Category Archives: Other

Parking & Form Based Code

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Stuart is trying to implement form-based code in East Stuart and the Creek District. I hope that they do.

 

By doing so, the people who want to develop the properties they own within those areas know ahead of time what can be done. This should help end the many PUD applications that come before the commission. However, the commissioners would have to resist the temptation to insert themselves in the process going forward or otherwise they defeat the purpose of enacting that type of code.

 

Form-based code develops neighborhoods rather than individual projects. It takes a holistic approach. What this city and commission is used to doing is tweaking projects. Commissioners suggest to developers that they will vote to approve a project if the developer knocks a floor off here or puts a tree there. You need fifty parking spaces according to code but only have room for thirty-five, this is what you must do the commission tells the applicant.

 

The problem with that scenario is there is no consistency. Form-base code substitutes endless pages of tables and rules and states this is what the city wants to accomplish in this area. How the space is filled in the parcel is up to the developer. Another way to phrase form-based code is that a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Ironically, by trying to exercise control over individual projects, the projects are often not as well implemented and designed as they should as part of an integral design for a neighborhood’s character. For example, consider parking. The lack of enough parking spaces as required by code has stopped many businesses from opening. While on Federal Highway, parking calculations are the explanation for empty parking lots, unfriendly streetscapes, and buildings set so far back that an observer can’t make out what businesses are located there.

 

Downtown Stuart has an excess of parking. There is no question about it. What it doesn’t have is a parking space for every customer directly in front of every business. Cities weren’t designed for that. Throughout the CRA, excess parking calculations to build a building or open a business have resulted in buildings not being developed or businesses not opening.

 

There are eight spaces for each car in the United States. Estimates are that 1/3rd of the land in cities is dedicated to parking. About 30% of a building’s cost are due to having code-required parking spaces. This is not sustainable.

 

Stuart must stop thinking in terms of 1960 and think about 2060 which is closer to the present. Within most of our CRA, we should forget about mandating how many parking spaces are needed for each apartment, home, or business. If parking becomes acute, then the private sector will build a garage. People who build housing know what they will need to make sure their buyers or tenants will live in the properties. The same for restaurants and stores. With all the complaining, how many businesses downtown have closed because of parking issues?

We should take places like the Baptist Church property that is for sale and the entire north side of Ocean Avenue from Dixie to U.S. 1, and have it rezoned and changed to a form-base code neighborhood. In that way a perspective developer will know what to build as of right. Once done, the commission should then stay out of the way and only allow it to be developed using the criteria within the window adopted.

 

Stuart commissioners and all governments are not very good at this part of running cities. They should bring their vision to a neighborhood then be confident enough to have the owners implement it. This may take decades for the vision to be built, but then the product will be much better than the one the current antiquated system is producing.

 

Why Martin County Needs A Rural Resort Land Use

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Once again, Martin County finds itself without the right development code in place to move projects to completion.

 

I have written about the Discovery Land project on Bridge Road before. It will bring extremely expensive homes to the county in a resort setting. For all intents and purposes, there will be millions in tax revenue and require little in county services. Those who believe that placing enough roadblocks up will deter development are dreaming.

Suburban Sprawl

Discovery will bring many fewer units than what would be built in a more traditional development project. The choice is several hundred units worth millions each or several thousand worth $300,000 each. The latter would require many county services, and the former would not.

 

Most of the land in the Discovery project will remain undeveloped. In addition to the construction jobs which are always temporary, there will be a slew of others to support the resort plus ancillary businesses like shops and restaurants. To me it has always been an easy choice…the feared Browardization of thousands of rooftops or a few rich ones.

 

That doesn’t mean that development of Discovery will not come without rules. Right now, it does not seem current code quite fits the “rural resort” nature of the project. I understand staff and the applicant are attempting to write the code but is that the best way to go forward?

 

This project and others that may come after may be more than the staff can handle. And to rely on the applicant to help define the code changes necessary may not be the best for the county. The county needs to hire a consultant to expeditiously write what is necessary to move forward. Commissioner Smith is very fond of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. As time goes by, I have become a convert.

 

The county should get a quote from the council and others if it wants to write the best code for “rural resorts” for the benefit of all the parties. That would also take an immense pressure off the Growth Management department. At the same time as a neutral third party, the council would be able to more fairly hear the concerns of all sides.

