FORT PIERCE \u2013 The Planning Board here voted unanimously Oct. 12 to recommend approval of the major site plan for a 488-unit apartment building planned at 2535 S. Kings Highway with an eye on providing convenient housing for the employees of the 1.1 million-square-foot Amazon warehouse going up across the street.<\/p>\n
Assistant Planning Director Chris Suneson introduced the agenda item for the planned community known as The Carlton by Farrell Communities LLC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are requesting development and design review with a conditional use to allow the owner to construct a 488-unit multifamily residential apartment community on 40.77 acres,\u201d he said. \u201cKings Highway is located to the east [and] Pruitt Research Road to the north. The subject parcel was annexed into the city in March of 2004.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suneson reminded the Board that the current property owner already holds approval for a development of the same size on the land that was initially proposed at four stories. Now someone else wants to purchase the property and has proposed only three stories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe site was previously approved for a similar request in January of 2024,\u201d he recalled. \u201cUnder the comprehensive plan, policy allows a range of residential density from 6.5 to 12 dwelling units per acre. The [new] proposal is compliant, proposing 11.96 dwelling units per acre. The applicant proposes to construct 15 multifamily, three-story apartment buildings with each containing 32 to 34 dwelling units. The proposed buildings will cover 13.67 percent of that area at full build-out. Pedestrian and vehicular circulation will cover another 29.65 percent in the land area. That results in 56.66 percent of the land area left to open space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suneson detailed a few of the project\u2019s public benefits \u2013 including a southbound right-turn lane into the site from Kings Highway and a crosswalk on Pruitt Research Road \u2013 before describing The Carlton\u2019s planned amenities. Those will include a large clubhouse and pool; an outdoor fitness park along the internal trail system; pickleball courts; a fire pit area; and multiple dog parks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project has intentionally provided for increased landscape buffers,\u201d he concluded. \u201cThose range from 15 to 20 feet all around the site. The large buffers rely on native vegetation and feature a double row of screening shrubs of different heights. On the northeast corner of the site, the applicant has proposed an eight-foot-tall masonry wall to be added to the buffer to screen from an adjacent industrial property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chairman Anton Kreisl immediately posed a clarification question, wondering who was behind the revamped proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this the same owner and applicant?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I understand it, it\u2019s the same owner and same design representatives, but there\u2019s a different entity involved,\u201d Suneson replied. \u201cOnce this site plan is approved, [they] would close on the property and become the owner of record.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board Member Krista Storey then wanted to know the reasoning behind the need for conditional approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe applicant is requesting an increase in density,\u201d Suneson told her. \u201cUnder an innovative community design conditional use, the applicant is allowed to utilize the density allowed by the comprehensive plan. Under conventional R-4 Zoning, the applicant would only be allowed 10 units to the acre.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storey also feared the applicant might find a loophole out of the required public benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see the turn lane listed in the conditions, nor the pedestrian walkway that you mentioned,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would place a condition on the applicant that the city may not be allowed to impose,\u201d the assistant planning director answered. \u201cKings Highway is a state facility. That is permitting they would need to seek outside of the city\u2019s approval. As you saw in my conditions of approval, they would be required to obtain any other state or federal permits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Planning Director Kevin Freeman then suggested that features noted on a site plan were legally enforceable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we could wrap up all these issues in a condition that highlights the plan submitted as being part of the application,\u201d he said. \u201cThe plans have references, and they\u2019ve been part of the design review. All the amenities are notated on the site plan [and] condition all those documents as part of the application.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Board Member Colby Johnson worried that the landscaping might not be thick enough to block tractor-trailer noise coming from Kings Highway, Board Member Johanna Gromek wondered if residential housing even belonging on that property.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking at putting residential literally in the middle of nothing but highway and trucks,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how we can reconcile something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board Member Storey believed staff was attempting to do this just that, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our job is \u2013 along with the staff \u2013 to make the best situation that would mitigate or provide residents with better quality,\u201d she said. \u201cNot everybody has the same issues of where they want to live, and the balance here is finding opportunities for more affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The owner\u2019s contracted Landscape Architect Brad Currie then came to the podium emphasizing that residential was \u201calready approved on the property.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis site plan is currently approved for 488 units and it\u2019s valid until March 23, 2028,\u201d he said. \u201cThe major difference between what\u2019s approved now versus what we are proposing is the number of floors. We\u2019re going down to three stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currie also sided with Storey\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Krista was saying, the person who lives here doesn\u2019t want to live in the country,\u201d he explained. \u201cHe wants to be near transportation corridors [and] close to employment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currie also invited Mahaffey Apartment Company Pre-Construction Manager Chris Piazza to address the Board. Piazza told its members that his company founded in 1960 has built and maintained almost 10,000 apartment units across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose include The Carlton in West Melbourne, The Carlton of Fort Myers, The Carlton at Lake Dexter in Winter Haven and The Carlton at Robinson Gateway in Palmetto,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After further discussion and no public speakers, the Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE \u2013 The Planning Board here voted unanimously Oct. 12 to recommend approval of the major site…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":["post-430202","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\/430202","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=430202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}