Port St. Lucie gives second OK to rezoning property in Tradition for mixed-use development
PORT ST. LUCIE — A 41-acre property in the Southern Grove area of Tradition has been officially rezoned, paving the way for a mixed-use development that could include housing and retail.
The City Council had already voted unanimously in support of the rezoning last month, and did so again Monday during the second reading, officially approving the change from agricultural use to a master planned unit development.
The council did not hear a presentation or discuss the rezoning before the vote. Developers did present details at the first reading.
At that meeting last month, Steve Garrett, vice president of land planning firm Lucido & Associates, represented the owner and developer of the property, Mattamy Palm Beach LLC, which has developed much of the housing in Tradition.
Housing, shopping in the plans
The property, at the northwest corner of SW Becker Road and SW Village Parkway, would be split into two parcels, according to city documents and Garrett's presentation, . A north parcel would be primarily residential, Garrett said, while a south parcel would be a shopping center, developed by Pebb Enterprises. Mattamy is committed to at least 30% of the north parcel being homes, Garrett said.
The shopping center is planned to include "a large home-improvement store and series of commercial outparcels," according to city documents, though Garrett declined to say which national home-improvement retailer had committed to the project.
Details have been planned for decades
After Mayor Shannon Martin pointed out at the first meeting that development rights were assigned decades ago, the city took to social media to emphasize that point. The property is within "a development of regional impact that was approved 20 years ago and all of the development rights were granted at that time," the city's official account commented on a TCPalm Facebook post.
"The current City Council cannot take away the rights that were granted, and must today work with the developer," the city said in its post. "The city holds the developer accountable for all infrastructure that is required under the development order."
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The Mattamy-owned property is directly across Village Parkway from a 1,200-acre property Port St. Lucie acquired in 2018. That area has been developed by the city and private devlopers as a "jobs corridor," and already includes a number of large industrial facilities. In recent months, there has been an effort to fill out the rest of the Southern Grove area with mixed uses, which, city staff and Martin have said, reflects the master plans for the area.
Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com and 504-331-0516.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: PSL Council again votes yes on rezoning for Mattamy mixed use project