 

There are several other projects that are in the wings that would fit the rural resort criteria, e.g., very high-end golf courses. These are not golf course communities but rather places where the rich fly in to play golf for a couple of days like Michael Jordan’s existing club. This type of development would be preferred to having endless rooftops in western Martin.

 

In my mind, this is smart development. People have a right to develop the property they own. Let’s make it easy for them to do so by creating a rural resort classification. At some point, the Harmony development, and others like it will end up being built if alternatives are not provided. In my opinion, that is what most Martin County residents want to see.

 

The government does not own the property…private property owners do. A well-written land classification may help keep endless seas of rooftops from the area. I think that is the smart way of having the inevitable growth.

Restaurant Service

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Why do we go to restaurants?

 

We each have different reasons. A special occasion is one reason. Many of us eat out one, two or more times per week. I have friends that never make dinner.

I am the cook in our family and a good one. My wife does the cleanup. As a treat and given our busy schedules, once or twice a week we go out.

I enter a new restaurant with high hopes and anticipation. Yet more and more often, I leave disappointed. Sometimes it is the food. It can be poorly prepared, overly ambitious in its presentation or just plain awful. When that happens, I will go back after a while to see if it was just a bad night or something more. Seldom will I give it more than two tries.

 

I like eating out because I want to be served. Too often that service is poor in quality. You will see poor service in all types of dining establishments. The industry is known as the hospitality industry for a reason, and restaurant staff need to understand that concept.

 

I grew up in the restaurant business. I worked in restaurant kitchens and dining rooms. I toiled in hotel dining rooms, catering halls, places with French service, casual restaurants, and greasy spoons. Each type of establishment has differences in the food served. How formal or casual the service is will depend on the type of restaurant. However, casual dining does not mean inferior service.

 

In places that were formal, the Maître D’, captains, servers, and bussers were professionals. They were not ever going to be anything else but restaurant people. Occasionally, there would be someone like me, a student or as a second job. Even the short timers knew what was expected in the dining room.

 

I have two recent examples of what is unacceptable service and two of very good service. We recently ate with another couple in a restaurant in Hobe Sound. With everything I had heard about it, I planned on having an excellent experience. Was I wrong!

 

The server, a young lady, announced that she had just started at the place. I don’t know why that should make a difference. She then disappeared for 15 minutes and re-appeared to take our drink orders. Then another 15 minutes passed before coming back with the drinks…a vodka on the rocks and a glass of wine, not exactly complicated cocktails.

 

Every diner at the table should be finished with their meal before removing any plates. I have a particular peeve about that, and I cannot say how many times I have admonished a server for doing so. She fell right into that trap. She also had half the orders wrong, brought appetizers out for us at different times, and kept announcing that she had just started as if it were her get out of jail free card.

 

A couple of weeks later, we are eating in another restaurant when almost the same excuse was used by the server, “I have only been working for three days.” My wife and the other couple could not have been more accommodating when she made the same mistakes as the previous server in the other restaurant.

 

Finally, when she got the order wrong, drinks mixed up, left the water glasses unfilled, and many other mistakes, I had had enough. When my wife and the others continued to reassure her, she was doing just fine.  I said no she wasn’t. This is her profession for right now. She is expecting a tip and she is getting paid. She should spend some time learning her profession. Harsh…maybe?

 

I have heard many say there isn’t enough people to work. I don’t buy that excuse. During the same period, I went to two comparable places in ambience, price, and type of food. We had professional service.

 

There were plenty of servers and bussers on the floor. I also saw managers and owners that knew their business and would not have allowed mediocre service or food in their establishments. A new hire should always be assigned to an experienced employee to learn the ropes. The staff in these restaurants were professionals. The owners made sure that the employees knew that there was a team effort to serve customers.

 

It is about time that we return to the days when working in restaurants was treated as an occupation and profession not a fill-in until something better comes along. And you should never hear, “I have only been doing this for 3 days.”

 

Sometimes Politics & Elections Do Not Go Together

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School boards across the country have been in the crosshairs of parents, teachers, and state officials this year.

Much of the public’s rancor is of the boards own making. In some part, this is because a school board member position in Florida does not come with all the power that the public believes it does. The ability of board members to raise budgets, pick textbooks, and even decide on what goes on inside schools is dictated by Tallahassee. And Tallahassee is a stern task master.

 

For more than a decade, the “Lords of Tallahassee” more formally known as the legislature, have pre-empted more and more authority from local control. Local elected officials see quite early on what little is in their purview to decide. Partisan political power is at the root of the problem.

