On Nov. 4, the Port St. Lucie City Council held a special meeting serving as the second hearing for the proposed Ebenezer Soccer Stadium project.<\/p>\n
To be built at the Walton & One site, the controversial 6,000-seat stadium has drawn major attention from residents both in support of and against the project.<\/p>\n
In addition to the stadium, a United Soccer League team will be established in Port St. Lucie and play its home games there.<\/p>\n
The project is estimated to cost $55 million, with up to $27.5 million eligible for reimbursement through tax-increment financing (TIF) revenue over 20 years at about $1.3 million annually, contingent on board approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeneral fund dollars are not going to be used for this stadium project, or to reimburse the operator or the developer,\u201d said Jennifer Davis, director of the city\u2019s Community Redevelopment Agency.<\/p>\n
Pete Tesch, president of the St. Lucie Economic Development Council, highlighted the potential financial impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the new construction, we anticipate a one-time impact of 557 jobs and an output of $79 million,\u201d he said. \u201cThose new jobs for the recurring impact is 232. Indirect is 148 and induced 81, for 461 total jobs. The total output, from an economic basis, is about $38.7 million.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick Hatcher, CEO of Play Treasure Coast Sports Commission, also emphasized the benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cSports tourism over the last three years in Port St. Lucie has generated over $100 million of economic impact, so we are excited about having another venue here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the project spoke about its cultural importance as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a place for kids to have big dreams and big aspirations,\u201d said Christopher Corey, World Cup 2026 liaison for the city of Miami, who operates several soccer schools on the Treasure Coast. \u201cEvery single neighborhood in Port St. Lucie, no matter the background, they speak this global language of soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Lucie Schools Superintendent Dr. Jon Prince said he sees potential for collaboration between the stadium and local schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do see opportunity for this stadium,\u201d he said. \u201cI see an extension of our Classrooms to Careers program. I see an opportunity for pre-apprenticeships and internships with a professional soccer club. This is an opportunity for the schools to have synergy.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, several residents voiced concerns over traffic, noise, and the project\u2019s overall impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a noise issue that no one\u2019s said anything about,\u201d said resident Brian Jack, who also raised concerns about parking and traffic along U.S. 1. \u201cWhen I look at the traffic, currently U.S. 1 is jammed many times. There is no other north-south major transportation way other than U.S. 1. A lot of things haven\u2019t been addressed like parking and traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilman David Pickett responded that the city already manages traffic during large events in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur police maintain the traffic,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a mitigation plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Shannon Martin assured residents that the development agreement requires the stadium\u2019s developer to provide adequate parking, security, and a traffic management plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the traffic issues will be addressed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot one time did anybody in my community and this neighborhood say \u2018this is what we want,\u2019\u201d said Jennifer Harris, a resident who lives near the proposed site. Harris raised additional concerns about safety, overdevelopment, and whether ticket sales would be sustainable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t fill St. Lucie\u2019s Mets\u2019 stadium, it\u2019s empty,\u201d said resident Steven Russo. \u201cYou can\u2019t even fill it halfway. You\u2019re talking about a 6,000-seat project; that stadium doesn\u2019t get utilized.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trent Ackleson, who organized a petition opposing the stadium that has gathered more than 2,000 signatures, expressed doubts about the project\u2019s viability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe league\u2019s history shows zero profit for any team,\u201d Ackleson said. \u201cYour own development agreement is a blank check; it waives all responsibility for the team\u2019s financial failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilman Anthony Bonna emphasized that taxpayers would not be on the hook if the project failed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is in a CRA. It\u2019s using tax-increment funding, and it removes the risk from the taxpayers,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the stadium doesn\u2019t come, those dollars aren\u2019t going to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some residents also questioned the choice of location.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not opposed to a stadium, I want to be upfront with that. But I think the location, as others have stated, is the major concern here,\u201d said one resident. \u201cBacking up the neighborhoods, access in and out to get there, not only for people coming to the games, but our emergency services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonna addressed that issue, noting that the current site allows the city to use TIF revenue rather than taxpayer funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we are able to use TIF revenue is because this is located within the CRA,\u201d he said. \u201cA different location, we wouldn\u2019t be able to do that. We would have to use taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other residents criticized what they called a lack of transparency, arguing that negotiations with the developer and league occurred before the public was informed.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, that\u2019s a lack of transparency to the community,\u201d one resident said.<\/p>\n
Vice Mayor Jolien Caraballo responded that confidentiality during early development stages is allowed under state law.<\/p>\n
\u201cProject names are utilized for economic development projects in order to allow the private sector to do business with municipalities in ensuring their trade secrets are protected until such time that the municipality is going to move forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Bonna added that the public hearings themselves are part of the transparency process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not accurate to say there\u2019s no public reading,\u201d he said. \u201cInput does matter. Even if the decision stays the same, some of your comments may shape how this becomes reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
A motion was filed for both readings of the project and passed unanimously, moving the stadium plan forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Nov. 4, the Port St. Lucie City Council held a special meeting serving as the second hearing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-35479","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\/35479","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=35479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}