St. Lucie County P&Z board mulls over new town's concept

By Rebecca Panoff
rebecca.panoff@scripps.com
TC Palm
June 30, 2006

The FORT PIERCE — Regulations that would tell developers what they can build in a new town on the St. Lucie-Indian River county line were picked apart by the county planning board Thursday night.

The county planning and zoning board reviewed the Adams Ranch Rural Land Stewardship program's overlay zone, including "stewardship credits," the application process and the future town's design criteria.

The stewardship program gives Alto "Bud" Adams Jr.'s family cash incentives in exchange for permanently protecting from development a portion of the 16,466-acre cattle ranch. The Adams family would sell stewardship credits for Lennar Corp. and Centex Homes to build homes in the proposed town.

According to the plan, credits are awarded based on the "sending" property's environmental resources, while the market will determine the credits' value.

The overlay outlines the regulations for the Adams Ranch and Cloud Grove properties, including the types of credits that can be bought.

Those include:

• Agricultural Incentive credits, in which the applicant protects and conserves agriculture;

• Cultural Heritage Incentive credits, in which preserved land has historical value; and

• Restoration Incentive credits, in which land can be converted or restored to its natural habitat.

The town at Cloud Grove would be a mixed-use, higher-density development with 12,000 homes.

Board members had questions about the project's administration and whether lawmakers or Adams family members could dilute the plan.

Board member Pam Hammer asked why only the developer's team assembled the Rural Lands plan while national experts created the county's Towns, Villages and Countryside comprehensive plan amendment.

"Who do we have advising us now?" Hammer said. "If we only have staff ... I'm really nervous. ... I'm really uneasy about us not having our team of experts in this case."

Attorney Ernie Cox, overseeing the project, told the board the Cloud Grove project will go through the strict Development of Regional Impact review process when it is submitted.

Board members also were concerned about the schedule for staff to review the project's applications. With the overlay, county staff have 10 days to notify the applicant on whether the application is complete and sufficient and only 20 days to prepare a written report with their findings and recommendations. Growth Management Director Bob Nix said that was unrealistic.

The document also says the county can request additional information only twice.

Nix said the limit on information requests would hinder staff's ability to properly review applications.

"We have to keep requesting information until we get it, and sometimes information comes in and raises more questions," Nix said.

The St. Lucie County Commission is scheduled to conductits first hearing on the Rural Land Stewardship Area Overlay Zone at 6 p.m. July 11.

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