PORT ST. LUCIE \u2013 A super majority of the City Council here voted against giving the Murphy Oil Company a special exception use permit for a convenience store and gas station on Gatlin Boulevard in the General Commercial Zoning District on Jan. 26, citing traffic congestion concerns and the number of fuel stations already existing on that busy roadway.<\/p>\n
The Planning & Zoning Board had already recommended approval last May of both that SEC and another Murphy Oil request at the northeastern corner of Bayshore and Port St. Lucie boulevards.<\/p>\n
While the Council approved that last one on May 27, its members tabled the Gatlin location request in order to have staff address ongoing traffic concerns with the applicant. Planner Francis Forman introduced the continued item during the latest meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project site is located on the northwest corner of Southwest Gatlin Boulevard and Southwest Import Drive,\u201d he said. \u201cAccess will be off Gatlin Boulevard, as well as Import Drive. This item was previously in front of you on May 27, at which time staff recommended further offsite improvements. We have an agreement that the left-turn lane from Gatlin onto Import Drive will be extended as well as the right-turn lane from Import Drive onto Gatlin. The proposed use aligns with Goal 4 of the city\u2019s strategic plan by expanding job opportunities and supporting economic development. Staff does find the special exception use consistent with the criteria listed in city code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilman David Pickett was the first to pose questions and express concerns to staff afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you review the turn lane distances again?\u201d he asked. \u201cHow are you going to turn left?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Gatlin Boulevard onto Import Drive, there\u2019s a left-turn lane that\u2019s going to be extended,\u201d Forman replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut nobody uses that,\u201d Councilman Pickett insisted. \u201cThey make a U-turn. Also, is there going to be any turn lane coming from east going west to turn into the gas station? We already have a problem down the road at the Waffle House and 7 Brew Coffee, so now you\u2019re going to add a gas station there and create even more of a traffic jam.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public Works Director Colt Schwerdt then came to Forman\u2019s aide with more improvement details.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis existing left-turn lane on Gatlin was shown to have some concerns when staff came in,\u201d he said. \u201cThe applicant agreed to extend this for their impacts and the [other] left-turn lanes here. So, there will be some U-turns at Gatlin and Import to get into this site. There is a significant right-turn lane on Gatlin to help with those movements coming from the east heading west. On Import Drive, the right-turn lane\u2019s going to be extended by roughly 385 feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Schwerdt assured him there would be a deceleration lane added on Gatlin for right turns into the station, Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan made a motion for approval. When no one offered a second, Mayor Shannon Martin was about to call the motion failed when Vice-Mayor Jolien Caraballo suddenly seconded it for discussion via Zoom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard Councilman Pickett\u2019s concerns,\u201d she said. \u201cI haven\u2019t heard from Councilman [Anthony] Bonna. If there\u2019s going to be opposition, I\u2019d like to hear any other concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council Bonna, however, primarily lamented a comment Forman has made in recent in recent hearings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had presentations over several different items that mentioned alignment with Goal 4 on supporting jobs and economic development,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d like to know what that really means or how that\u2019s relevant. It kind of seems like a justification trying to push things through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Martin agreed, becoming the first Board member to oppose the request.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I read that, I was not happy with that statement,\u201d she said. \u201cI will not be supporting this item because there\u2019s plenty of gas stations on that strip of Gatlin Boulevard, and this is a very intense use.\u201d<\/p>\n
That prompted Councilman Pickett to join the opposition bandwagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nine gas stations from Port St. Lucie Boulevard to 95, and when BJ\u2019s gets built, that\u2019ll make the 10th, he said. \u201cDo we really need that many gas stations on that road? I think not, and my vote will be for no.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice-Mayor Caraballo immediately asked City Attorney Richard Berrios to read the city\u2019s criteria for quasi-judicial proceedings, which require decisions based on competent, substantial evidence. After Berrios cited city code sections that allowed denials of SEUs for \u201ctraffic and safety\u201d concerns and\/or uses that might \u201cimpair the health, safety, welfare or convenience of city workers,\u201d Carballo indirectly made her own intentions known with a separate question for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because I voted to second it does not necessarily mean that I have to vote to approve it, correct?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is correct,\u201d Berrios answered.<\/p>\n
Murphy USA\u2019s contracted Civil Engineer Aref Shahadeh also addressed the Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand your concern about the gas stations along the road, but I feel we\u2019ve gone out of our way to really increase the level of service,\u201d he said. \u201cSince May, we\u2019ve been working with Public Works, proposing the left-turn lane, the two right-turn lanes [and] the median. We\u2019ve already obtained our permits with South Florida, and I would just appreciate if you guys reconsider this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilwoman Morgan then challenged her colleagues\u2019 reasoning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith business, do we say, you\u2019ve got enough gas stations so you can\u2019t open a gas station?\u201d she asked. \u201cThat would be like saying, we\u2019ve got enough chicken places so I don\u2019t want another chicken place. I can\u2019t do that with business just because there\u2019s a gas station across the street or down the street.\u201d<\/p>\n
That put the other Council members on the defensive as most in the past have expressed pro-business stances. Even so, a different super-majority last Dec. 8 refused to grant a land-use change off Becker Road for Cleveland Clinic to build a free-standing emergency room and urgent care center due to similar traffic concerns and the fact the nearby Florida Coast Medical Center also opposed the change. Councilman Pickett likewise led the charge on that one, with the vice-mayor dissenting.<\/p>\n
After each Board Member provided more comments on the Gatlin Boulevard request and Shahadeh made a last-minute plea, the Council voted on Morgan\u2019s approval motion, which failed 1-4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2013 A super majority of the City Council here voted against giving the Murphy Oil…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":["post-154633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-st_lucie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154633","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=154633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}