Sally Swartz
Two corporations and two colleges are interested, said Tom McNicholas, spokesman for the developers. But he won’t name them because of a confidentiality agreement. It’s not clear when he’ll tell Martin residents the secret names.
Becker Groves owners have big dreams for their 2,832-acre citrus grove near Interstate 95’s Hobe Sound exit.
Canker, greening and other citrus diseases have killed the orange-growing business for now, so the grandsons of Richard Becker — Scott, Rick and Tom Hurley —want to grow a different crop.
The Hurleys want a town a little bigger than one-third the size of Stuart, with 4,300 houses.
And of course, they want to change Martin County’s protective growth plan drastically so they can do it.
Interest in their plans packed a large room at the Martin County Administrative Center in Stuart this week for a “pre-application” meeting for the developers. Others who showed up: County, regional and state planners, engineers, consultants, representatives of schools, surrounding towns and cities, water companies, area rivers and others the development would affect.
The Hurleys want to break ground by next year, but first must win approval from the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and Martin County commissioners.
The development crew included some out-of-towners, such as Sasaki Associates, planners from Watertown, Mass., who showed slides of a Tallahassee development they designed.
Some familiar local faces: Mr. McNicholas, frequent public relations rep for developers; Susan O’Rourke, unsuccessful county commission candidate and traffic engineer who rarely predicts development will increase traffic, and Ed Weinberg, an environmental consultant who seldom finds endangered critters such as gopher tortoises in areas where developers want to build. Palm Beach County met Mr. Weinberg when Lake Worth hired him to refute studies that showed dumping waste from a water treatment plant would harm treasured Horseshoe Reef.
Mr. Weinberg said Becker land includes no wetlands. But Martin water official Paul Millar said wetlands once covered half the land, and suggests checking a 1958 map to make restoration plans.
Mr. McNicholas said residents might think the proposed development sounds a lot like Port St. Lucie’s Tradition or Jupiter’s Abacoa. But ideas from Martin County residents, or “localized values,” he said, will make it different. He said he already has met with Jupiter Island and other groups.
Officials asked the developers to address such issues as pesticides on the property that can affect groundwater, nearness to controlled burn areas, and beach access.
Hobe Sound residents worry about sending thousands of new residents to the petite public beach on nearby Jupiter Island. Loxahatchee River supporter Susan Kennedy worries about impacts on the river, and a young mother, Crystal Lucas, said she’s concerned the developers ”are trying to sell the community on a plan with confidentiality on who all the players are.” Martin’s policy wonks worry about the growth plan changes that open the county to sprawling development typical of western Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Mr. McNicholas said creating the job center comes first, long before houses, and that the development wouldn’t be finished for many years.
Like all regional developments, the project faces a year or two of permitting and public hearings, but a county commission vote is likely before the 2012 elections. Becker donated $1,000 to Commission Doug Smith and $2,000 to Commissioner Ed Ciampi in the 2008 election.
This tough economy gives Martin residents a chance to think about the county ‘s future. It’s the classic paradise vs. parking lot dilemma: Stick with the growth plan that has kept Martin a place other Floridians envy. Or, destroy the growth plan to choose a developer’s promise of buildings that might attract jobs via unnamed corporations and colleges.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Sally Swartz is a former member of The Post Editorial Board. Her e-mail address is sdswartz42@comcast.net.