 

The governor has decided that being a conservative was not good enough. He also wanted to be a populist. That resulted in politics interfering with home rule authority. I agree on his school policies in many instances. Yet he is going about it with all the make-believe tough talk populism that makes public discourse so grating on a civil society.

 

Over twenty years ago, the voters of Florida decided to make school board races non-partisan in a ballot initiative. The legislature now wants to reverse course and make sure that partisanship enters schools. Senator Gruters is the chair of the Ethics & Elections committee and is pushing the legislation. He is also chair of the Republican Party of Florida.

 

What will happen if the races go back to partisan politics in Martin County…probably nothing. All five current school board members are registered Republicans as are all five members of the county commission and the five constitutional officers. Do you know why everyone here is a registered Republican? It is because in deep red Martin County that is the only way you can be elected.

 

If we inject a partisan primary into school board races, then many times Democrats and NPA voters will be prevented from voting. One county commissioner regularly closes out races by having an ally run as a write-in candidate. If a primary race is closed by a write-in candidate, then only members of the party can vote in that primary. The last time, the commissioner had a high school student as his opponent in the general election. Is this what we want for our school boards in Martin County a decision by only 40% of the voters?

 

Florida is becoming a state where locally elected officials have no authority to enact policies and ordinances that their constituents want. From taxing authority to whether your next-door neighbor can open a business in his living room is now decided by Tallahassee.

 

The legislature has consciously determined, along with Governor DeSantis, to not allow elected local leaders to make policy in their communities. If everything is decided by the 160 senators and representatives in the Florida legislature and the governor, then we have a politburo and not a representative government. Our liberty is being taken away little by little by the consolidation of political power in the hands of fewer and fewer.

 

They can shout how they are protecting the people, but the people have fewer ways of making their voices heard. Diffusion in making political decisions is the guarantor of our liberty. Consolidation of power will ultimately have despotic results. Politicizing school board races will aid in that consolidation.

Supposed Party Gains Are Actually Losses

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Florida’s Republican party recently boasted that, for the first time ever, there are more Republicans than Democrats registered in the state.

 

That statement in and of itself is true. However, what that statement does not tell you is that party registration for the Republicans fell in 2021…. just not as much as it did for the Democrats. There were 142,414 fewer voters picking either party. The only gain in numbers were for Non-Party Affiliation and minor parties.

 

The largest loss for the Democrats occurred in Miami-Dade where they were down by 37,723 voters to the Republicans loss of 3,592. In three counties, Sarasota, Volusia, and Sumter, Democrats increased membership. Republicans had gains in 13 counties including next door in St. Lucie. Martin County, long a bastion for Republicans, lost 1607 voters in 2021 as compared to 2020. So, what gives?

 

Florida and the United States may just be tired of celebrating party over everything. More and more voters may be saying that they are just not interested in the incessant political wars that Democrats and Republicans want to wage with each other. Could it be that many voters are tuning out and refusing to be labeled?

 

Rationality may be the death knell for political parties. Yet those that remain within the party fold are more partisan. While the Founders never wanted political parties and warned against factionalism, our entire political system is tied to having “them” and “us.”

 

If we cannot get a handle on this hatred by members of one party over those in another, we may find ourselves increasingly edging toward a civil breakdown. We are moving closer and closer to one party states with gerrymandered districts. That has and will continue to lead to the extremism that Madison, Hamilton, and Jay warned to beware of.

The Stuart LPA Did The Right Thing In The Wrong Way

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I watched Stuart’s last LPA meeting. The public, the applicant, and the board were not on their best behavior.

 

Staff for their work received blame from members of the LPA. While sometimes I think that staff does phone it in, I do not believe they did so in this instance. They presented the information that they are legally obligated to do. Some LPA members took it out on them as if the development department has the option to reject projects because board members may not like them.

 

Members of the public brought up issues which the city has no control over such as traffic on county and state roadways. People forget developers pay impact fees for their projects to Martin County. The county seldom uses those impact fees to alleviate road problems where the new project is being built. Doing nothing gives a couple county commissioners an excuse to bash Stuart even though the results are because of their inaction.

 

The applicant, not his experts, believed he could roll over staff and the LPA. Meritage was condescending which does not help win favorable decisions. They seem to have an ongoing problem with playing nice with others.

