Port St. Lucie council backs next steps for conservation lands, asks staff to review mitigation fee

Port St. Lucie — The City Council on Jan. 21 voted to advance staff recommendations to increase public awareness and management of the city’s conservation lands and to pursue targeted acquisitions and improvements, while directing staff to return with a review of the city’s upland habitat mitigation fee.

The council action came after a presentation by Kate (staff member), who updated council on work since the 2023 winter workshop and asked for direction on several priority parcels including Torino Park, Westmoreland, the Commerce Center North preserve, and the Peacock parcel adjacent to IRSC. Kate said environmental assessments and preserve management plans have been prepared for the city’s eight conservation properties and that the city lacks funds to do all recommended work on every parcel.

Why it matters: Council members emphasized that residents commonly do not know the city owns preserved land and that better signage, funding and partnerships could increase public access while protecting habitat. Staff said conservation trust funds are limited to acquisition and management of upland preserves, passive recreation consistent with the Open Space Conservation zoning district, and education related to those lands.

Key details and next steps: Staff described Torino Park as a combined regional park and preserve with invasive species treatment occurring quarterly and design work under way; construction of park elements is expected to progress through 2025. At Westmoreland, a recently awarded $400,000 grant is restricted to trails and boardwalk connections; invasives are being treated quarterly and solicitations for construction are expected to be released soon. The Commerce Center North parcel is approximately 94.5 acres; immediate needs noted by staff include fencing, invasives removal, trash cleanup and a conceptual activation plan. Staff said they were ineligible for one state forest grant but plan to apply for a community forestry planting and invasive control grant now reported as open in early 2025. The Peacock parcel is about 2.17 acres and could support a small parking area and trailhead; staff said they will coordinate with IRSC on a conceptual plan. Staff also asked council to support adding signage to the eight conservation properties.

Funding and fee history: Staff said the city maintains a conservation fund with a current balance of $682,000. The presentation reviewed a historical upland mitigation fee: in 2007 the slide cited $140,000 per acre with a 5% annual adjustment, and a later entry said the fee was reduced by resolution to $25,000 per acre (the presentation attributed the reduction to economic conditions). Staff recommended council direct staff to prepare a future agenda item to review an updated upland habitat mitigation fee.

Public comment and council concerns: Speaker Ms. Goldberg, who signed up for public comment, urged broader public visibility of city properties, asked whether preserves are open to the public, and recommended planting native vegetation and grouping trees in ways that support biodiversity and storm resilience. Council members asked staff to explore alternative uses (one asked whether Commerce Center North could serve as stormwater retention), to confirm deed restrictions, and to continue conversations with the PGA Village POA about a small landlocked parcel that the POA may be willing to transfer to the city.

Action: Councilmember motioned to move forward with the staff recommendations; the motion carried on a voice vote. The motion directs staff to proceed with recommended next steps for the named parcels, pursue acquisition opportunities when feasible, add signage to the identified conservation properties and prepare an agenda item to review the upland habitat mitigation fee. Exact roll-call tallies were not provided in the transcript.

Looking ahead: Staff said any activation of a preserved parcel that opens it to the public will have operational consequences for Parks & Recreation (opening/closing, trash collection) and that neighborhood outreach would be needed before public activation. Staff also noted grant opportunities and partnerships (for example, with IRSC) as potential funding and programming sources.