Board of County Commissioners on 2026-04-07 9:00 AM - Apr 07, 2026

good morning and welcome to our april 7th 2026 board of county commission meetings we are delighted that you've joined us this morning please join us by for the invocation by reverend anil sing followed by the pledge of allegiance which will be led by michael drost good morning

good to see all of you thanks for inviting me let's join together in heart mind and spirit creator from whom we all arise author of all life provider of all sustenance and source of all that is good and kind and loving thank you for the life we have and the life we share thank you for uniting us all as one people a people in which we are all considered equal and all have the inalienable right to life liberty freedom of expression and the pursuit of happiness loving one in this time of deep international conflict a time in which thousands of our friends family members and loved ones in uniform now stand in harm's way on our behalf we pray for the protection and safety of one and all may your spirit of divine justice grace and loving kindness prevail over all anger hatred and violence and may your wisdom and compassion guide our world's leaders to end this strife may we all finally learn to live in peace blessings upon our leaders here today may this day's proceedings glorify you by uplifting everyone in our beloved martin county amen amen thank you i pledge allegiance

to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you we have a number of presets today at

9 05 we'll hear from the public at 9 30 we have a very very special presentation we're going to be accepting the donation of a 1.28 acre uh donation in hope sound at 505 or at the end of our meeting we will hear from the public again there's one additional item and that is consent 9 which is an adoption of a proclamation declaring earth day in martin county florida is there a motion to approve the agenda i'll move approval of the agenda there's a motion and a second any objections that motion passes unanimously we'll now start with proclamations the first proclamation is a proclamation uh recognizing national donate life month in martin county florida good morning commissioners one of the most meaningful

gifts that a human being can bestow upon another is the gift of life and is befitting to recognize april as national donate life month the mission of lifelink of florida the non-profit organization dedicated to the recovery of organs and tissue for transplantation therapy in florida is to honor donors and save lives through organ and tissue donation in 2025 a historic number of organ transplants 49 065 occurred in the united states thanks to the generosity of 23 787 deceased and living donors with lifelink of florida honoring more donors than ever before and here to accept we have tara

mahovitz with lifelink foundation inc i'm gonna say a few words and i actually wrote them down so i didn't go over my time thank you so much for having me today i left you some little goodies and some information at your spots i hope you enjoy them and read them um hi everyone my name is tara mahovitz and i'm so proud to accept this proclamation i think this is the first time that martin county has done it so thank you so much a fun fact about me is that i was born and stayed right here in martin county um pretty special another fun fact is that when i was 12 years old i met my best friend denise on a potato farm in palm city florida it's important that i share this connection with you because this is why i am now connected and so proud to represent donate life and lifelink of florida you see 10 years ago denise was diagnosed with liver failure she was told that without a new liver she would die she was put on the unos transplant list and she stayed there for over four years she was getting sicker and every day unfortunately this is what happens with a lot of people on the transplant list because we just don't have enough registered donors in 2020 denise met a new surgeon and that surgeon told her that she may not make it until a donor liver became available he asked her if she might know anyone who would consider being what they call a living organ donor well as you probably figured it out it was me she sent me a facebook message and asked for an organ a facebook message in 2021 at umass in worcester massachusetts i donated half of my liver to my friend denise and they removed her dying liver and they replaced it with my half i know this is fun morning talk but it happens beautiful um so mine also regrew just so you know and now we will be celebrating our five-year liverversary yeah that's a word in august of this year it's a miracle now not everyone can receive a living donation and not a lot of people are willing to be a living donor that's why we have the registry so now that you know my connection to donate life i want you all to know that while i don't expect you to be donors right now although now you know the story i do hope that you have all registered to be donors and if you haven't that you'll take some time to do so today you can find information at donate life.org and you can even find it in your phone's health app now if you are registered or if you intend to it's so important that you speak to your family about your decision that's the most important thing i want to share today you have to talk to your family about it just having it on your license is no longer enough they need to consent as well and just a few general facts and then i'm out of here one donor can save and heal many lives a single organ and tissue donor has the potential to save the lives of eight people and heal the lives of dozens more through tissue donation over 6 000 floridians alone are on the unos transplant list and these are people that made it onto the list not everyone can it's a hard list to get onto and across the country there are over 105 000 people on the registry so please take some time today to look into this share my story with anyone you want it's real it happened

and i thank you again for accepting this proclamation today our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring

child abuse prevention month in martin county florida child abuse can have long-term psychological

emotional and physical effects that have lasting consequences for victims hibiscus children's center has been providing life-changing services to abuse neglected and abandoned children since 1985 and has provided over 500 000 safe nights since opening its doors the mission of hibiscus is to provide a safe haven mental health support preventative care and life skills for at-risk children and families the board urges all citizens to recognize april as child abuse prevention month by dedicating themselves to the task of improving the quality of life for all children and families and here to accept we have ray navarro who is the executive vice president of hibiscus children's center good morning

thank you commissioner for allowing hibiscus uh to be here today and thank you for everybody else to acknowledge child abuse prevention month we appreciate your hospitality i'm ray navarro executive vice president of hibiscus children's center located here in jensen beach hibiscus children's center is a residential child welfare agency operating the treasury coast and okeechobee county since 1985. all of us in our society want to desperately end child abuse or neglect while working on it kids have to be taken care of that's where hibiscus comes in if a child is removed from his or her home due to allegations of abuse or neglect representatives of the department of children and families cannot persuade family or friends to take care of the kids they call hibiscus hibiscus is open 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year we never close we are there for the kids when they need us the agency operates two residential campuses on the treasure coast one in vera beach that accepts kids ages 12 to 17 and we have another program called the shelter here in jensen beach that accepts from infants to 12 years old even though there is an age demarcation we make every effort to keep siblings together once on campus a child may stay with us several weeks months or even years our staff or surrogate parents to more than 50 kids every day our primary job is child safety that is the first priority we also help kids imagine what a better life can be hibiscus employees have tremendous responsibility every day and they do a great job i mentioned earlier hibiscus is a child welfare organization but it's much more than that hibiscus is also a community mental health provider we have a corpse of very talented master level therapists that provide individual counseling and group counseling to kids and families last year hibiscus served more than 800 children and families on the treasure coast in okeechobee county hibiscus provides several programs to try and prevent children from entering the child welfare system such as supporting families in crisis parents as teachers and safe care program

thank you very much commissioner our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring sexual assault awareness month in martin county florida april is recognized as sexual assault awareness

month and this observance calls attention to the fact that sexual violence is a widespread public health problem every day too many women men and children across our state suffer the pain and trauma of sexual assault in all its forms at every level we must work to provide necessary resources to survivors of sexual assault without judgment and with dignity including medical attention mental health services relocation and housing assistance and advocacy during the criminal justice process and here to accept we have john ryan he's a board member of the inner truth project

good morning board i'd like to thank you for recognizing the month and proclaiming it sexual assault awareness month then also recognizing the inner truth project as mentioned in the bio we support victims uh and actually i shouldn't say victim survivors of sexual assault uh and violence throughout the treasure coast we have done so since 2012 we exist because we believe there is no shame in living through any type of sexual abuse violence or rape we believe speaking our truth in support of each other in a safe caring and therapeutic environment can set us free and as a survivor of sexual assault myself i believe in this uh wholeheartedly and uh it's made a huge benefit in my life and so thank you very much for the proclamation and i'm honored to accept it on on the behalf of the inner truth project thank you

thank you now we'll hear from the public this looks like it's going to be a big philanthropy day in martin county we're starting off with mr knight kiplinger followed by randy jones i think he's for the agenda item mr kiplinger do you want to speak on the agenda item okay excellent thank you next request

to speak form is randy jones followed by jill jones good morning good morning morning commissioners my name is randy jones hope you don't mind me reading off my phone i've been a martin county resident for 14 years my wife jill and i live south of stewart but we know hope sound very well because our parents were residents there going back to 1985. we care about the area and want to see it grow responsibly i'm speaking in favor of the proposed self-storage project on bridge road because it represents a rare opportunity for smart revenue by allowing by allowing a building of this footprint and scale the county is securing a significantly higher tax yield from a single site this is exactly the kind of high value low demand development we need to protect our residents from shouldering the burden of the county's future expenses it would generate substantial property tax revenue yet it places almost no demand on our roads our water our sewer our emergency services or our schools allowing the full square footage for this project means choosing a stronger fiscal future for martin county without the infrastructure hangover that usually comes with growth i strongly urge you to approve this application and show that you are responsible public servants and i thank you for your time thank you

jill jones is next followed by derrick powell good morning good mornings morning my name is jill jones

i wrote down my thoughts about the self-storage project on bridge road and i wanted to share them with you as my husband just stated we've been martin county residents for 14 years we care a lot about the area and we want to see it grow responsibly in my opinion the area's current storage options are failing us if you look at the existing facilities in our area they are consistently at 100 capacity they are aging they are overpriced for the sub subpar quality that they offer we as local residents are currently paying a premium for storage that lacks modern security and proper climate control we shouldn't have to settle for good enough or be forced to drive to another town just to find a professional available unit the project that's presented features a lot of green space preservation and the building looks beautiful i believe this could be a win-win for the residents of martin county and in particular the people in and around hope sound because it's closed cell storage and it's a good tax revenue please vote to approve this project thank you for your time derrick powell is next followed by valerie

doyle good morning morning my name is derrick powell i've been here before regarding the pepperwood project and today i'll give you a real update on what's actually happening out there not what's on paper but what's actually happening when this project was approved we were shown plans plans that said drainage would be handled there'd be proper buffering between homes and existing residents wouldn't be negatively impacted that's not what's happening drainage has changed water's not flowing like it used to and areas that never held water are holding water now that's not a theory that's what's happening on my property this morning actually um here's the truth of it the people paying the price for the development are the ones who are already there me i spent thousands of dollars fixing problems i didn't create i've lost privacy of my home and protection and the way my property functions has changed and it's not just me there's other residents around dealing with the same thing approving the project is one thing but what happens after that that's where we're falling apart who's actually checking the drainage is working the way it's designed who's making sure the fill and elevations are not pushing water onto existing homes who's holding the developer accountable while the work is happening not after the damage is done because from where i stand once a project gets approved the follow the follow-up disappears the sidewalk i'm sure everyone knows what sidewalk i'm referring to the one leading from pepperwood to cove road and i want to be clear about something else before this was approved i showed up i spoke up i was told concern concerns would be considered but what happened the sidewalk is being placed right in front of my home almost onto my driveway no buffer no hedge no effort to protect my privacy or my property and i understand i'm just one you know single individual and i have nothing to compare as far as like a developer but i do feel that's not consideration that's disregard the bigger issue this isn't just about my property right now it feels like development is being pushed forward without protecting the people who already live here plans look good in a meeting but nobody is verifying what's actually happening in the field and residents like me are being left with the consequences i'm not here to just point out problems i'm a businessman and i prefer solutions what i'm asking for is a hedge or a buffer installed along the sidewalk to restore my privacy and protect my property a proper drainage plan that's actually implemented and verified in the field not approved on paper behind someone on a desk i only have a little bit more and a commitment from this board that developers will be held to the same standard or higher than a family homeowner because right now that's not happening i'm a local business owner i

live here my family lives here sir sir your time is up thank you thank you mr donaldson let's get

somebody out to the site today it's a good day we've had a lot of rain last night let's see how the drainage is working and let's see where the sidewalk is right i've been to the site and his

complaints are legitimate miss doyle will be followed by frank mccrystal good morning there is in 8380 southeast alamanda way right near the banner lake area where there is a wonderful school a couple of doors down i'm a retired school teacher with multiple certifications and i have been working with that school and seeing the growth and the positivity that will happen unfortunately i'm against the proposed development of a 99 922 square foot residential storage area because i feel that not only what was mentioned in the environmental impact the increase in cost dealing with the infrastructure of this development and bringing transient people into an area of a residential area a few blocks from our property and school i feel that the environmental things that were discussed at prior meetings are not being taken care of that the homeowners are not being protected and there's not enough uh transparency of

