PORT ST. LUCIE \u2013 City Council members found themselves defending their actions to frustrated Tradition-area residents July 27, prompting them to table a quasi-judicial rezoning request from the developer of the Riverland\/Kennedy Development of Regional Impact. The delay will give the developer\u2019s representatives time to meet with area homeowners and address their concerns.<\/p>\n
Planner Francis Forman introduced the controversial agenda item that evening to a packed Chambers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe item before you is the Riverland-West Sports & Recreation Master Planned Unit Development rezoning,\u201d he said. \u201cThe applicant is Azlina Goldstein with Riverland\/Kennedy II LLC. This site is located south of Southwest Discovery Way and east of Southwest Sundance Vista Boulevard. The request is to rezone approximately 33.23 acres from St. Lucie County Agricultural to Riverland-West Sports & Recreation MPUD.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forman proceeded to provide more details on the GL Homes request to develop the site in a manner that many Riverland homeowners claim is different than what was planned when they purchased their properties years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis site is designated Neighborhood Village Commercial, which allows a mixture of residential and non-residential uses such as commercial and offices, personal and household services, institutional, public facilities, parks, playgrounds and similar services,\u201d he explained. \u201cAny Neighborhood Village Commercial area must contain at least two of those uses. Currently the Riverland-West Sports & Recreation MPUD is proposing to provide about 135,000 square feet of indoor recreation with some commercial as well as some outdoor RV\/boat storage areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because the city had received numerous emails from nearby residents in opposition, Vice-Mayor Jolien Caraballo immediately asked City Attorney Richard Berrios to describe the formalities of the quasi-judicial process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a rezoning, which is limited to what Mr. Forman presented,\u201d Berrios said. \u201cNot part of it are things like landscaping, indoor and outdoor features and specifics of what it will ultimately be. Those things are better suited for the site-plan process. As far as the process here, the legislators take off their legislative hats and put on their judge robes, and it\u2019s limited to taking sworn testimony and the facts presented and applying them to a specific problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilman Anthony Bonna, however, believed more information was needed for the area residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you go into more detail about what evidence is allowed to be weighed [and] is a rezoning discretionary?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
While Berrios admitted the Council\u2019s hands were tied as far as any pre-existing DRI entitlements, he deferred Councilman Bonna\u2019s question to Planning & Zoning Director Mary Savage-Dunham. The latter emphasized the legal framework of controlling agreements and city codes.<\/p>\n
A pre-existing Development of Regional Impact (DRI) is a large-scale project approved under older Florida growth laws that retains vested development rights despite later changes to local plans or the elimination of the state\u2019s formal DRI program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DRI document talks about what\u2019s going to be built there,\u201d Savage-Dunam said. \u201cWe also have the comprehensive plan. As staff testified, this rezoning was found to be consistent with the comprehensive plan, [which] follows the DRI. Those are the road maps that guide development in that section of the city. So, you would be looking at the totality of what the applicant submitted showing their intended uses there and how that aligns with the comp plan and the DRI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice-Mayor Caraballo then chimed back in with her own perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re confused, I understand,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not our process \u2013 it\u2019s the way it\u2019s legally required by the state. It\u2019s definitely not the simplest thing for anybody to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the applicant\u2019s contracted Land Use Attorney Goldstein provided her own presentation, 10 nearby homeowners aired their complaints, beginning with Southwest River Rock Road resident Jim Riordan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy property is located at the southern end of the proposed Riverland-West Sports & Recreation Center,\u201d he said. \u201cI spoke at the July 7 Planning Board meeting, and the chairman encouraged me to meet with Ms. Goldstein, which I did. At that time, I gave her our primary concerns with the project. On Friday, she did contact me, but none of those concerns were addressed. What she did say was exactly what she said right now: This is not the time \u2013 the time is later \u2013 but we feel this is the time before we move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riordan pointed out that GL Homes had \u201c1,300 other acres where they could build this complex.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGL has already sold parcels in the new section advertising the fitness center,\u201d he continued. \u201cSo, I guess it\u2019s a done deal based on this picture and what they\u2019re advertising. We purchased our property, as well as every citizen here, from The Grove with the understanding that this parcel will be a city park. Now they\u2019re basically trying to make this something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Harriet Gallas and her husband Lawrence agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe chose to move here for quality of life,\u201d the former said. \u201cWhen we bought our house, we were told there was going to be a park over the berm next to us. They\u2019re 1786167007 talking 72 pickleball courts, bocci courts, tennis courts, a dog park and RV park, and that\u2019s going to destroy my quality of life. Noise pollution\u2019s a real thing: It causes stress, and pickleball is loud, stabbing and sharp. I respectfully beg you to not pass this rezoning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other residents echoed similar fears, resulting in more staff explanations and Council debate until Mayor Shannon Martin asked Goldstein a pivotal question.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas their been a public meeting with the neighbors with regard to this issue?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s just with Mr. Riordan regarding the issue of the buffer,\u201d Goldstein responded.<\/p>\n
That response gave Mayor Martin the impetus she needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing that there are so many concerns from the residents, is GL willing to have a meeting with the residents in order to address the issues?\u201d she prodded.<\/p>\n
Goldstein, however, resisted the delay at first.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a straight-forward rezoning,\u201d she insisted. \u201cWe don\u2019t have all those details yet for the site plan because that\u2019s not this process. When we\u2019re ready to get there and we have those details, we\u2019d be more than happy to meet with everybody to discuss what\u2019s planned.\u201d<\/p>\n
That response brought a loud uproar of protest from the audience and a plea from the vice-mayor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would really appreciate very much if you\u2019d be willing to just table this,\u201d Caraballo said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to slow it down, but even this part of the process I don\u2019t think they comprehend.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City Council then voted unanimously to table the request until the Aug. 24 meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2013 City Council members found themselves defending their actions to frustrated Tradition-area residents July 27,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":["post-365966","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\/365966","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=365966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}