FORT PIERCE \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
Principal Planner Irene Szedimayer introduced the rezoning petition that evening that had been rescheduled from the P&Z Commission\u2019s September meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the requested rezoning of 6465 Angle Road from the Agricultural\/Residential-Zoning District to the Residential Multiple Family-5 Zoning District,\u201d she said. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe property is in the Urban Services Boundary, so one-acre lots are may not be the most appropriate zoning,\u201d she explained. \u201cThey\u2019ve 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\u2019s no development proposal before us for this application.\u201d<\/p>\n
The principal planner also touched on the county\u2019s significant population growth since 1990, which has put a straining on available housing resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is belief that we need to increase the amount of housing available in St. Lucie County,\u201d she continued. \u201cBetween 1990 and 2020, we had a population increase of 119 percent \u2013 we gained 179,000 people. In the four years between 2020 and 2024, it\u2019s estimated that we gained a population of almost 108,000 people. We\u2019re expected to have an additional 54 percent of the current population by 2050.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board Member William O\u2019Dell was the first to pose a clarification question after Szedimayer\u2019s recommendation of approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at the traffic report, it looks like the existing zoning has the potential to generate up to 1,064 daily trips,\u201d he said. \u201cCan Angle Road handle that increase in the level of service?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Eagle Bend and Pineapple Grove developments in the area, there will be roadway improvements required on Angle Road,\u201d Szedimayer replied. \u201cRight now, there\u2019s limited infrastructure in the area, and that\u2019s one of the reasons we have the Jenkins Road Area Plan in recognition of a more robust roadway infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner O\u2019Dell still wanted more details, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we know when that Jenkins Road connector is going to happen?\u201d he prodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be implemented and constructed as developments in the area move forward with final site-plan approvals,\u201d Szedimayer explained. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The applicant\u2019s contracted Land Planner Leah Heinzelmann then came to the podium to provide a few more details, echoing much of Szedimayer\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re coming forward tonight with a rezoning application that matches the existing land use for the parcel,\u201d she said. \u201cWe 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heinzelmann invited the developer himself, 6465 Angle LLC Principal Nicolaus Schroth, to address the Commission. Schroth subsequently told commissioners that his Islamorada Beer Company\u2019s 60-plus employees could not find nearby housing near the company\u2019s location across from the Treasure Coast International Airport. He also noted how the area\u2019s industrial parks had filled up, whose employees could also just closer housing to their workplaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere wasn\u2019t any great housing options right around the Airport Industrial Park and Kings Highway Industrial Park,\u201d he said. \u201cReally, this [rezoning request]was driven from a little bit more than just land speculation: This was something we saw a need for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterward, Board Member Ed Lounda questioned how the developer planned to access the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs the applicant going to be using any of Jenkins Road for its entrances and exits, or is all of it going on Angle Road?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Szedimayer emphasized that those issues would be handled when the developer submitted a site plan for consideration.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s somewhat premature to try to detail what kind of road improvements will be required for this particular property because we don\u2019t even know how many units will be developed,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know whether there\u2019s cross-access easements and that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Planning Manager Kori Benton then opined on the same issue at the request of Chairman Ryan Binner.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Commissioner Lounds\u2019 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,\u201d he said. \u201cIn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The P&Z Commission then voted 5-1 to recommend approval to the City Commission, with Board Member Darren Guettler abstaining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE \u2013 The St. Lucie County Planning & Zoning Commission recommended the County Commission rezone a 20-acre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":{"0":"post-15150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","11":"tag-st_lucie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}