what the plan is to protect us going forward thank you thank you frank mccrystal is next and mr mccrystal is the last request to speak form i have for public comments good morning humans dear lord thank you for

this day and thank you so much for those who have served and sacrificed to give me this right to free speech ai data centers i told myself to stay away from the tinfoil hat stuff but ai they say is the mark of the beast the beginning of the removal of our freedoms as humans ai data centers this doesn't seem too tinfoil to me and it's being bandied about is they will replace 70 percent of all white collar jobs in the next few years and just wondering ask yourself where does that leave us these data collection centers are a necessary component of the ability to track humans in whatever they do specifically a key component will be the installation of digital currency only in a cashless society but i'll take off the tinfoil hat and let you know that the resistance to ai data centers is growing quickly the people of fort meade florida are rising up i don't know how their meeting went last night but you can get a lot of information now that isn't just pure promotion of these data centers one job per 500 square feet of data center is the lingo used for promotion so that adds up you got two million square feet in indiantown divided by 500 equals 400 jobs but what they're finding out is when you ask these people how many of those jobs are actually on site and not just mobile workers from worldwide anywhere you kind of have a hard time getting an answer so i would hope that the people of indiantown would do their due diligence really really look at this thing before they just go all in it isn't just about water saving water and saving energy if you want to really go tin foil it's about this tiny step that just might save the human race thank you

thank you would anyone else like to address us mr duly good morning mike duly for the record i have a question of order if i speak on a matter at public can i also then speak specifically on an issue as it comes up at a 930 preset if are they different they're different issues sure okay quite simply i would echo the comments in support of the bridge road storage facility uh the only thing i would add is it came through as a pud application and a pud application allows the county to have a lot more flexibility and negotiating with the with the developer and so the the best protections typically are done when the county's involved with the developer under a pud so in that sense i would think that this would be a very worthwhile project for where it's located it's right behind the shopping center and right across the street is project lift which is a pretty good size massive building i think this location is very well suited

for that and i thank you very much thank you we'll now take up our 930 preset which is department six which is adopting a resolution approving and accepting the donation of a 1.28 acre parcel along southeast sticksie highway adjacent to the county owned hobe sound scrub preserve for conservation and perpetual preservation and the property is being generously donated to the county for perpetual

conservation and public use by miss louise yeiser good morning good morning board thank you for this opportunity uh john mayell environmental resource administrator for the record um i'm gonna comment briefly before i start the item and introduce you to miss yeiser but um i i have had the privilege in my career at martin county to bring forward a lot of fun and exciting and rewarding agenda items to you and have enjoyed your support on those items but today honestly the most exciting and the funnest item that i've ever been able to bring forward and it's not just because the um the the meat of this agenda item is such a great community service it's not because this is the first of many that we anticipate that we're working through um it's not because it sets such a great example for others in the community it's really all about the person who's behind this um we wheezy as we call her um she's gonna come up and sit with me here she doesn't mind um is is far and away the most joyful inspiring person i've ever met she's just been such a treat to get to know a year ago um commissioner hetherington called me up and she said hey i have a friend deb parker who's who's here with us as well deb you would raise your hand um and she has a neighbor and friend who has an idea and and it's kind of an idea that pushes the boundary of imagination we we just i can't even think about things like this and when i when i talked to wheezy it really seemed too good to be true but here we are a year later after kind of working through like what her interests are what what was inspiring her and what where the county's needs are and where opportunities might align and we threaded all those needles and and this is the first of several that we're bringing to you as as the fruit of that incredible idea and this incredible person so for the record this is a request for the adoption of a resolution approving and accepting the donation of a 1.28 acre parcel located along southeast dixie highway adjacent to the county-owned hope sound scrub preserve property in a hope sound the property is being generously donated to the county for perpetual conservation and public use by miss geyser um if you would be willing this miss geyser i would love for you to just share a little bit about your inspiration for this and uh and and and your family it would i think it would be a blessing to everyone thank you thank you and thank you to

everyone is this on yeah and this wouldn't be possible without these two sitting over here michael dooley and deborah parker and also john um i would love to say that i had this idea all by myself but in actuality my family has been doing things like this for several generations um i am related to the fleischman family and they have a had a very strong presence in developing and preserving land in cincinnati and naples um florida so um this is not an idea that i developed all by myself i'm just sort of trying to follow in their footsteps to the very best of my ability um let's see um and i know my father inherited from my grandmother a lot in naples that had never been developed and he sold it to someone with the caveat that it stay undeveloped which was fine but that person um defaulted on their loan and it ended up in the hands of a developer and there is now something sitting in that lot that i fondly refer to as the pink thing that has to be 20 bazillion stories high and um every time i have driven by there i have thought oh dad and i know that people in my father's condom in the condominium that my grandmother helped build um faulted my dad for that for probably two decades and um so i feel like in a small way i'm trying to cover for that um that is one piece of it but my family has been very involved in conservation especially with naples and in cincinnati after world war ii so um i did not come up with this idea all by myself i have to give them the credit so um that's that's pretty much

all i have thank you mr meal can you tell us a bit about what was possible on this lot that's now

going to remain in conservation forever so this lot had a an entitlement for four uh multi-story townhomes and that would pretty much shadow the entrance to um hope sound scrub preserve and it's it's got some critical habitat there's some tne species on this this property and it'll it'll become a perfect addition to hope sound scrub thank you commissioner hetherington miss geiser thank you

so much and i'm so glad that you got to share your story because you're not just a conservationist here in our community you've done it many times over in other communities and we appreciate you so much i was so excited to get the phone call one day from deb parker she said i have a friend and a client that um she really believes in keeping martin county special and she wants to be part of it she has a vision she wants to acquire some property she has a a pretty good size budget and how do we make this happen sometimes it's really great when your personal private you know i work in the private sector it's great when your private sector life kind of intersects with your public service because that's when you see some amazing special things happen so deb was able to tell me your story and i said listen we just have a sales tax and we could take a dollar of her money this geiser and we could leverage that to really go farther and farther so let me introduce john mail to the picture who you know john mail makes everything possible right in land acquisition so that for every dollar now that you spend it is multiple time multiple times of the conservation and i think that as we sit up here we make hard decisions we might have some today and there are things that people have property rights and they want to develop and it's sometimes gut-wrenching but you have to follow the law and allow for this and the only way to conserve is and preserve is to do some of the things that you've done you had a vision and we've seen it through and you've seen it through and i don't think you're stopping at any point now i know there's a lot of good things to come and i think you all make um a great team it's geiser john deb mike dooley because you can take this and leverage it and you also encourage and inspire others in the community that can and i believe will do that they will see your vision and they will step forward because it's not always just the government's responsibility you can have a private public partnership in this way and leverage that so much more so thank you for your vision and your commitment to conservation and again i know you're going to inspire many people in our community to do what you've done we appreciate you commissioner caps ms yeiser thank you so much

as the district commissioner in southern martin county hope sound area i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and i want to thank some other folks who are all have been part of the story commissioner heatherington thank you for your role and realtors mike dooley and deb parker thank you for helping to facilitate this i want to also thank mr jeff whitman i see him in the back back there he's the greatest enthusiast for the hope sound scrub preserve formerly known as the ham parcel and he was very very involved in that transaction and getting that into conservation a number of years ago and this is a great passion of his and as far as my involvement goes i think it began with with jeff whitman a while back when he called me and said blake we have to do something to get this parcel there are gopher tortoises on this parcel and it's slated for development and so we got our thinking caps on and and you know it was interesting to see how everyone came together and to make it come to fruition the purchase and donation of this piece of property is a blessing to the people of martin county for a number of reasons first it is a piece of rare and endangered scrub habitat that is rapidly vanishing to development all across the state of florida second it is home to approximately five gopher tortoises i've seen them the burrows are there the turtles are in the holes and of course this is a florida keystone species and third this piece of land sits right at the entrance to the hope sound scrub reserve and will be a wonderful addition to the preserve and lastly there is a champion pine tree and does everybody know what the word champion pine tree means it's a it's an unusually large one um and it sits right at the edge of this property by dixie highway and if it this parcel would have been developed that tree would have been pushed over um it would have been necessary to do that in order to have a little driveway into the parcel so that big tree will be saved so thank you louise yeiser for your incredible generosity to our community your fellow residents here in martin county will be forever grateful to you may may god bless you and your family commissioner campy

commissioner caps well said and commissioner hetherington thank you for making the connection very simply i just say thank you very much when you said oh you just wanted to do your small part it's not a small part it's a great big part uh we have spent a lot of time and effort and money trying to accomplish uh what you just graciously donated uh it's not just the 1.6 acres it's where it is as commissioner cap said it it magnifies and multiplies what we've already tried to accomplish and so to hear your story about cincinnati and naples uh that's your your parents and your grandparents should be very very proud of you most of us especially real estate agents could quickly give you a dollar amount i hope she signed the paperwork already right quickly give you a dollar amount of how generous you have been and very few families there's another gentleman sitting across from you who you should probably say hello to if you don't know him already knight kiplinger you should meet him uh his family also is exceedingly generous and your family and you personally go on that list now of people that are just remarkable citizens of martin county so thank you so much thank you we have two request to speak

forms from the public the first is jeff whitman followed by michael dooley good morning good morning

commissioners uh jeff whitman hope sound um i haven't been this happy since we uh preserved the ham property um that took 20 years to do sarah is with me the whole time thank you um this this manifested pretty quick this only took seven months so happened pretty quick i'm so grateful to you um people don't realize how endangered scrub habitat is the name scrub is not as sexy as mangroves or a cypress swamp or a oak hammock but there are more endangered species than any other ecosystem in florida in the scrub coastal scrubs under intense development pressure 99.9 of the scrub in palm beach county has been destroyed um there is no scrub left in dade and broward counties um threatened and endangered species in the scrub have evolved over the pleistocene era uh 10 000 to a million years ago um the endangered species on the properties which were once slated to be town homes for town you go look at the one to the north it's a it's a disaster it's huge it would have been built on this property um so the endangered species on the property which were once slated to be town homes now have a safe and secure home in perpetuity thanks to john mail the county commission especially commissioner caps and mrs and especially mrs yeiser oh thank you thank you thank you um to paraphrase zora nail hurston their eyes were watching

god god's eyes are watching us thank you thank you michael dooley is next and mr dooley is the last request

to speak form i have mike dooley for the record they say uh repetition is the best form of learning so what you're going to hear has all just been said but i'm going to say it again obviously i speak in favor of the resolution before you it's extremely rare that the people in martin county have such a generous gift offered to them this gift is particularly significant due to what is being offered this parcel of land is contiguous to what i refer to as the ham parcel the hopes on scrub preserve a unique area scrub pine that is rare and can only be found in our area it is home to hundreds of species and is the only habitat that the florida scrub jay calls home the gulf or turtle population out on this parcel and surrounding parcels is thriving i found it interesting that a gulf or bordo a gulf or turtle boro supports over 160 different species it's amazing i am confident that the commission will support this resolution and while i know that the commission cannot as a whole take action on any further resolutions that will come forward with the same offering of lands that will increase the footprint of the ham preserve i believe it would be beneficial for the benefactor to hear any future offerings to us would be met with the same enthusiasm that expect this gift will receive so i'm going to make an ask that's already happened i ask that for any commissioner who would like to be willing to voice their thoughts on the possibility of receiving more land that would enlarge the unique parcel and preserve to please offer a few comments and finally obviously i wish to publicly thank mrs weiser for her passion of land preservation being put into action let her actions be an example for those who can but yet have not acted you can make a difference thank you very much thank you

