St. Lucie County approves settlements to restore public access to Pinelands Preserve, conditioned on permits and title company payment

The board approved two conditional settlement agreements on April 8 designed to resolve litigation blocking a primary access route to the county's 750-acre Pinelands Preserve and to secure a replacement access arrangement.

Special Assistant County Attorney Caroline Valentin told commissioners the preserve, purchased in 1998 with partial funding from the Florida Communities Trust, includes about six miles of trails and appears on the state's Great Florida Birding Trail. Litigation beginning in 2019 challenged a 1991 easement the county used to access the preserve; a 2021 order found that 1991 easement invalid, and a January 2025 order determined the county was not entitled to a prescriptive easement, Valentin said. The combined effect left the county without the historical access corridor.

Valentin and staff said county negotiators reached two agreements on March 27: a global settlement with the plaintiff and a separate settlement with the title insurance company that had defended the county. Both agreements are conditioned on board approval and on the county completing a series of steps specified in the settlement documents.

Key settlement terms described to the board include:

- The county will not use the plaintiff's property or the 1991 easement for access to the preserve. - The county and plaintiff agreed to pursue a release from the Florida Communities Trust of any county interest or potential interest in the disputed easement (FTC had provided grant funds when the preserve was acquired). - The settlement requires the county to secure a modification to a mining permit and an associated conditional-use permit by June 25, 2025; staff said it had reviewed the requested modifications and would schedule required hearings. - The county agreed to seek administrative approval for a minor site plan and to obtain a site-development permit to construct paved access where required, within 30 days of submission of complete applications that comply with county and plan requirements. - In the title-company settlement, the title company agreed to pay the county $400,000; in exchange the county will release claims against the title company and associated insurers.

Valentin said the county has temporary access to the property and is negotiating a permanent shared access agreement with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). The district has indicated it may recommend to its board that the county be allowed shared access along the reservoir access the district is constructing; if that is agreed, county staff would construct the county's preferred connection to the preserve.

The settlements call for the parties to abate litigation for 120 days to allow required permits and administrative steps to be completed. The agreements provide for dismissal of claims with prejudice once the settlement conditions are met; each party would bear its own attorneys' fees. County staff and outside counsel recommended the settlements to the board, citing uncertainty and cost of continued litigation and the county's need to restore public access to the preserve.

The board voted to approve the two settlement agreements as presented, subject to the conditions described in the settlement documents.