There is nothing glamorous about trucking or truck stops. They are populated by quiet lonely truckers, truck-stop employees in dead end jobs, and some travelers who still believe you should eat where the truck drivers do. Let’s just put aside whether there would be drug dealing and prostitution for the moment. All in all, this is not the type of business you would want in your back yard.

I don’t understand why the owner of the Marathon station didn’t think he would have fierce opposition from the communities surrounding the proposed stop.  When everything is considered, what is the benefit for the hundreds of residents in the immediate area?  If I lived there, I would fight tooth and nail to derail that project.

The County will be getting increased revenue from taxes, although whether it will be as much as stated by the owner is questionable. Ownership also claims that a number of jobs will be created. But who will fill those positions? I would suspect that many of the employees will come from St Lucie County which is right up 95 from the truck stop. I don’t think many people from the Florida Club will be responding to the help wanted signs.

Is this what Martin County wants to be… a stop on the way to somewhere else? There is nothing wrong with Martin celebrating what it is instead of trying to be something it is not. We have a higher per capita income than the rest of the Treasure Coast. Our homes are worth more, our schools are rated better and our quality of life is admired. A truck stop is not going to improve those statistics.

There are two sectors in the county pushing for development for development’s sake. Greedy and uncaring corporate land owners with their lawyers and consultants and the bureaucracy which knows expansion (no matter how idiotic) leads to more municipal and county employees being hired. The tax paying citizens, the very people who live here, are being told by these two groups that density and more bureaucratic services will be good for them.

You need to urge your county commissioners to vote down the proposed truck stop if it were to come before them.