mr caps i enthusiastically and with a very grateful heart move approval of the resolution

accepting the donation thank you so much and i just want to add that i've known about this generous offer for some months and i think that it's a real testament to your generosity that you didn't just want to gratify yourself by saving that the uh your neighborhood uh you sought the things that the properties that were most uh threatened most vulnerable to development in the county and we are very grateful i i certainly understand your motivation because of the pink blob in naples that's that's a teachable edifice isn't it so we have a motion in the second all those in favor all right that passes unanimously thank you so

much you madam chair to mr dooley's point that chair is available to anybody that would like to sit in it john mail would be happy to meet anyone that has an opportunity uh to join uh this special club of generous landowners that would like to donate property we'd be thrilled to have them and celebrate

them as well absolutely we would encourage that to that end i want to offer my gratitude to our our legal team and our real property section who had to create a pathway for this to happen as as is often the case with with the environmental resource division we try to do things that we don't have passed for and they expediently and professionally created that path so that that seat can be occupied

many times in the future good thank you you know who i'm sure is real happy this morning is harold jenkins

mr caps i would be a remiss if i didn't thank our wonderful staff i jumped mr mail and your department and uh all those involved uh to help facilitate this uh thank you so much as well

terrific so let's see is there a motion to approve the consent agenda there's a motion in a second any objections that motion passes unanimously thank you commissioner comments commissioner vargas i was at a

fishing event in indiantown i'm not a fisher woman however i did go out there invited uh this is for the youth of indiantown that could not even afford possibly a fishing rod and they were enjoying themselves as a family event there were so many local businesses uh across martin county that supported this event this is seventh year and they raised about 30 to 40 thousand dollars for scholarships for these youths so it's a wholesome activity it was a beautiful day and it was a catch and release so um it it taught quite a few skills for the young fisher men and women so mr caps i'm all set today mr campy

just a couple i'll make them very quick um one we're having last month we were rained out for our music in the park series in palm city at the patio at palm city place uh we're back this month of april on april 18th which is a saturday night 6 30 to 8 30 we're having uh palm city zone brittany ann she has a beautiful voice uh sings all type of music uh went through the martin county school system i've heard her play at other events she's fantastic and the unique thing about brittany ann is her band partner is her dad uh so it's a father-daughter event they play multiple instruments it'll be a lot of fun there'll be food trucks it's a multi-generational so it's it's a perfect event for kids and parents and grandparents and anybody who wants to come and have a good time you can bring food there's local restaurants or there's food trucks so i strongly recommend that you come and do that i'm also bringing back my dish with the commission series that we've done in the past we've had lots of uh exciting guests this uh month of april which will be april 24th at eight o'clock in the morning at the community center at charlie layton park uh we're currently under construction in the charlie layton park they're working in the parking lot how you would enter and park is not in the regular parking lot that you're familiar with at the base of the palm city bridge you'd go down cornell a little further as though you were going to the rowing center and then come around through the paved parking there my very special guest for this month on friday the 24th is dr shiroks chadri who is the new vice president well he's ceo he's not the ceo he's the vice president and chief medical officer of cleveland clinic he had been in tradition but when dr rishi singh moved they consolidated again as it used to be tradition martin north and south dr chadri uh is now responsible for all of the areas there's a lot of topics of conversation that we'll be covering it's a free event that's open to anyone that would like to attend um and so that is friday april 24th you can come and hear from dr chadri uh and then two quick issues for our administrator that i'd like to also bring up to my colleagues some i think would have also received the emails that i had i had gotten an email celebrating an event that has they had promised that they would do it uh new field and uh knight kiplinger had talked about having a gopher tortoise sanctuary on their property uh on the kiplinger conservancy property and they're having an event on friday april 10th at 9 30 to 11 30 uh at the at the conservancy trailhead it's on new field parkway if you're coming on martin highway heading west you'd make the right and head up quite a bit by the new field community uh but then there was a question about you know we're long awaiting a sanctuary for gopher tortoises uh and then i received a couple of emails saying well you know is it is it uh permitted and i've spoken to our administrator um and we'll make sure that that is a permitted sanctuary within martin county in the past we've always had to take gopher tortoises and transport them um for thousands of dollars and then there was another one the county had been working on a sanctuary project of our own that someone said well it'll only be for county project relocations which mr uh donelson had said is correct but remember there's a lot of county projects so if we can create the two one for county project relocations and then the kiplinger conservancy at newfield uh sanctuary we would be that would be a remarkable uh advantage and i appreciate not only mr kiplinger but the folks at madamee and newfield for utilizing property to do this it's something that we've always talked about and wished for it's a big deal it's a very complicated process it's a very expensive process to certify and permit these things mr donelson i'd like to um let me just give you my second one that's the first and if you could respond the the second one uh i would request an agenda item for a county-wide policy to have each department uh get creative to create a an opportunity of discounts or benefits for active duty military veterans and first responders hundreds of thousands of businesses private businesses offer uh advantages and benefits for active duty military personnel veterans and first responders the state parks offer free admission to these uh individuals that have served our country or are serving our country federal national parks are also available for free uh there's a lot of discounts and benefits and not just parks any uh locations and i think that it's time that in and there's you know dozens and dozens of counties in florida that also offer these discounts we don't offer them currently um and i think it's important that we do uh so i'd like to come back with an agenda item that maybe the library could do something obviously parks and rec it's easier but if there's other departments that can have some type of a benefit for us to say thank you and we appreciate you as many other organizations have done i think it's important that we do that as well and that's what i have commissioner hetherington

so a number of my residents uh long canter highway constituents have um given feedback on safety concerns speed lighting um just a um ongoing evolving safety concerns so i want to thank uh district secretary steve braun i reached out to him and suggested that we put our heads together to come up with some um to address some of the safety concerns in the area and um his team along with maybe six um six folks on our conference call we came up with that we're going to do a road safety audit along the corridor of canter highway it spans roughly from monterey all the way down to cove road the road safety audit would take into account um any speed it would involve local municipalities law enforcement um certainly in the county and residents along the corridor take feedback and the focus would be short-term low-cost recommendation and some longer um long-term solutions that would be brought to our transportation um mpos so we will be having a series the dot will be hosting a series a meetings and i ask that we could put that those meetings upcoming community input meetings on our website and there will be at least two or three meetings to take input from residents of canter highway so we will put that on our website um so that we can increase participation and i'll share it along with my constituents um in our newsletter from district two so that you can participate on that feedback so that and i have there's a non-profit elevate hope and i would just ask this as an ask for the parks department we have a lot of amazing non-profits that do some wonderful things during our holidays united way utilizes the fairgrounds to do some other uh bike builds elevate hope normally utilizes how patio keep uh covered park the rink and they have been um parks has been reluctant to utilize that facility because there's a new floor so i'm just asking to look into that they they participate in probably 125 bikes many of which um benefits more maybe more hundreds and hundreds um there's very few facilities covered facilities in martin county that can accommodate that type of bike build it's a two-day long event many community members participate in building it many of our residents and constituents families benefit from the the generosity of this completely donated um the they're willing to pay for the facility class just let's figure out a way to protect the floor while still being able to have this really important event and which benefits our community so i would make that ask of the parks department is to let's figure out how to protect the floor and still allow this um bike build to go forward thank you i would agree with

that as well um i know that even when they use the gymnasium floor at martin county high school i guess at all high schools they roll out a large thick rubberized kind of a tarp that facility for us to like as commissioner hetherington said to have a undercover area that large then maybe parks and rec needs to figure out a permanent temporary permanent temporary a a solution that can be rolled out not just for rena and elevate hope which is fantastic for any other time we would need to use that i'm very happy that they put the new roller hockey floor in and we don't want to damage it but we don't want to just now make that an off-limits space that we've used in the past so great shout out and i attended

a documentary film on saturday at the blake library it was sponsored by the league of women voters and uh sierra club it was called bittersweet muck all about big sugar and about harvesting sugar cane and about burning versus green harvesting it's very very interesting if you have the opportunity to see it

don't miss it mr donelson um i'll follow up with the requests um on the gopher tortoises i think i mentioned before one of our challenges is all of our own property as the densities of gopher tortoises so large we can't add more to it so we are continuing to pursue a new uh site for ours and uh i'll get you an update on on the kimplinger site later thank you we should also look into uh absent sales tax

properties that we're acquiring those are new possibilities miss elder anybody else we will proceed with uh public hearing quasi judicial number one which is a public hearing to request approval of the sixth amendment to the island crossing commercial planned unit development zoning agreement including a revised master site plan and out parcel a final site plan this is a quasi-judicial agenda item commissioner vargas any ex parte disclosures if i have any they've been filed commissioner caps if i have any they have been filed i have them and they've been filed commissioner campy i have them and they've been filed and commissioner hetherington i have some and those have been filed mr sinnott any documents have been given to the clerk turning a copy of my work history and the agenda item to be filed as exhibit one anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony please stand up raise your right hand and be sworn in do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to

give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth please proceed mr sinnott thank you

madam chair good morning commissioners i'm john senate principal planner with growth management this is a request by mccarty and associates land planning and design on behalf of buell land south for approval of the sixth amendment to the island crossings commercial pud agreement including a revised master site plan and final site plan for out parcel a the proposed development of out parcel a consists of a two-story 99 922 square foot residential storage facility and associated infrastructure out parcel a consists of approximately 6.83 acres located at 11850 southeast federal highway in hope sound included as a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation this item was continued from the march 10th 2026 board hearing the boundaries of the island crossings commercial pud are shown here in red it's roughly it's just over 25 acres it's been developed with a publix a gas station wells fargo bank wendy's a cleveland clinic wellness center as well as other commercial tenants within the public building out parcel a is located in the southern portion of the pud with frontage along bridge road out parcel a currently contains a 2.3 acre preserve area southeast florida avenue traverses out parcel a that road provides access to the adjacent bridgetown residential pud out parcel a also contains a dry stormwater detention area in the northeast portion the areas in the light blue to the east south and west are within the hobe sound community redevelopment area the area in the green to the northwest is the rm5 zoning district and also to the northwest you can see the bridgetown residential pud in the yellow the future land use designation of the subject site is general commercial the bridgetown pud is within the commercial office residential future land use designation to the northwest in yellow you can see the low density future land use designation to the west in brown you can see the cra neighborhood future land use and to the east and south along the bridge road corridor you can see the cra center future land use designation in red the island crossings commercial pud is formerly known as the ross common square commercial pud was adopted in august 1989 and was most recently modified via the fifth pud amendment in august 2007. it encompasses seven parcels totaling approximately 25.6 acres the proposed sixth pud amendment adds residential storage facility as a permitted use for out parcel a it clarifies that smru shall provide the water and wastewater service for the project the amendment also removes the 0.23 acre out parcel g which is currently within the hobestown community redevelopment area the amendment includes a revised master site plan to reflect an increase in maximum allowable building square footage in the removal of out parcel g i would like to correct one thing for the record during the march 10th hearing i had indicated that there was roughly 34 000 square feet of gross leasable floor area remaining from the previously approved master site plan after further research it appears that numbers is roughly 50 000 square feet of gross leasable floor area remaining from the approved master site plan this proposed sixth amendment includes a revised timetable of development for our parcel a the out parcel a final site plan consists of a two-story 99 922 square foot residential storage facility also known as bridge road self-storage as well as associated infrastructure as part of this development out the out parcel a owner would construct turn lanes including a right turn lane in the southeast bridge road right-of-way as well as left and right egress lanes in the existing internal drive connecting to southeast bridge road there is no change to the existing 2.3 acre preserve area on out parcel a exotic vegetation removal will be conducted in accordance with the existing preserve area management plan as part of the proposed out parcel a final site plan the applicant has requested a parking rate adjustment pursuant to section 4.625 martin county land development regulations 10 parking spaces are proposed the applicant's proposed pud public benefits are as follows a pedestrian plaza with benches in the southeast corner of our parcel a roughly 0.52 acres of additional native upland vegetation will be preserved in landscape buffers on out parcel a the applicant has also proposed a 25 000 contribution to the hope sound historical society to be used for the restoration maintenance of the hope sound railroad station here you can see the proposed final site plan for out parcel a the western portions consist of the existing 2.3 acre preserve area as well as that portion of southeast florida avenue the building is situated in the southeast corner of the site here's a closer look you can see in the southeast corners the proposed pedestrian plaza the areas highlighted in green are those areas of additional native vegetation that would be retained within landscape buffers around the building as part of the proposed out parcel a final site plan the applicant is requesting alternative compliance from the primary facade transparency fenestration criteria of article 4 division 20 staff recommend approval the board of county commissioners is the final decision maker for this application here you can see the proposed building elevations these this top elevation would be the view along bridge road and the applicant does have some color renderings as well in their presentation this matter was heard before the local planning agency on march 5th 2026 the lpa voted three to zero recommending approval with two members being absent this application was heard before the bcc at the march 10th 2026 hearing and was continued to today's hearing at the request of the applicant development review staff have found the buell land south application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report staff recommendation is to move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments including the staff report as exhibit one move the board approve the sixth amendment to the island crossings commercial pud zoning agreement including the revised master site plan and move that the board adopt the resolution approving the final site plan for the island crossings commercial pud out parcel a project also known as bridge road self-storage that concludes my

