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Commissioners approve 211-space truck trailer parking lot on North Rock Road with safety conditions
Summary
A 10-acre secure truck-trailer parking facility with 211 spaces was approved with conditions including right-of-way dedication, pavement of Rock Road frontage, stormwater controls and 6- and 18-month traffic monitoring.
St. Lucie County commissioners approved a major site plan to allow a commercial truck-trailer parking facility at 450 North Rock Road, a 10-acre site north of Orange Avenue. The Board signed off on a plan for 211 secured trailer spaces, stormwater management, landscaping and restroom facilities subject to conditions addressing traffic, right-of-way and site operations.
Tom Reets, a county planner, told commissioners the proposal includes paved access, a gated one-way drive aisle, a 1.5-acre stormwater pond to meet South Florida Water Management District rules, and a 24-foot paved section of Rock Road across the project frontage. "Staff recommends the Board of County Commissioners approve the major site plan for 450 North Rock Road subject to the conditions in Resolution 2025-110," Reets said.
The county accepted a number of operational restrictions in the approval: no on-site truck repair or maintenance, no overnight sleeping in parked trucks, a posted on-site operations rules sign at the entry gate, and required schedule and standards for restroom and trash maintenance. Staff also required eradication of listed invasive plants, a gopher tortoise survey if applicable, and a vegetation removal permit before clearing.
Traffic review used ITE trip-generation references and a third-party traffic reviewer concluded the site-level trip assumptions were generally acceptable but flagged that heavy trucks may generate different flows. Staff recommended lengthening the westbound right-turn lane on Orange Avenue to 250 feet to support safe deceleration for large trucks entering Rock Road; the Board asked for monitoring on real-world traffic impacts. The approval includes traffic monitoring reports to be filed at six and 18 months after operations begin so the county can require additional mitigations if needed.
Documents filed for the project show a secure perimeter fence, lighted parking with LED fixtures and planned planting along property lines; Environmental Resources approved reduced buffer widths on the north and south property lines in exchange for additional green space elsewhere on the site. The developer agreed to convey 10 feet of right-of-way along Rock Road to the county within 90 days and to provide sidewalk design at permit.
The project was approved by a unanimous vote. The applicant team said spaces would be leased to carriers and owner-operators for medium- to long-term secure parking rather than short-term trailer-turnover or truck terminal operations. "It's really intended to be governed by the leases for the spaces," traffic engineer Stephanie Guerra said. "Drivers may leave trucks on the site for several days at a time and then return several days later."
