MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Longtime residents say it\u2019s impossible not to notice how much Martin County has changed over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as growth, I see the natural flora being decimated,\u201d said John Wrobleuski, a Martin County resident of over 20 years.<\/p>\n
WATCH WPTV’S COVERAGE BELOW:<\/p>\n
Martin County residents divided over growth as officials report population up just 1.23%<\/p>\n
Families who have moved to the area more recently say they\u2019ve also noticed more development.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just expanding so much there are more buildings,\u201d said resident Cheryl Layton.<\/p>\n
Despite those perceptions, county data suggests the growth may not be as rapid as it appears. Martin County staff told commissioners at a Tuesday morning meeting that the population increased by 1.23% in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteady growth,\u201d said Clyde Dulin, comprehensive planning administrator for Martin County Growth Management. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some increases in growth, but it\u2019s all been less than 2% for the last four years \u2014 five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some residents, like Stuart resident Luseni, believe that consistent growth is important for the community\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as no growth, you either grow or you digress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Others question the data and say even small annual increases can add up over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe population growth, as far as I\u2019m concerned, has been enormous,\u201d Wrobleuski said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor my grandkids, when they\u2019re older, it\u2019s just going to be too expensive \u2014 no green space,\u201d Layton added.<\/p>\n
County staff also presented information on residential capacity within the Urban Service District, noting there is still room for future development.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have enough residential capacity in our Urban Service Districts to serve the projected housing needs for the next 10 and 20 years,\u201d Dulin said.<\/p>\n
The presentation comes as commissioners prepare to discuss whether to expand the Urban Service District at a board meeting scheduled for Nov. 18.<\/p>\n
For now, residents remain divided on whether growth in Martin County should slow down or continue at its current pace.<\/p>\n
Portions of this story were assisted by artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by a WPTV journalists to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to editorial standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Longtime residents say it\u2019s impossible not to notice how much Martin County has changed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2152,28,2156,1160,171,173,172,179,23609,12758],"class_list":{"0":"post-33716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-development","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-growth","11":"tag-martin-county","12":"tag-port-st-lucie","13":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","14":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","15":"tag-treasure-coast","16":"tag-urban-service-district","17":"tag-wptv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33716","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=33716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}