ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Five oceanfront homes could soon be built on North Hutchinson Island, in a scaled back development proposal, after receiving site plan approval from county commissioners Tuesday.
Previous plans for the 3.88-acre property — known as "Sea Loft" and located directly across State Road A1A from Ocean Resorts Co-Op and Ocean Harbour condos — were to build a 20-unit condominium, but its owner Joseph Caragol changed plans to five single-family lots.
Lots would vary in size from about half an acre to around one acre.
The unit reduction is a welcome change for nearby residents, said Felicia Valdez, who lives at Ocean Harbour North.
"Although we would like to have nothing built in front of our condominium ... if we're going to have development, the five houses are certainly a lot better than having a 20-unit condo," Valdez said.
Dennis Murphy, principal planner at Fort Pierce-based firm Culpepper & Terpening, testified on behalf of Caragol, arguing against some of the conditions county staff recommended be added to the site plan approval. Those conditions, which primarily dealt with the protection and maintenance of the dune, included a 10-foot setback between structures and the dune maintenance area. Murphy objected to that condition.
"We believe that the additional requested 10 feet is inappropriate and it seriously undermines our ability to make financial use of the property," Murphy said.
Ultimately, the site plan passed unanimously after the 10-foot setback was reduced to five feet.
Other conditions include a specified single location for crossing over the dune, the use of permanent ropes around the dune to direct people to only use that one crossover and an easement to allow for dune preservation and maintenance work to be conducted.
Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com.
Most Popular
Comments / 0