presentation questions for mr senate applicant would you like to make a presentation good morning

testing okay fantastic thank you uh good morning everybody chair vice chair and commissioners thank you so much for taking your time today to review this project one more time as we already discussed this is a continuance from the march 10th bocc meeting thank you staff for all the hard work and the wonderful presentation to give the overall review of this project as we discussed the applicant is requesting an approval for the sixth amendment to the island crossing cpu d including a revised master site plan and i'll parcel a final site plan before i ask mike mccarty to begin his presentation we have a couple of procedural matters to uh address um on recommendation of staff when we continued the bocc on march 10th we were asked to re-notice everybody again within a 500 foot radius so all the cpud owners and all bridgetown were given a re-notice and therefore i am submitting that certification of re-notice to staff uh they already have a copy but that's the the true presentation of it during this evidentiary hearing um as discussed uh mike or mike mccarty of mccarty and associates land planner on this project has already provided his resume i'm going to bring him up real quick for a couple of evidentiary questions and then he will be able to provide more details of the project mike would you please come up good morning

please state your name and your business for the record mike mccarty mccarty and associates land

planning and design how long have you been doing land planning in martin county 23 years are you an expert on the land development regulations and the comprehensive plan of martin county i am do you believe that this project is pursuant and compliant with the comprehensive plan and the land development

regulations of martin county i do thank you very much good morning uh can you hear me now you don't have to just pull it there you go is that better thank you appreciate it uh good morning everyone appreciate your time today uh it's a little rainy out but boy we sure do need it um as audrey indicated and as obviously staff has presented uh we're we're here today to discuss the sixth amendment to the island crossing pud um i'm gonna i've changed my my presentation slightly from the last time no no sense in being redundant but i'm going to hit on some of i think what were the important points where there was some confusion the proposed amendment for out parcel a increases the maximum allowable building square footage permitted the proposed final site plan includes a two-story 99 922 square feet gen 5 level residential storage facility as part of the sixth amendment to the cpud we were required to revise the master site plan as staff indicated at the last bcc meeting on march 10th there was some confusion regarding data calculations and permitted uses within the cpud we went back we worked with staff and have confirmed that in fact is residential storage a permitted use by right residential storage is a permitted use within the cpud okay residential storage has been permitted since the 1993 second amendment and also in the 1995 third amendment to the cpud now while we're talking about permitted uses i think it's important for us to have an understanding of what could be on this property by right meaning that if we are unsuccessful today and we are forced to go back and revisit a design and a use it's going to be strictly based on a business proposition as to what is successful and permitted on this property okay some of those permitted uses are drive-in type banks so a drive-through bank could go here a medical facility dental and veterinary office hospital buildings a gas station we could put a gas station here with pumps trips of cars coming and going selling fuels okay that would be by right we file that application and we would be approved by right assuming we comply with all the other land development regulations okay car rental and sale agencies we could put a car sales lot here i mean that'd just be terrible a laundromat uh dry cleaning pickup um motion picture theater office buildings and complexes the pud even allows for apartments and condominiums or residential uses not to exceed 20 of the total gla so we could proceed potentially put apartments on this property which i personally don't believe the the residents would want any of these uses we could even do a restaurant uh with a drive-through so chick-fil-a pick any one of the drive-through restaurants we could put a bar here the permitted uses continue on to also allow commercial office residential the those uses under core uh limited uh commercial district lc as well as the gc waterfront resort commercial and um hotels motels merchandising of secondhand goods so we could we could put a goodwill here as well um a thrift store public and private non-for-profit clubs so we could put a nightclub a fitness club we could also even decide to utilize affordable housing act per the senate bill 102 so given all of those potential uses i think it's very clear that what's before you today a residential storage facility is very low impact and is the least intense use that you could possibly put on this property it's the most passive buy right permitted use the traffic generate is extremely low and will not have an impact on the surrounding neighborhood as opposed to these other potential uses if this application is not approved the other question that there was some confusion during our last uh hearing was regarding to the building size and staff did clear that up he did confirm it's the 50 758 square feet gross leasable floor area and so that's confirmed by staff the request before you today is to approve 99 922 square foot building or 49 961 square feet per story so when you think of storage facilities over the last 40 years they have vertically integrated so we have a footprint of a footprint of the 49 and then there's a second story in that so we kept the building compact located in one corner of the site clustering the development impacts okay the leasable area for the storage facility is 72 percent of the total building square footage therefore the applicant will be leasing individual storage units which total 72 000 square feet let's talk about public outreach the owner larry buell lives in bridgetown he has maintained constant communications with his community during this three-year process he wants to put a use at the gateway to his community that makes his community members happy that there isn't a bar there isn't a dry cleaner there isn't a gas station on that parcel that could negatively affect their community neighborhood meetings were held with bridgetown hoa on march 4th to 2026 48 owners live within the bridgetown community no opposition has been received and we have support from the hoa in addition all six owners within the commercial pud support the project and have no objection as well they're required to consent to the pud amendment okay so in total we have over 60 individual owners in the immediate surrounding area supporting the proposed residential storage facility let me also restate that staff also touched on that at the lpa hearing of march 5th we were unanimously recommended for approval you can see here i have island crossings outlined we have consent of all those property owners we also have all of bridgetown which is behind here obviously out parcel a this is the subject parcel and this graphic here i think is important the general commercial land use okay would allow a maximum building coverage of 60 percent or 178 633 square feet okay with only a minimum open space of 20 percent now we are encumbered by the cpd and so there are other regulations that are applicable however given the calculations when applying those and trying to minimize and cluster the development on this site the proposed coverage is only 16.78 so 17 of the site is is being impacted or covered by development okay the proposed open space is 68.52 nearly 70 percent nearly 70 percent of the site is open space in addition as a public benefit of this application before you we are proposing an additional 0.52 or half an acre of habitat rare and unique scrub habitat to be preserved on site i heard this morning on some previous discussions and items the importance of preservation in our county we are stepping up and we are doing just that we are providing an additional half an acre of rare and unique scrub habitat that is not required by code nor the pud if we are unsuccessful today that will not be preserved here are some graphics showing some of the public benefits and benefits and amenities that will be provided along bridge road and the entry you can see here is the plaza seating area with the artwork and focal feature enhanced landscaping this is the north side or excuse me the east side of the building this is the northeast corner northeast corner just a little closer and this is what your view will be from bridge road okay now keep in mind this is this stretch of habitat along the front of the building we are proposing that as a public benefit above and beyond the code requirement if we're forced to go back to the drawing board that half an acre of preserve is gone and a building will be visible from bridge road again these are perspectives from florida now i'll hit on the public benefits fulfillment of a critical local need okay strategic location low impact land use environmental preservation we're going to be bringing the site in compliance with the preserve area management plan architectural and aesthetic integration we've gone above and beyond enhancing this corridor with the architectural elements of this building and respect to human scale and facade treatments transportation and connectivity improvements there's numerous improvements that we're making at that intersection as well public green space as i indicated we're we're making the uh pedestrian oriented design at the corner that provides the general public economic development development local job creation and then not to mention the monetary contribution to preserving history and long-term stewardship so our client has committed to um contributing to the hobe sound historical society by pledging the 25 000 as a railroad magnate okay all of these public benefits are we are putting forward because we are amending the pud if we are going back to a buy right approval all of these public benefits come off and we'll put a gas station here so i just want to be transparent we want to be a good neighbor we have had enormous support from the adjacent property owners and residents they are excited to see this happen on this frontage of bridge bridge road in this enhancement your staff also recommends approval of the application and i respectfully request your approval of the application

any questions questions for the applicant madam chair if i may uh one point i would like to clarify in regards to the term gross leasable floor area so staff would look at that as the total area the total conditioned area within the building not necessarily just the areas that are for the exclusive use of the tenants i'd like to read a couple records from the former chapter 33 of our land development regulations both of these definitions would have been in effect at the time that the most recent master plan was approved in 1995 this first definition is gross leasable floor area the total floor area within buildings designed for non-residential use which area is or might be leased to tenants and the second definition gross leasable floor area gla is defined as the total space designed for the exclusive use and occupancy of individual tenants including basements mezzanines and upper floors if any gla is measured from the center line of adjoining partitions and from the exterior face of outside walls so we look at it as the total conditioned area within the building thank you for that clarification

commissioner caps are we back to the board now or are we yes we are would anyone from the public like to

address us seeing none we will close the public portion of the agenda item of the public public

hearing and return to the board mr caps so this is a pud amendment the applicant is asking to change the existing pud which currently allows 50 758 square feet of construction to allow for 99 922 square feet of construction this is basically a two-fold increase in square footage though the project has many good features i think it would be best to stick with the existing pud and the existing rules on this parcel which leads me to move denial of the application mr campy we find ourselves in a quandary