 

A couple of members of the board, though, were way out of line. Perhaps it was sheer ignorance on their part about what their roles are. Mr. Campbell Rich, a board member, and Chair Kelly Laurine arrogantly shot question after question to staff and the applicant’s experts. Rich all but said that one witness was manipulating data even though she used data that she was mandated to use by law. And Laurine, at least at this meeting, played instigator instead of chairing and bringing a semblance of order.

 

If the LPA had been the final decision makers, then this may have gone to court to be overturned. It amazes me that members of this board don’t quite realize that they are advisory. Their decision is non-binding on the commission which will have the final determination.

 

With all that said, the 5-0 (one abstention and one absence) decision not to approve this project going forward was the right one. The zoning is currently commercial and other property in the area is commercial. That alone would have given this board (and I hope the commission) the reason to deny the RPUD. There didn’t need to be the histrionics that surrounded the meeting.

 

One thing that Rich said which is true is that there are several thousand units coming online within the next few years. While I do not think that this is too many units, I do believe the city should allow absorption of these new units to occur before allowing anything that isn’t “as of right” to be built except within the CRA.

 

Stuart needs to build their new fire/rescue station. They need to have storm water issues under better control especially in non-CRA areas. Do we need a Zoning-in-Progress (ZIP) to study the code? I do not think so. Outside the CRA you can build no more than 15 units per acre without going through the PUD process.

 

We have adequate zoning in place. The commission just needs to vote no in changing it if asked. There is no “Bert Harris” claim unless the commission does not allow someone to develop a piece of property using the zoning and codes that are currently in place.

 

The CRA is where density should be. That will give Stuart the walkable city…the supposed small town feel and not the suburban one so many push. You cannot have that without density. Within the CRA, there are no parcels of more than 2 acres. They will all be infill projects. Isn’t that what the city should be all about?

 

Not having a ZIP does not prevent the commission from looking at whether to change certain codes such as better and more innovative storm water concepts. Development as of right outside the CRA will prevent large projects for a while until absorption of the new units can occur and then the commission can reassess.

 

If they are absorbed quickly (within 18 months of a project’s completion), then it proves that the housing is needed and necessary. That would justify what the commission has approved. During this “break,” it should be incumbent on the city to pressure the county to make all needed improvements to roadways and use those impact fees for the benefit of the residents who are affected by new projects.

What Happened to DeSantis

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When DeSantis was first elected governor, I thought that Florida had a conservative small government Republican in Tallahassee.

He said that he believed in local governments handling most issues in their jurisdictions. He claimed to be someone that did not believe in interfering in the private sector. DeSantis wanted to have parental control of education. Only the last sentence is still operational. What happened?

 

DeSantis decided to run for president. He went from being a principled conservative to a toady populist pandering for votes among the Trumpets. A true consistent conservative philosophy was sacrificed to the roar of the crowd.

 

At one point, being a populist meant being like Huey Long. Long was a governor and senator from Louisiana in the 1930s. He promised social and infrastructure programs to his base of poor white farmers and country folk. Unlike today’s supposed men of the people, he grew up in very reduced circumstances. Long attended a bible college without graduating. He went to Tulane Law School for one year and eventually ended up passing the bar. In 1935, he was assassinated by a member of the establishment who loathed his populism

 

The populists of today are mostly the product of upper middle-class families. They are graduates of some of the most elite universities in the country. DeSantis went to Yale and Harvard. His roots are far from the coal mines, hard scrabble farms, and inner cities of men and women who did pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The ‘Populist-in Chief,” former President Trump, had a maid, cook, and chauffer to tend to his needs as a child. And his father Fred was worth hundreds of millions of dollars when he died.  Trump senior bequeathed a large portion of that wealth to his son.  Donald graduated from Ivy League Penn…as he will quickly tell you.

 

My biggest disappointment in DeSantis currently is his anti-market and pro-interference stance for business in Florida. He has repeatedly threatened businesses telling them that they cannot mandate vaccines for their employees and masks for their customers. This is the antithesis of allowing the markets to decide.

 

Let me be up front. I think that there should be a vaccine mandate for all. However, I also recognize that the governor and legislature have the final say. I may disagree on the policy but not the state’s ultimate authority on this issue. What I do not think is appropriate is the governor dictating to private businesses what they can require of employees and customers.

 

It becomes a slippery slope when government begins “warning” citizens and businesses about what is appropriate. If companies or individuals want to stop supporting others for their stands on issues, then that is their right. They shouldn’t feel as if Governor DeSantis is the final arbiter.

