Planning & Infrastructure Study

A planning and infrastructure study presented to the Port St. Lucie City Council on Monday, Nov. 18 showed the proposed developments would have a significant impact on our community, including traffic and infrastructure challenges that have not been adequately planned for and are currently outside the City’s jurisdiction.

The City of Port St. Lucie continues to make data-driven decisions and undertook the study earlier this year in preparation for updating Port St. Lucie’s comprehensive plan. The study provides data and analysis that offers City leaders policy guidance and growth management strategy recommendations. It also evaluates what impacts the proposed development projects would have on Port St. Lucie.

Among the study’s key observations:

• New development outside of City boundaries will affect Port St. Lucie infrastructure, services and residents.
• The impacts of this growth on City infrastructure could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in roadway improvements and other projects.
• Infrastructure costs need to be paid for by developers to limit the financial impacts it will have on the City.
• If future infrastructure needs are not properly planned for and addressed prior to development occurring, the burden will fall on the City. 

The City would receive no tax revenue or impact fees to offset the cost of infrastructure development and improvements that would be necessary to meet the increased demand.

The study estimated these proposed projects would result in necessary roadway improvements costing up to $280 million dollars. Those costs could result in a deficit for City taxpayers of up to $40 million.

The population growth would also increase demands on retail businesses and medical offices that are already overburdened. It would also require additional services from the City that would increase costs. For example, more people coming into the City would result in a need for an increased police presence and higher utilization of parks and recreation spaces would lead to higher costs for maintenance and staffing. 

The City can control its own destiny through owner-initiated annexation by the developers who own the land where the proposed projects are located. If the landowners initiate annexation into Port St. Lucie, the City would be positioned to proactively manage and control for the impacts of new development.

If that occurred, the City will be able to collect tax revenues and impact fees to offset the costs of expanding infrastructure will be necessary to accommodate the growth. Without owner-initiated annexation, the City has little to no input on how best to manage growth. The resulting infrastructure costs would fall on Port St. Lucie without receiving property tax revenues or impact fees to help pay for them.

The planning and infrastructure study demonstrated there will be impacts on the City of Port St. Lucie from future developments outside our western boundaries. City leaders are committed to managing future growth responsibly and in the best interests of our residents. 

There are five primary, current projects in unincorporated St. Lucie County that are located within the study area that the City is monitoring closely. They are located west of Range Line Road, south of Midway Road and north of Becker Road:

• Legacy: This project has not been formally submitted to St. Lucie County yet.
• Neill Farm Estates: The City signed an agreement with the developer of this project, who agreed to work with us to address future impacts.
• Oak Ridge Ranches: The City signed an agreement with the developer of this project, who agreed to work with us to address future impacts.
• Palermo Estates: The City signed an agreement with the developer of this project, who agreed to work with us to address future impacts.
• Rainbow Groves: The City has yet to sign an agreement with the developer of this project to work with us to address future impacts. At this time, we are continuing to negotiate with the developer on an agreement.

Under the current plans, all but Rainbow Groves would bring primarily residential homes, with the potential for approximately 10,000 new housing units. Legacy and Oak Ridge Ranches would also bring an estimated 675,000 square feet of non-residential units. Rainbow Groves would bring 5.3 million square feet of heavy and light industrial, with no residential. 

Several City roadways were identified in the study as being significantly impacted. The estimated costs of expanding and maintaining those roads due to increased traffic from population growth was up to $283 million.

• Becker Road
• Commerce Center Drive
• Crosstown Parkway
• Darwin Boulevard
• Discovery Way
• Gatlin Boulevard
• Tradition Parkway

Other roadways that are not City operated were also identified as having a significant impact from the proposed projects. The estimated costs of expanding and maintaining those roads was between up to $717 million.

• Glades Cut-Off Road
• Graham Road
• I-95 interchanges
• Midway Road
• Okeechobee Road
• Prima Vista Boulevard
• Range Line Road
• Shinn Road
• U.S. 1