without having heard from my colleague who i count as a friend this project meets would be just sort of roll right through the process it checks majority of the boxes i watched the lpa meeting um i've been up here long enough to realize the advantages and disadvantages of crafting new more up-to-date kind of uses of property um i've been frustrated in the past uh at other locations where something from the past was able to be utilized and the rule now in modern day um created a gas station where within a very short distance of space there were five other gas stations but because it was legally allowable it became a gas station and people said to me and i know the board it was tricky for us prior to the decision people said to me what are you all thinking why would you build a sixth gas station within a couple of miles staff has to do what they're supposed to do they got to follow the rules and they had to and the commissioners majority voted in favor of it because they have to because if you don't there's legal consequences there's other consequences now i was so frustrated by that project even though i knew and my colleagues were exactly right in voting for it i voted no just because it just felt weird to just common sense would tell you that that's not the right use there but it was allowed to be there and the residents are now suffering the consequences of having a gas station built right on the other side of their fence not a lot of benefit not a lot of bells and whistles not a lot of checks being written to historic buildings and not a lot of protected landscapes just the gas station right there because it was legally allowed now i thought mr mccarty i thought you walked a fine line the tightrope on not looking like you were threatening us but by explaining the fact that look we could do this someone owns this property they've been paying taxes on it for as long as they've owned it now i think the ultimate goal would be build nothing leave it alone that's an expensive option for somebody to just you know you had a woman this morning who was uh you know donating some property but that's that's how rare that is it's going to be something so then you have to go okay well if it's going to be something what should it be it's a it's really a remarkable corner it's not the actual corner because some people said to me there's already a building there it's not the corner of bridge and us one it's a little east of the building that's there which is a three-story old bank building if i'm not mistaken right three stories this is a little bit east of that i met with the applicant i met with the owner and i said look i thought the biggest complaint or or opposition not complaint would come from the very well-known business owner on the across the street on the south side didn't normally you'd assume something like this would come from the sort of the higher end neighborhood behind it and i don't mean the public's and the other stores i mean just a little bit west of that uh did i say east on the other thing i meant west if i said east um there was a couple this morning that seemed in favor of not seemed they were then there was one person that spoke this morning it's the first time i'd seen anybody really opposed but part of her concern was the transient nature of the people that would come and go i don't believe and i don't know her story but what i was thinking is she probably didn't understand the level of a gen 5 and maybe you need to explain when you just generally say gen 5 storage facility a lot of people when they hear the word storage facility they would think it's like the roll-up garage doors and you pull your pickup truck in and you're bringing stuff in and out and you store your boat there or whatever else at the last meeting i sort of teed it up because i thought having you got staff's recommendation of approval you got an approval from the lpa you didn't have any neighbors coming to complain these are the things that we normally have to deal with you were making donations that you know were legit um i teed it up and then just left it because i didn't want to steal the district's commissioner's thunder we're not allowed to speak to each other i have no idea what my colleagues are thinking about this there's a sunshine law in florida many of you have heard this but people that are watching and they're like how come you guys look like you have no idea what each other's thinking because we don't we're legally not allowed to speak to each other i had no idea that commissioner caps had those concerns i was actually lobbing it over to him so he could make his own motion for approval in his district and when he said no i was very surprised so now here we are today understanding that it's going to be something it's too valuable a piece of property in too much of a premier location to be nothing so you start thinking well if it's not going to be this what else could it be now in my mind you showed the pictures briefly because i know you were not trying to like redo your last agenda item pretty well done from my perspective having seen the things that it could be um we just approved since you were here last we approved a storage facility um north of the roosevelt bridge once one bay one property off of us one fine looking building it looked like a storage facility it was generic they didn't have a lot of landscaping didn't need it they were behind another series of strip center storefronts and it passed the most common concern that i hear is why another storage facility how many storage facilities how many car washes and how many assisted living facilities can you build but in america in a free market if you've done your due diligence and feel that you want to invest probably millions of dollars to a storage facility i'm not going to necessarily second guess you um because i think what separates you from some of the others is the fact that yours is from what i can tell in the meetings that we've had super high end right up the road from jupiter island right up the road from atlantic fields right up the road from jupiter and i've driven around a little bit there's another one that's a on the table for that general area super high end storage is different than storage it's not my place to give you business advice on maybe you're making a mistake it's my position to protect the original residents that are there and businesses that are there ahead of time because they in my mind they count more because they they're already there and you don't have that pushback so i'm left and i'll finalize with this i'm left with what do i do with my friend and colleague i would have to say under these circumstances i would not support his motion because i think if it's going to be something in my mind having been here a while this is probably the best use now i don't know within the month that you guys were waiting to come back if there were any meetings with the commissioner i'm not allowed to know i don't know since it is a pud which is a negotiated contract if there was any conversation to ease some of his concerns i don't know i didn't because i didn't have those concerns but you know short of us trying to be respectful of a district commissioner but understanding there's five separate votes and opinions up here um i have been on the winning and losing side of positions in the past and it's smarts um i don't know if there was a vision of your plan that would be comfortable for my colleague i don't know how the other three are going to vote today you could go down in flames right in the next couple of minutes or was there a version of this that was palatable to the district commissioner do you live to see another day on this project if there was if what i heard this morning is he's concerned of the doubling of the square footage all of the other things are not waiting and i'm not trying to put words in his mouth but all of the other benefits and concerns don't i think trump the doubling of the square footage i don't know if there was a version of this that he would be comfortable with you know the motion is as it stands his motion could be successful right now i won't be supporting it because i for all the reasons i mentioned but that's my advice to you publicly in front of the five of us you know is there a version of this project since you do have the ability to negotiate a contracted agreement but with staff's recommendation and everything i mentioned i'm still in favor of the project i am supporting the

commissioner and more importantly i'm supporting our comprehensive plan and our land development regulations these are legal requirements that you have to meet in order to comply and you don't meet them the the maximum allowable square footage that remains in this pud is 50 000 square feet and this project proposes 99 000 square feet that is if we make an exception we don't have a comprehensive plan we don't have ldrs this would establish a precedent that we would not recover from it's a great project it really it's a it's a fine project the mr buell and his brother came to see me and i thought this is a terrific project the loser here is is mr buell because your consultant and our staff should have told you a year ago that this project wasn't going to fly because it wasn't compliant with the with the existing pud and now we're left saying do it well do we want to uphold our uh ldrs and our comprehensive the requirements of the comprehensive plan are we going to make an exception we will not recover from that

exception if i may just clarify thanks if i may just clarify an amendment to a cpud is not a failure to meet the code it is a valid protocol within the code now whether the commission chooses to agree that is completely of course discretionary but we are not doing anything outside the code by asking and that is what we are asking for we are not blatantly disregarding the code we are asking for a change

to the cpud thank you you're asking to double the allowable square footage mr vargas yeah um i've heard everything everybody said that's why there are five of us up here and we all have our background of business acumen and also what we know to be this area of hope sound in particular and you talked about the comprehensive plan if we approve this this is the first of many it's the first of many you allow them to do that therefore we have the right so having said that i agree with madam chair and i agree with commissioner caps i will not vote for this is that a second yes i second that any further discussion

there's a motion and a second all those in favor aye opposed opposed that motion carries uh four to one with commissioner can't be dissenting uh we're now going to take a 10 minute break and we are going to go out of order a little bit because i see a lot of people here who need to get back to work we're going to take up department four if that's okay which is thank you commissioners newfield need of conservation easement for newfield open space mr sinat thank you madam chair good morning

commissioners i'm john senate principal planner with growth management this is a request by gunster yokely and stewart on behalf of madame palm beach for approval of an amendment to the deed of conservation easement for newfield open space recorded june 14th 2024 in official records book 3442 at page 2548 public records of martin county florida the purpose of the amendment is to remove certain lands of lower environmental value from the prevent from the provisions of the easement and replace them with lands of higher environmental value as well as to correct certain errors in the text of the easement and in the legal description the new field project formerly known as pineland prairie consists of approximately 3411 acres in western palm city adjacent to the area where in western palm city there you go west of the florida turnpike three conservation easements were approved and accepted by the bcc in march of 2024 there is one easement encumbering the open space areas a separate easement for the preserve area management plan one areas and a third easement for the preserve area management plan two areas the applicant proposes to amend the deed of conservation easement for newfield open space recorded in or book 3442 at page 2548 the proposed amendment replaces certain areas with new higher quality property and corrects errors in the text of the deed and legal descriptions there are no proposed changes to the separate conservation easements encumbering the pamp one and pamp two areas a total of twenty one point nine nine acres is proposed to be removed from the open space conservation easement this consists of 8.76 acres within the crossroads neighborhood and sdw workplace area these areas were designated for development on the regulating plan and article 11 land development regulations 5.6 acres near the c23 canal and turnpike will accommodate an fpl substation those so those areas would also be removed 7.63 acres south of newfield parkway for the future 84th avenue right-of-way those 7.63 acres would would also be removed the proposed amendment also corrects references to pamp 2 within the easement agreement that were included in error to offset the removed areas the applicant will include 33.35 acres of additional property within the open space easement based on an evaluation by ew consultants the proposed areas are of higher habitat quality than the removed areas staff recommendation is to move that the board adopt a resolution approving and accepting the amendment to deed of conservation easement for newfield open space and authorize the chair to sign all documents necessary to complete the transaction that concludes my presentation questions for mr sinnott seeing

none applicant would you like to make a presentation good morning morning thank you as always to staff for

the thorough presentation and for the recommendation of approval i'm kristen spake of the gunster law firm on behalf of the applicant mattamy we're joined here today by members of the development team for mattamy james fitzgerald and carl albertson we also have with us today jason honor of ew consultants and our environmental scientists and fbl is present today in connection with the utility request in case questions come up about that also i would like to acknowledge a special guest mr knight kiplinger is here today he's a local resident a renowned financial journalist and philanthropist who also happens to be the original landowner visionary and town founder of newfield and so we're grateful for that um working out so the request to amend the open space easement i think would be um but it'd be good to look at kind of what it is and what it isn't the open space easement just for clarity this open space easement is not the mechanism that's out protecting wetlands and their buffers as mr senate pointed out their pamps and other conservation easements to address those areas this open space easement is the one that overlays that 70 of open space that newfield is renowned for it allows activities within the open space like walking trails equestrian trails camping picnic areas ball fields recreation fields restrooms parking areas and so this that's the nature of the easement that we're here to discuss today and our request to you today is to amend that open space easement for two broad purposes one is to correct some erroneous language that was included that's those references to pamph two that don't belong there so this change won't do anything to pamph two it just takes those references out of the document they weren't supposed to be in there the second broad purpose is to adjust the land that's included in the legal description of the easement that's for three reasons one kind of category of land is based on the scrivener's error the second category of land that is being adjusted is based on utility needs at newfield and then the third is to finalize the alignment of southwest 84th avenue so you've heard those proposed changes would take out 21.99 or we'll just say 22-ish acres from the open space easement and then replace those with the same number of acres so acre for acre plus like 11.3635 more acres for a total acreage in this open space easement of 33.35 so more than we started with so the three kind of categories of land that we're seeking to adjust let's take it from the top one is the scrivener's error so you can see on this graphic thanks for putting that up that the blue is the conservation easement as it stands today the open space conservation easement as it stands today and in the um kind of kind of to the north you see that little neighborhood above the roadway where there's a red pie shaped piece this is one of two encroachments the other one's down in the south corner the red shape on top of that triangle so those are two areas that were were mistakenly included in the open space easement they've always been intended for development there is some development taking place in the northern piece and so this correction is simply to take that property out of the open space easement it wasn't supposed to be in there so we're asking you to approve that change to allow the parties to correct that oversight and that removes that 8.76 acres and recall we're going to replace it acre for acre plus 11 more of greater equal habitat quality so the second change is for the utility needs of the residents at newfield in order to reliably provide electrical power fpl is going to need an additional substation somewhere in this area and if you don't mind can can i do it or can you flip to the thank you this graphic may be helpful if i can make it visible to you oh thank you we'll find it well um i think we can paint a picture with words so there um are substations nearby but fpl has identified the need for a site within the new field um development and it happens that we have got some space thank you this is the space that we're proposing in red and it is in an ideal location for fpl to be able to balance um some of the backup power for overloaded substations in the area area and also provide power to the residents of newfield and so james fitzgerald of mattamy will speak to you all about why this is a good site from newfield's perspective and for the

community good morning commissioners uh thank you for this your time this morning and i want to thank staff for working with us on this agenda item as kristen kind of noted you know when we consider the future of newfield obviously the provision of utilities is a chief concern for us and so when we think about the conversation for the future power needs um you know obviously we wanted to figure that out as soon as we can and that's part of the reason why we're here in front of you today so in partnership with fpnl we think that we've found the right location for a substation that its primary use is to deliver power to the future residents of newfield and so when we weighed these locations uh we considered you know several different things because we've we've discussed other locations on the property in the past and finally settled on this one you know it is in the north easternmost corner of the property tucked away so it's not a visual impact that's one it is very far from the neighborhood context um and so we think you know from an aesthetic perspective that's ideal over there secondly um as the graphic we were supposed to be able to kind of pull up here shows uh this substation is located you know in relative proximity to uh fpl's other substations so it's a very efficient and economical solution and um finally uh we wanted to just also consider you know some of the environmental considerations and so when we were looking at this proposal and you know understanding the fact that we don't take it lightly coming before you to modify the open space easement we wanted to make sure that we came with something and so that's how we identified the 32 additional acres that we're adding to the open space um to show our commitment and how serious we take you know this request and so we've got um fpl as well as myself and then jason hunter from ew who can answer any questions regarding the strategy over the selection of the location and fpl can answer you know any technical questions you may have in terms of its intended use and in terms of the environmental quality of the acreage that we are adding jason is happy to answer any of those types of questions too so thank you for your consideration we appreciate it