 

This newfound populism in the governor’s message can quickly become tin pot dictatorship territory. If DeSantis wants to run for president, he need not copy anyone. His message of principled conservatism will do well in the primaries. For I vote, too, and I have not missed voting except twice for any office in over 50 years. There are plenty of people like me.

Everyone Should Have A Special Martin Thinking Cap

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Martin County can be a strange place for the uninitiated. Even for those of us who have been here for a while need to put on our “Martin thinking caps” before seeing things in the special light endemic only to this county.

 

Take masks for instance. Local governments like the fact that the governor has relieved them of having to decide whether to have mandates or not. There need be no angry public comment about how masks suck the oxygen from your system or hurt your eyesight. Most local government members would probably like it better if the governor had a statewide mask mandate. But taking the decision out of their hands is the next best thing.

 

No local government board in Martin County is going to buck a Republican governor. It would be suicidal. There is no percentage in doing that.

 

I am in favor of masks being worn by everyone who steps into a school building. It makes scientific sense to me. I will now probably see 20 comments telling me that masks are wrong and even the work of Satan. If I keep my Martin hat on, it doesn’t bother me and, frighteningly, I understand that point of view.

 

School Board Member Victoria Defenthaler, the subject of a recent Stuart News column, was born in New York (as was I) so I understand where she is coming from. She wants to have the medical experts explaining things to her is natural. Yet what is the point since other board members believe they are powerless to issue a compulsory mask order without bucking the governor’s prohibition recently upheld by an appeals court. All it will do is make hundreds of people come out and threaten the school board for even considering doing such a thing.

Pinterest

The governor has signed an order prohibiting local boards from issuing mask mandates. Like Caesar crossing the Rubicon in defiance of the Roman Senate, going further could result in becoming a test of political purity. It does not matter what side of the river you are on…most people just want to live in peace with their neighbors.

 

Information can lead to conflict. The Martin County School Board (and every other local government entity) feels they have enough to deal with without asking to be placed in a no-win situation.

 

How many people in Martin County do not believe in the lethalness of Covid? The naysayers do not believe that vaccines are effective or that masks are needed. You can cite the statistics regarding hospitalizations for the unvaccinated until you are blue in the face. The non-believers come back with some strange theory about guns being taken away next after imposition of masks.

 

The individual beliefs of people in both camps must be respected. Those of us that are vaccinated and a bit careful should pull through alright. The others need to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, kids under 12 are not eligible to be vaccinated so they are the ones being sacrificed to the political gods.

Stuart Taxpayers Continue to Subsidize A Private Entity

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I study the county’s budgets along with the school board and the different municipalities as well. This article will look at Stuart and its relationship with the non-profit, Stuart Main Street.

 

According to its website, “Stuart Main Street uses the Main Street Four Point Approach to create and promote a positive downtown experience for residents, businesses, and visitors.” It would seem to us to be a good goal to achieve. That goal is in line with what a chamber of commerce should do. Should Stuart be subsidizing with taxpayer dollars a private organization to fulfill that goal?

 

Its website outlines past glory stretching back to 1986 when the city’s downtown was a ghost town. Some of their more recent achievements listed are the 2009 involvement in upgrades along Colorado Avenue and participating in the discussion regarding whether city hall should move from its current location in 2014. The latest press release included on the site is a year old with the notice that they hired a new executive director.

 

For many years, the organization was under the auspices of the city and the executive director was a city employee. The administrative part was also performed by the city. To be recognized as a “Main Street” by the Main Street umbrella organization there must be an independent board and the local program must have a full-time director.

 

When the city-paid executive director left her city position, a new deal was struck with the organization to allow them to lease Flagler Center which would soon be empty on very favorable terms. They then could have events and sublease space for an income stream.

Flagler Place

Until Flagler Center could get on its feet and provide rental income, the city would subsidize the organization with a grant of $70,000 for the first year and decreasing over the next two years until it was to be extinguished at that point. The agreement is now entering its third year, and the organization is still receiving the full $70,000.

 

In the interim, the contract with the Sunday Greenmarket operator was terminated by the city and an agreement was struck with Main Street to manage that at less than what the last operator paid.

 

The question to be asked is whether the taxpayers are receiving a benefit of this largess to a private entity? It seems that the main occupation of this organization in the last several years is putting on events in conjunction with the Downtown Business Association. Their signature event is the weekly Rock’n Riverwalk Sunday afternoon music series held on Stuart’s stage.

