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
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
Copyright 2025 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longtime residents say it\u2019s impossible not to notice how much Martin County has changed over the years. \u201cAs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-34122","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"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34122","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=34122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}