questions for the applicant in that case let's mr campy i'd like to hear from someone from fpl to see

how it works out for them rachel falcone project i hear you oh good morning my name is rachel falcone i work for fpl's project manager manager for substation developments is there a specific question you had

if it wasn't um accomplished this way what would where would you stand if it if this didn't go through

today we would have to seek other locations for the substation um this is definitely an ideal location for us um with our planning strategies um on the power delivery side so this would be the preferred

location we'd have to start over if if it were not thank you i appreciate that um with that i these mics are tough i'm sorry with that i would tell you that um the conservation acreage when the project was first proposed was exceedingly generous uh i understand that um having been here from the beginning of the project it's difficult to lay out in perfect accuracy every single thing that would need to happen deep into the future i think these few uh corrections and changes and alterations make perfect sense to me and now hearing from fpl that this really is important to them as well i would make a motion to accept the recommendation from staff especially considering it's happening in

beautiful palm city i don't know who this question is for what what are the uses that are directly adjacent to the proposed fpl substation i presume that's east i believe it's well it's certainly the

turnpike and then just east of that i believe that uh it's residential to the north is residential in st lucie county and then in terms of our site uh the gray rectangle that you see just west of the

proposed site is the fine property okay all right uh we have one request to speak form and that's from knight kiplinger kiplinger please join us good morning and you won't be limited to three minutes oh well

i'd be happy to too i i'm knight kiplinger my family have been long time part-time residents of martin county for almost 75 years and i was last before this distinguished body numerous times eight nine years ago my how time flies when i proposed at the time a revolutionary land use concept vision for 3400 acres lying between the florida turnpike and i-95 out to the west that my family had owned for four decades i didn't like the by right zoning i thought it was terribly wasteful of land too much for a small number relatively small small number of individual landowners and not enough gorgeous open space for shared use not just everybody in the new town of newfield but everybody in the public everybody in the county and the 70 open space 30 developed footprint that was so revolutionary when i proposed it nine years ago maybe is the new norm in martin county i hear those percentages talked about quite a bit it might be harder on a smaller tract but on 3400 acres it was a huge canvas on which to do something special i i hasten to add that i have no lingering financial interest in newfield i i am simply another citizen of the county watching it grow a distinctive thing about newfield many of you remember is it was the most detailed tightly drawn new town proposal new project proposal that martin county had ever seen and we took a long time to get to that and the developer agreement not a pud but a developer agreement filled with detail is my legacy the plan is my legacy it lives on the plan lives on and i had a lot of very good questions commissioner heard you had many good questions about the durability of the developer agreements that controlled newfield and i made the promise at the time that this tightly drawn detailed plan is my legacy it would have to be implemented either by me or any future owner of this project i was very fortunate and the county was very fortunate to find a wonderful new steward for newfield in madame homes and they're very talented james fitzherald who is overseeing this project today so i'm an informal advisor today i'm an ambassador for newfield i visit newfield often every time i'm in town as a matter of fact what brought me to town this week by coincidence is a walking tour this afternoon in the rain of newfield as it is taking shape with the entire staff of the planning firm of dover coal dover coal and coral gables the the immensely creative people who worked with me and my lead planner here in stewart marcella camblor to create this vision which is now being implemented newfield has only been coming out of the ground for 18 months for about a year and a half i go out there i walk the sidewalks i talk to people on their front porches the front porches are a distinctive sense of community and togetherness and newfield i engage them in conversation they apparently don't think i'm a creepy stalker but a friendly guy they might still they might still but i ask why did you choose newfield over the more conventional suburban sprawl that is available everywhere even in our county but everywhere in the treasure coast and they sound like the new residents out of central casting whom i envisioned and and described you eight or nine years ago people of all ages retirees families with little children their tricycles on the sidewalk singles with no children prime of life empty nesters the full array of people multi-generational newfield no gates no golf courses a sense of community friendly by design and these are not just phrases these are really real so when i come back i i saw that there was an agenda item this morning it it's a very clear straightforward agenda item makes a great deal of sense commissioner campy alluded earlier that eight or nine years ago when we were creating this very detailed plan as detailed and tight as it was drawn we couldn't anticipate where florida power and light might think that a new substation would make sense to serve this community the location is ideal so you take a few acres out of protected land you swap it for a few others and you know we're talking about 20 or 30 acres in 2 000 plus acres of open space so i hope those of you who haven't been out to newfield recently will come out and take a look it's very exciting the new athletic fields which we promised to martin county nine years ago and are very needed are nearing completion right now right along newfield parkway the town center the small small scale retail center will be coming out of the ground fairly soon talking to retailers who would like to be there to serve this community so a lot of exciting things happening out there and i know the plan very well so i'm watching closely with with no corporate authority whatsoever simply the moral authority of a founder who put it in motion and then stepped aside so thank you for this opportunity this morning

thank you mr campy just to follow up i remember when mr kiplinger was looking for someone to take over the project from his vision i call it night vision and um he and i had a conversation about several different suitors that were interested in getting an entitled property at this size in martin county which is unheard of i tell people the last time something like this really took place was martin downs and we do this every 50 years and um and i know how concerned he was that whoever most people assumed that the kiplinger family was going to develop the project themselves like they're they're multi-talented but that wasn't one of them and i remember when he said about mattamy and i'm like i hadn't heard of them and we got a chance to meet with them canadian company and i think one of the most clever parts of the company is the the reason it's called mattamy is the owner of the company's children are matt and amy and it's mattamy and um and when he picked them they had a little ground like a little ceremony out there with the tent and it was very nice and mr kiplinger had asked me to speak and i sort of said to the new mattamy partners i said he's got a night there's night vision here you have to do because we all approved it based on his vision and marcella campbell or and the team he had put together mattamy was showing up new and we just wanted them to understand that this was not going to be like a bait and switch kind of a thing that they were going to come in and do whatever they wanted and i would tell night my friend that they've done exactly what we thought of your vision and approved and probably even more so i hear such wonderful things from people that are that have actually moved out there they've been very uh available to us and our staff we've had a couple of issues that have come up which is just normal uh back and forth kind of stuff and they've immediately taken care of them so your legacy which i think is the right word is very well protected in in your last selection process which was hiring mattamy james fitzgerald is very available they've really involved themselves in the community and for those of us that put our stuck our necks out for your vision you picked the right group and um and it's made my life much much easier so thank you to you and thank you to the folks at mattamy and we have a motion without a second second any further discussion

commissioner hetherington i would just say um to mr kiplinger because i participated as a private citizen in your public meetings which you did an amazing job um i wasn't yet here when your project was approved but as you just mentioned your legacy has been followed and i like this that it uh includes additional um conservation land and i will support it and i really do very much enjoy your trailheads

out of the province there's a motion and a second all those in favor i opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you thank you commissioners thank you uh we'll now take up the uh b and c one library board of trustee board of trustee appointments everybody has everyone turned in your voting sheets

roxanne johnson received four votes each motion to accept uh paula hunt and roxanne johnson uh to be reappointed to the library board second any further discussion there's a motion and a second all

those in favor aye opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you miss gordon we'll now take up uh department quasi-judicial number one which is a request for approval of a planned unit development final site plan for the storage rentals of america project this is quasi-judicial mr vargas any exparte

disclosures i have any they've been filed mr caps if i have any they have been filed i have them and

they've been filed commissioner campy i have them and they've been filed mr hetherington i do have some and those have been filed uh mr aguilar have you turned in all of your relevant information to

the yes a copy of my work history has been turning as exhibit one okay and uh anyone who's going to be

providing any sworn testimony please stand raise your right hand and be sworn in do you swear or affirm

the evidence you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

mr aguilar please proceed thank you manager good morning members of the board my name is luis aguilar principal planner for the growth management department i'm presenting a pudd final site plan application for a property owned by sroa se sandy fl llc the applicant storage rentals of america is presenting is requesting approval of a final site plan to construct a three-story ninety seven thousand five hundred square foot self-storage facility and associated associated associated infrastructure on approximately 2.51 acres included is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation the subject property is located at the southwest corner of southeast dixie highway and southeast osprey street and east of southeast sandy lane in hub sound this is an enlarged area of the site the property is undeveloped the property is about in south martin reeder regional utilities water treatment plant to the west and the richway mobile home so division to the north so that's the mobile home so division and the water plant here the future line use designation is general commercial and the sunning district is pod residential the east rich states pod was adopted in 1978 in 1978 and consists of single family dwellings duplexes multi-family sites a park and a commercial area the subject property lot 21 block i is a commercial area as mentioned before the property consists of a three-story ninety seven thousand five hundred square foot residential service storage storage storage facility known as storage rentals of america entrance to the proposed storage facility will be through southeast sandy lane the parking road adjustment is requested pursuant to section 4.625 section 4.625 martin county ldr and 12 parking spaces are proposed this is the this is the first sheet of the site plan access to the site will be through these two locations on south east sandy lane you can see also the proposed parking area the proposed parking area and a 20 by 51 loading zone over here this is a closer look of the proposed building you can see over here the proposed dry retention area and this is located in the southern part of the site and the building set back here is over 88 feet long the applicant is requesting alternative compliance from the primary the primary façade transparency fenestration provision of article 4 division 20 staff recommend approval the board of county commissioners is the final decision maker for this application these are the proposed elevations this elevation here faces uh dixie highway and this is the main entrance elevation on southwest sandy lane the applicant is also uh providing a presentation with more renderings for you to see pursuant to article 10 table 10 5 f 9 martin county land development regulations review this application is not required by the local planning agency development review staff have found the storage rentals of america application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report we recommend to move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments including the staff report as exhibit one and move that the board adopt the resolution approving the storage rentals of america final site plan this concludes my presentation the applicant um is here and has prepared presentation and is ready to answer any questions thank you questions for mr aguilar mr raines morning commissioner heard commissioners

thank you for the record bob raines the land use attorney with the gunster law firm here on behalf of the applicant this morning uh thank you for the opportunity to be here uh presenting this project um as mr aguilar pointed out i wanted to make a couple of points and in a minute i'm going to have ruben cruz from kimley horn to come up and make a presentation but this is a project that is consistent with the comprehensive plan and the existing pud zoning and the master plan that was exhibited on that pud and we're following uh your code and that comp plan and pud with the exception of the alternative compliance that we're asking for but that we believe is actually something that helps with the uh hiding the building and stuff and we'll get into that in just a minute but with your permission madam chair i'd like to ask mr agarwal just a couple of questions if i could yeah thank you uh mr agarwal you uh did you prepare the staff report for this yes i did for this item and if i could turn your attention uh to section f which is of the staff report which is the determination of compliance with the comprehensive growth management plan requirements it's prepared by the growth management department did you prepare that section sir yes i did and it reads finding of compliance staff has reviewed this application and finds that it complies with the ldrs as detailed within this report staff recommends approval of this development application application as consistent with the guidelines and standards of the applicable comprehensive plans goals objectives and policies as implemented in the ldrs uh did you write that sir i did and would you still agree that's the case yes and also section g determination of compliance with the land use site design standards zoning and procedural requirements growth management department is that also a section that you worked on yes and that reads sir findings of compliance staff has reviewed this application and finds that it complies with the ldrs as detailed within this report staff recommends approval of this development application is consistent with the guidelines and standards of applicable comprehensive plans goals objectives and policies as implemented in the ldrs is that did you write that sir yes and is that still your position it is thank you sir i appreciate it so at this time i'd like to ask uh ruben cruz with kimley horn to come up and give a short presentation i'll have a couple of questions for him and then i'll let him proceed mr cruz can you introduce yourself for the record sir yes thank you ruben cruz cumley horn and associates and have you been sworn in sir yes yes i have and can you give us a brief description of your