 

They also have several craft fairs per year and events like Hob Goblins on Main Street and a Christmas event of some sort. The events, except Rock’n, are run by a marketing company and not Stuart Main Street who simply acts as a middleman.

 

Just like a person, an organization has a life span. Thirty-five years ago, Stuart’s downtown was a literal ghost town. The businesses had been hollowed out by changing shopping patterns. The growth of the county’s population needed more than just one block of stores where people could shop. That was accomplished. However, that left downtown Stuart with many empty store fronts.

 

The Main Street Organization was instrumental in bringing back a new downtown consisting of restaurants and one-of-a-kind stores. This is in sharp contrast to what had been there before consisting of more mundane businesses such as a drug store and department store. Downtown today is a destination spot for tourist to enjoy an old-time vibe and for locals to have places to eat.

 

Today’s vibrancy requires different approaches than what worked in the past. Success should be celebrated. That does not mean that the city should continue feeding an entity that at this point should be standing on its own. It is no longer the sole voice but one of many interest groups.

 

Stuart’s CRA is undergrounding utility lines on Seminole Street. While Stuart Main Street was a proponent of outdoor dining, it was only one of many voices calling for it. The success of the initiative is mainly the result of the efforts of the restaurants themselves not one outside organization.

 

In my opinion, it is time for the city to stop subsidizing this organization with money and favored lease deals. If the city wants to continue with any program that is currently under the auspices of Stuart Main Street, it can do so without paying a middleman but just hiring the event company itself. Originally Stuart was the producer of the Sunday concert series.

 

The CRA budget has grown considerably over the past several years. Some of the programs that it funds are stuck in an earlier time. Those funds should be used on brick-and-mortar projects such as it did with buying and then bringing the infrastructure in for Azul, the successful multi-family property on city-owned land.

 

Unfortunately, just like the county, Stuart too often plays politics using tax dollars for their favored organizations. Stuart does so…only on a much smaller scale. The Stuart City Commission needs to debate the question in the open and come up with a way to have Main Street become a truly independent organization.

 

If a Stuart taxpayer heard that the Stuart Chamber of Commerce was receiving a subsidy from the city for promoting the businesses of chamber members, the taxpayers would be outraged. Is there a difference here?

 

OUR ZONING CHOICES ARE OBSOLETE

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The United States is caught in a time warp of mid-20th century housing patterns, and unfortunately Martin County exemplifies why.

 

The entire nation does not have enough housing for its residents. From big cities to the rural countryside, people are having increasing difficulty finding adequate shelter. One of the key factors is our antiquated zoning rules that sadly work all too well as intended.

 

Those rules were and are enacted to limit the type of housing that can be built in neighborhoods. It restricts and excludes new development from occurring, particularly in established communities. Zoning is a political tool to keep people out.

 

By limiting the type of housing built through zoning to single family homes, it results in fewer new units that are needed being constructed. In 2019, California passed an accessory dwelling law that recognizes a property owner’s right to construct a “granny flat” on his property. While permissible zoning such as that would have limited value in most urban areas, in places like Martin County, it could provide a considerable amount of affordable housing.

 

And the people who speak out against multi-family dwellings within municipalities and CRAs are the same ones who look aghast at an apartment over a garage in a single-family home neighborhood. To them, it doesn’t matter what you build. It is the very act of building anything that they so hate.

COURTESY OF DWELL

Stuart and Martin County have a warped sense of what development is. That is why in the past 50 years, the ranches of Palm City have been traded in for vast gated communities that are the very definition of sprawl. The car is essential to shop for groceries, go to work, recreate, and attend school. It is the kind of unsustainable development and lifestyle that our children and grandchildren find harder and harder to maintain and, very often, do not want as their way of life.

 

What is better for the environment…a walkable semi-dense city or a cul-de-sac development? The never-will-we-agree-to-anything crowd is creating the very thing in Martin County that they so despise to our south and north. How often have I heard from those that moved here a year or two ago into one of those new housing developments that any more people will ruin the character of Stuart or Martin County. It is absurd and irrational.

AZUL DEVELOPMENT

We should protect existing homeowners from living next to an industrial plant. But when services such as a place to buy groceries, drop off your cleaning, or have a cup of coffee requires a car ride instead of a stroll, we are contributing to sprawl.

You can live within an urban setting and still enjoy your single-family home. Just let others enjoy the neighborhood by living in a variety of housing stock. They may not be able to afford a house but still need a place to call home.