace J. Haney.
“The preserve protects part of the Haney Creek Watershed, which drains into the South Fork of the St. Lucie River,” Chrulski said. “The 157-acre preserve protects rare Florida habitats including coastal scrubland, pine flatwoods, wetlands and wet prairie.”
The preserve is supported by community funding through a voter-approved half-cent sales tax dedicated to environmental improvements. It opened to the public in 2016.
Chrulski said the city and Martin County purchased 51 acres of Haney Creek in 2011, the same year city voters approved setting aside the two acres of commercially zoned property as a potential funding source for maintaining preserve lands within the city limits.
The city has never successfully leased the property.
“The city explored several opportunities for the site,” Chrulski said. “Development plans included a restaurant, retail space, a hotel and even affordable housing. While several proposals were considered, none of them ultimately moved forward.”
In 2025, the commission authorized a trailhead on the U.S. 1 parcel. In 2026, after receiving an unsolicited proposal from RaceTrac, the commission decided to relocate the trailhead to Baker Road.
At that point, commissioners began discussing whether commercial development was still the highest and best use of the property.
The proposed resolution would establish ballot language asking voters to rescind the Nov. 8, 2011, referendum so the 1.97-acre parcel could be converted to conservation land and added to the Haney Creek Preserve.
Baggett also clarified the difference between the Haney Creek proposal and a separate ballfield referendum approved by the commission on first reading Aug. 3.
“There’s a lot of confusion between the ballfields and Haney Creek since we’re doing it simultaneously,” he said. “In the ballfields, we’re amending the city charter to protect it in the future. That was already done in Haney Creek, and we’re just complying with our city charter.”
After Mayor Sean Reed questioned staff and voiced his support for the resolution, Commissioner Campbell Rich argued that Stuart already has ample green space and could need potential income from the property if a property-tax referendum also on this year’s ballot passes.
Chrulski previously told commissioners the city has nearly three times the parkland required by its comprehensive plan, with a total of 731 acres of green space.
“We’re talking about one third of one percent of all the green space the city has,” Rich said. “Green space is a responsibility, [and] green space is an expense.”
Rich said if the property-tax referendum passes, parks could face cuts because other essential services would be difficult to reduce.
“The potential income from this property could be a million dollars over 10 years, and I do not want to deny the taxpayer the opportunity to earn that money,” he said.
Reed, however, said 64% of Martin County voters want more green space. Commissioner Laura Giobbi agreed.
“As the mayor said, in 2011 the citizens decided to approve this referendum, but a lot has changed over the last 15 years,” Giobbi said. “As more and more development happened, more green space was lost. We have an opportunity here. The people in the city — the taxpayers that own it — will be making the decision and not us.”
After further debate, Reed passed the gavel to Commissioner Clarke and made a motion to have staff return Aug. 17 with a resolution containing the proposed ballot language for final approval.
Giobbi seconded the motion, which passed 3-1, with Rich dissenting.