educational background and your work history sir yes thank you i hold a bachelor's in communication master's in urban and regional planning from florida atlantic university both degrees are from fau and i have a professional background of 20 plus years and municipal government working for juno beach hollandale beach and jupiter island and currently with kimley horn and can you identify the document sir that i'm

handing you yes this is my resume and is that an accurate depiction of your resume yes sir thank you i'd like to put this in as an applicant's exhibit one and turn that into the clerk so go ahead and proceed sir

thank you thank you commissioners chair vice chair um this is uh storage um again for the record ruben crews kimley horn and associates uh 1920 wakaya way west palm beach florida 33411 i'm here on behalf of storage rentals of america presenting their proposed project here a little background of our team that we've uh assembled for you today i'm hoping your monitors are showing the uh this is my first time in your chambers uh presenting um some site information as staff demonstrated there this is our site um along osprey and southeast dixie highway it currently is a vacant piece of property um and our proposed use is that of a self uh self storage um future land use designation commercial general and the zoning district is pudr which is something to be um highlighted that this is a pud this is part of the pud um and we're complying with that pud and i'll show you that that uh approved pud in a in a bit here here's a high level view of the proposed site with some of the surrounding neighborhoods again future land use that of commercial general zoning pudr residential and this is that uh pud uh that was originally approved back in 78 1978 and it has our our specific site designated as a commercial area um hence that's where we're going and our proposed site our proposed site is that of a three-story um uh three thirty two thousand five hundred square foot footprint uh self-storage facility um so that is the uh footprint that is taking up the land it's it's something to indicate here that uh looking at the uh lot coverage um the building coverage there that we're proposing is that of 29.88 um the max is 30 percent so we're we're within that and then also the uh landscape open space percentages is 20 right we're at 52.99 so we're giving that landscape open space that is uh highly uh important uh for this project and appearance to the neighboring properties here our site plan uh showing some specific site data information but also highlights uh features that during the review process um we worked with staff and those items showing our dry retention ponds um that are you know to maintain our on-site uh drainage facility also the community area um that we're going to be providing on site that's part of the requirement sidewalks showing also our uh parking area our entry feature off sandy lane and also another key component um because we are within the weld field protection zone um we do have smru a future well pad there that we've designated on our site uh to comply with that given our proximity to smru just to our west and this is for general uh rendering purposes for visualization of the proposed landscaping um part of the alternative compliance um for that lower level is providing some landscaping so this shows our effort in working with staff working in good faith effort to comply with those regulations another key feature of the landscaping is as some of you uh may drive by this site uh there's an existing uh slash pine tree that was there um i frequent the area and have noted that that tree and this is something that the project is going to be maintaining in communications with staff throughout the project um it was noted and we agreed yes let's save that tree and here's a uh a rendering of how that would uh take look along dixie highway and then for the neighboring properties the residential properties uh properties just to the south you could see a cross section here of that property um with our landscaping the easement the buffer and then also just highlighting that that beautiful tree again and these are some of the other landscape materials trees that we will have on site uh to comply with our landscaping that again also we're going above and beyond the minimum requirements for the landscaping and some of our ground cover features and here's a step back so if you're on the corner taking a view taking a look at the proposed uh project this is uh the view that you will see um incorporating that tree the landscaping buffer and giving a good architectural feature to play on the three stories so it doesn't give you that perception of uh of a tall building again showing our berm structure entrance off sandy lane and also too here's the entrance to our facility showing some lighting features that are going to be controlled down lighting to not provide a glare another picture and then also part of the project this is an ongoing project this is a project that's been since 2023 and there was a lot of community outreach community involvement that took place with this getting some input from the community of what they wanted to see and how you know we could move forward so throughout the process we just wanted to highlight the effort that we have taken to reach out to the community via mailings electronic information sites having events where we can meet with the community and also with key liaisons for neighboring communities here's an example of just one of the community center outreach meetings we had for the project recently and along with that feedback that we did receive it was part of you know the buy-in for the project so with that we did what we perceived as buy-in from the community not hearing objections to it but that of uh being in favor of it so when we're looking at the our regulations comp plan and input we're looking for consistency and compliance so we're looking at you know is this project consistent with martin county's comprehensive plan and the approved um east ridge pud we got that box checked looks like it um does it comply with the applicable ldrs along with that alternative compliance checking that box um is this a low intensity commercial use compatible with the surrounding areas because we're looking around what's the traffic flow what's going to be the impact to our neighbors we're looking at checking that box and then did we have community outreach extensive community outreach we checked that box and then also working with staff getting their input um throughout the process and being able to uh get a positive um response of recommending approval to the board checking that box and now what we're here is respectfully requesting approval from the board for the project

mr cruz if i could ask you just a couple of questions please sir uh are you familiar with the martin county comprehensive plan and the land development code regulations yes sir and in your professional opinion does this project is it consistent with the comprehensive planning in the land development code yes and is it also consistent with the pud zoning for this site yes sir okay thank you uh commissioners that concludes our presentation um just a couple other quick comments for me before we just wrap it up i i think that our client has done an excellent job with with respect to this project it's been a number of years uh we listen to the community i think the fact and i know you'll call in just a moment for public comment but i i don't see very many people here and uh you know there may be somebody here but i think we've done an excellent job of meeting with the community and listening to their concerns and trying to address those concerns i would also again just like to point out this is a pud but again we're not asking for any amendments to the pud we're consistent with what was approved the pud zoning so we're not here this is strictly a final site plan that is consistent not only with the comp plan the land development regulations but also the pud that was approved for this project so we'll be glad to answer any questions i do have with me also from storage rentals of america uh beau reich and erica loffler we'll be glad to answer they'll be glad to answer any questions you might have on the operation or storage rentals of america so thank you for your time and we'll be glad to answer any

questions you might have any questions for mr reigns or for staff i have one question and i don't know who it's addressed to how much uh square footage is available in the approved pud for this project

good morning pete walden deputy growth management director the pud just basically states that it'll be built out as general commercial so it has a 60 land coverage uh building coverage so this pud didn't specify uh correct it doesn't have a gross leaseable area like the other one that in commissioner if i

could just add something to that and pete and mr aguilar can or paul pete and louise can correct me if i'm wrong but we're following the existing general commercial land development code for martin county the existing today is that that's correct yes so we we did do that commissioner in response to that so

okay we're consistent with the current code would anyone from the public like to address us seeing none

back to the board commissioner caps this is a pud final site plan it is not a pud amendment we have less discretion with pud final site plans than with pud amendments the legal standard for a pud final site plan is competent substantial evidence in the record and it appears that the applicant has met this standard with this pud final site plan application the applicant had commercial development rights on this property from the original pud in 1978 the applicant is not asking to amend the pud he is just saying i will accept the original pud as originally written and i'm finally ready to exercise the development rights granted by the original pud therefore i move approval of the application and i would also like to thank you for i understand as i remember you all moved the building to save that big pine tree uh that one is like a champion pine tree as i mentioned before those are unusually large ones you really got something there uh don't let anything happen to that tree and this is really not my purview but i i've learned a couple things about big pine trees and one of them is do not run heavy equipment across the root structure that's sticking up out of the ground if you crack those big roots that tree will be dead in 30 days and secondly pine trees like dry habitat and dry soils don't heavily irrigate around that tree either that really messes up pine trees and i'm going to make one more suggestion that's really not my business but i'm going to make it anyway there there's this thing it's just a suggestion there's this thing called zero scape where you're trying to create original habitat and you know the aerial photos of this lot suggest that this parcel was scrublands at one time it's white sugar sand uh very unique habitat i'd love to see you try to recreate scrublands like in jd park when you're riding down to tequesta and you see those scrub hills look at the type of vegetation there there are scrub oaks and scrub pines um and that is the kind of soil that they're looking for and no floor tam grass would be a beautiful thing you wouldn't have to mow you wouldn't even have to irrigate so those are just suggestions i i would love to see that recreated uh around the border of that building that'd be a beautiful site but that's up to you is there a second second any further

discussion there's a motion and a second all those in favor aye opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you thank you we will now move on to department one office of management and budget items which require approval ms murley good morning commissioner stephanie murley director of omb

here to present six items to you today the first item we have is a permission to apply for the clean vessel act operations grant through florida department of environmental protection or fdep for sewage removal programs such as the martin county's pump out boat operation program our utilities and solid waste division is requesting application of about nine ninety nine thousand dollars for the repairs and maintenance operating supplies and non-capital equipment related to the ms poop program and there's no cash match required item number two is a permission to apply for the fy26 florida inland navigation district or fine waterway assistance program um the public works department is requesting a hundred thousand dollars to provide funds for the stabilization of boy scout island within the indian river lagoon using a hybrid living shoreline design to benefit local maintained channels within the intracoastal waterway and preserve boating access there is a grant match of a hundred thousand dollars plus an additional fifty thousand dollars of county funds required to complete the project which is budgeted in the shoreline management cip item number three is a permission to apply for the florida department of children and families reinvestment grant our human services division is requesting 1.2 million over a three-year period to provide expanded support and services to individuals in the martin county health court program there is no grant match required for this item number four is a permission to apply for the bja fy25 edward burn memorial justice assistance grant program for the martin county sheriff's office they're requesting twenty one thousand one hundred and twelve dollars for technology and training related to traffic crash analysis software um there's no match required on behalf of the sheriff's office item number five are adjustments to the fiscal year 2026 budget um the first item is a request to allocate the sale proceeds from the jams property in palm city um in fy24 we purchased this property in palm city and we recently closed on it and now i need to deposit the receipts um so omb is requesting a budget resolution to allocate the funds accordingly to fully satisfy the interfund loan with outstanding balance in the general fund reserves and to replenish the district 5 mstu and the very last item is a request to allocate unanticipated contribution from the coastal waste and recycling planned planned unit development third amendment um onb is requesting a 25 000 budget resolution um to deposit the contribution for the approved coastal waste recycling pud and that's all

i have today motion to accept staff's recommendation second mr caps under item number three permission to

apply for the florida department of children and families reinvestment grant i'd just like to highlight uh the group called the martin county public safety coordinating council and i serve on that group we meet twice a year and we just had a meeting it's a very impressive group of professionals made up of law enforcement state attorneys public defenders mental health professionals social workers uh lots of wonderful staff and they all have a common goal of working together to get our most vulnerable citizens back on their feet i'm very glad to be a part of the group and it's it's really heartening to see how much our community cares and the structures are in place to to help people in the greatest levels of

need in our community any further questions or comments there's a motion and a second all those in favor i opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you department two contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of one million dollars or greater miss brotherton good morning christy brotherton

chief procurement officer i have two contracts for your consideration the first one is geotechnical engineering and quality control services this is a continuing services agreement with a maximum not to exceed value of three million dollars and a maximum not to exceed term of five years and staff is recommending that the board award the contracts to the three highest scoring firms which are listed in alphabetical order of anderson andre consulting engineers arteman and associates and terracon consultants and move that the board authorized the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request the next contract is a continuing services agreement for general contractor services the work orders that are issued under this particular contract are limited to three hundred thousand dollars per work order anything above that has to be formally bid as an individual project and this maximum not to exceed value is twenty million dollars with the maximum not to exceed term of five years and staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the four highest scoring firms which are also listed in alphabetical order of hennest construction company hooks construction company kirchman construction company and wells brothers construction company and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request

and that concludes this item questions i'll move uh second there's a motion and a second all those in favor aye opposed that motion passes unanimously department three is a presentation of martin county fire rescue

lithium battery awareness good morning uh good morning uh chair commissioners members of the board my name is chris hansen i'm the deputy fire marshal here with martin county fire rescue i'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about lithium-ion batteries and some of the challenges that they present for us as you may recall we were just here in october for uh proclamation declaring fire prevention week here in martin county uh this year's theme was charge into fire safety lithium-ion batteries in the household each year nfpa hand selects a topic based on emerging hazards out in in our nation this really highlights a growing concern today most of the electronics in our homes are powered by lithium-ion batteries ranging from watch batteries all the way up to the electrical vehicles while these things are efficient and powerful it could really pose a serious risk when they're not used or maintained properly all right here you can see the floor state fire marshal's office had in 2025 had reported 212 lithium-ion related incidences this is brand new because historically lithium-ion was grouped with electrical fires and now we're learning that these are completely different because with electrical fires you simply disconnect them and then the hazard goes away with lithium-ion once they go into this state they are unstable and can remain in that state and they generate a lot of heat on those things up to a thousand degrees so you can definitely tell it's a little different than just your common electrical fires in my role here at martin county fire rescue i also conduct investigations after fires to determine what caused them we have seen a few of these lithium-ion fires over the last few years including hoverboards a golf cart and even an aircraft at that magnitude i witnessed firsthand the consequences of mishandling or improper disposal and how it can be devastating in addition to the initial fire risk these batteries really continue to pose a threat because they are unstable and can reignite hours and even days later so this is a continued threat just for first responders the fire investigators and also for the people involved in the cleanup operations even our landfills are having to take special considerations to isolate these and store them properly to where it does not continue to burn at this time i'd like to introduce josh jenkins our community risk reduction specialist

for some safety tips for living with lithium-ion thank you chris and thanks again for having us here um so we were asked to talk a little bit about lithium-ion batteries what's happening in martin county and in chris's role as an investigator he's looking at origin and cause and what happened and why did this happen my role at the department is largely educational so i spend a lot of time in the public at hoa clubhouses schools churches scout meetings etc talking about this stuff about a range of fire safety topics um topics and so um just sharing what i what i have learned um with you all regarding best practices uh for charging specifically and maintenance um many of the hoverboard fires that we have looked at or occur because mobility devices like hoverboards and e-bikes they take a beating and the battery casing gets damaged so looking at any list of safety tips regarding lithium-ion batteries you're going to see a lot of guidance about keeping them on a firm flat level surfaces not not on shelves not where they can fall down and get damaged these devices do generate a nominal amount of heat while they're charging as just a natural way way that they function but keeping them out of direct sunlight is really important because you don't want to introduce any more heat to this device than it creates on its own so this is really relevant in places like garages where we have golf carts and lawn tools and lawn equipment stuff like that where it could be potentially sitting in direct sunlight while it's charging you want to make sure there's at least 36 inches of clear space and referencing back to garages again making sure you're not charging any of these devices anywhere near flammables or fuel this is a really big one this is really critical and a lot of lithium-ion battery fires have started because of this one only using the charger that came from the factory with that device these charging apparatus are engineered specifically to serve a particular device and part of that charging apparatus includes what is called a gate that is engineered to close when it senses the lithium-ion battery and the device is full the gate is supposed to close in many cases catastrophic structure fires have been known to be been caused by a failed gate apparatus on a charging apparatus so no aftermarket chargers so you can see aftermarket chargers universal usbc type chargers and gas stations they're there they're everywhere but this is a big no-no in terms of charging safety and then maybe we might all be guilty of this one unplugging lithium-ion battery devices when they're full is really critical if there is an issue with your charging apparatus or if there's damage to that battery case and it is allowed to sit in on a charger while its current is being pumped into that device without a functional gate the phenomenon known as thermal runaway occurs and if that occurs it will ignite eventually so it's going to continue to heat up until the casing ignites and then there's a definitely a hazard of explosion after that so thermal runaway is a big problem the best way to mitigate it is unplugging your devices when they're full i personally witnessed a home in north river shores that was a total loss i happened to be down the road from that when when that house caught on fire from a golf cart which ignited a tesla which exploded and the the house was a total loss when i went home from that incident i walked into my garage and i unplugged a weed eater a drill a flashlight and a golf cart that were all sitting there so they'll be full when i'm ready for them but that as you read in about lithium ion battery safety safety that is a big no-no so warning signs that you might have an issue would include any swelling or bulging of the case a little heat is okay but generating more heat than would be comfortable for you to touch with your hand as a is an indicator that you're approaching thermal runaway any hissing cracking or popping sounds means the inside is getting ready to ignite or has ignited and will burn through that casing eventually so that's a that's a that's an imminent life safety threat if these batteries do catch on fire and even before they're ignited they could be off gassing so this is a really important thing for people to know about that these fumes emitted by lithium ion battery devices are extremely carcinogenic and and just could really overwhelm somebody very quickly in an enclosed space so if you notice any of these warning signs and you want you feel safe that you feel like you can safely get remove it from the structure you're going to potentially save that structure from from a catastrophic fire maybe a fire blanket maybe oven mitts would be appropriate whatever is appropriate given the situation but getting it out of the structure really safely and then enacting your family's home escape plan we are always encouraging people to create a home escape plan and this is really critical to do before a fire you can't really make an effective plan of what should i grab what's my responsibilities where do we meet that doesn't happen during a fire this is pre-planning and then because you have heard us extol the virtues of abc extinguishers many times this is an important note um when people call fire prevention and to ask what type of extinguisher should i get for my home that's a very typical question for us our policy established by the fire marshal is that we recommend abc type extinguishers because they're also known as universal type of extinguishers and a b and c class fires are what you would expect in a residential structure so finally it's just an important thing for people to be aware of abc extinguishers that we know and love are not rated to put out lithium ion batteries and battery fires so this is in the rnd phase right now as far as nfpa is concerned we're waiting on guidance for what's the best type of extinguisher for a lithium ion battery device but abc is not rated for that so in closing we would encourage anybody with any more questions to look at our website you're welcome to call us anytime and nfpa.org also has a wealth of fire safety information they're cataloged by topics and it's a it's a wealth of information i actually printed and brought with us today two safety tip sheets from nfpa about lithium ion battery safety and i put stacks of 50 out on the little table right out there for anybody that wants any information to take with them that's

all that we had for you today so thank you again commissioner vargas yeah just really a comment i fly quite a a bit and they usually ask you do you have any lithium ion batteries but you have your computer with you and you you may have your watch etc so i'm a little confused why you go on an aircraft with

something that could potentially explode catch fire that's a good point that you're making and it's we're kind of a new territory like chris said nfpa just classified this as as a unique class of fire so it's it's it's trending and we're going to get a lot more guidance from nfpa in the future and it wouldn't surprise me if airlines prohibited that but it your many flights are business related so i i i would have no idea how that governance is going to work it would be that in vaping products

too right yeah right mr camps so i think you said an abc extinguisher does not work well to put out a little thing on fire i can expand on that a little bit right and then so what what is the solution do you need a different kind of extinguisher uh theoretically if you know if you're

if you are comfortable using an extinguisher and you catch that while it's still in the incipient phase meaning it's just been born it's just growing um if it's small enough you have five pounds of powder in an abc a five pound abc extinguisher refers to the amount of agent inside those are the kinds that you see all over like we have here if you catch it early enough and if it's a small enough device cell phone maybe a laptop theoretically you could have enough powder to smother that fire but the has the reason they're not rated for it is reignition as chris said reignition is a really critical issue with lithium ion batteries storage facilities um salvage yards etc they have to give a really wide berth to any electrical vehicle that's that's maybe been damaged or maybe it has been on fire because they're notorious for reigniting so you could probably put it out if you caught it early enough but reignition is is a serious hazard there so a class d extinguisher which is made for to put out metal burning metal um is a known suppressant agent for for these because it the the agent happens to be finely ground metal um as opposed to a powder and it forms it melts and forms a shell um so that it could be that could be um a reliable way to prevent reignition but we don't have hard code which is where

we work and where we operate and so we're waiting on that so is it particularly hazardous when you have lithium batteries that get compressed in some way like um in a garbage truck or like something heavy falls on one and crushes it and are those the events that oftentimes make them explode and ignite

that's a big problem the damage to that casing allows air to get where it shouldn't be and it also affects the the inner operation of the anode and the cathode and it it disrupts the normal operating the flow of things of of lithium ions specifically so yeah any damage to any any battery is a big problem new york has seen really catastrophic residential structure fires from e-bikes really important that those things are not stored anywhere near your main egress opportunity we also did want to mention that um we called our friends at the hazardous waste collection facility and they confirmed that they will allow uh residents to take lithium ion batteries there to be properly disposed of but no larger than a car battery size um would be accepted there um select staples and home depot will will also take uh used lithium ion batteries for disposal any further questions no thank you so much

that was a great presentation we all know that we're making mistakes we're all guilty of all the

things that you said in the garbage can right oh my god thank you thank you take up department five

which is our last department which is uh adoption of a resolution approving and accepting the acquisition of two parcels in hope sounds totaling 3.29 acres as recommended by the environmental lands oversight committee and approved by the board county commissioners chair heard uh commission members

mark evaney deputy director of public works pleased to be here this afternoon to discuss this item two parcels in the hobe sound area totaling approximately 3.29 acres kind of the bend in cactus trail uh the history on this is that the e-lock as you know has identified numerous properties for acquisition um and this is one of their top properties what we like especially about this property is it gives us access to um atlantic ridge and state property that currently now has no access so we're very excited about the future that we can now have access for our public um to get into this state park and kind of begin the process of um you know including our our environmentally sensitive lands terrific any questions mr caps

i would like to thank julian and esteline rogers uh fellow hobe sound residents for their willingness to sell their land to martin county for conservation this is a great legacy to them and you know when i was thinking about the work that we do as commissioners and the particularly the conservation initiatives that are going on with martin forever the half cent sales tax and i thought this is the most important work we're doing yeah and that we will have a privilege to do during these next several years it's a very exciting time when the conservation map of martin county will be significantly changed and you know i was thinking about legacy as i was walking in the scrub lands of jd park over the weekend and i was thinking that is the most permanent legacy that we can leave for kids and grandkids and great grandkids you know anything we build is going to fade away one day if you build a bridge if you build a building a road whatever it is if it's made with human hands it's uh what does the bible verse say um the uh

you give a man a fish you feed him one day there you go different one where the flower uh with the

riff and the something fadeth i forgot what it was in the psalms but but basically the idea that anything man-made is going to deteriorate and wash away but when we leave land it's forever and it's a it's a great thought and a great job to all involved uh especially our staff and also to the uh julian and esteline for will their willingness to sell the land into conservation and they're not making any more and i'll move approval of the acquisition or transfer or however this needs to be stated commissioner vargas

yeah i i do know mr and mrs rogers find people that have been anchored in this area for a very very long time hopes on bible college uh some other areas too that they've you know had their fingerprints on so i have to agree with uh commissioner caps um to do this and we had another lady earlier today that is continuing her legacy too so very proud to be here at this moment you know and thank you very much for uh the voters of martin county you know to help us move forward with this this is momentous time

philanthropy philanthropy philanthropy for conservation is alive and well in martin county you're in martin county there's a motion and a second all those in favor aye opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you we've come to the end of our agenda any further commissioner comments

commissioner vargas no i think i'm set for today thank you mr caps commissioner campy

commissioner hetherington mr donaldson miss elder we and no one is here from the public okay so we are

adjourned thank you