Stuart advisory board denies request for Spice and Tea Exchange shop in downtown formula-business zone

The Community Redevelopment Advisory Board for the City of Stuart voted 4-2 on Sept. 20, 2025, to deny a major urban-code conditional use request that would have allowed a Spice and Tea Exchange store at 39 Southwest Osceola Street and waived a 300-foot separation requirement for formula businesses.

Planner Michelle Arbzao of the Development Department told the board the applicant had followed notice procedures and that the parcel sits inside the City of Stuart formula-business area and the City of Stuart Community Redevelopment Area. “The applicant mailed notices to 88 property owners within 300 foot of the subject parcel,” Arbzao said during her staff presentation, and noted the proposed 0.39-acre site is limited under the code to a storefront of no more than 1,500 square feet.

The applicant team, represented by Marcela Cambloor of Marcela Cambloor and Associates and applicants Glenn and Kimberly Gordon, described the business as an experience-focused retail shop with in-store spice blending, a tea bar and small-format retail that the Gordons said would complement local shops. “We would be an addition to the downtown district and also really welcomed by all the other businesses because of our collaborative approach,” Glenn Gordon told the board.

Many board members and several members of the public expressed mixed views. Supporters including building owner Max Ducharme and Kilwins owner Bill Moore said the shop could drive foot traffic and that the landowner needs tenants to fund building repairs. Ducharme said vacancies in his building reflected weak retail demand, not necessarily rent alone, and argued improvements require willing tenants. Moore, who operates a downtown formula-style chocolate shop, told the board the formula-business review is a useful local tool: “The formulary business approach is the best thing we could have to try to have a little effect on what we do in our town,” he said.

Opponents, including several small-business owners on Osceola Street, warned franchises can accelerate rent increases and price out longtime local retailers. “Once you bring in one franchise, two franchises — they’re all gonna try to come in,” Robin Peters, owner of Funky Monkey, said during public comment.

Board discussion focused on the code standard asking whether a proposed formula business “will not alter the identity of the urban district in a way which detracts from its uniqueness or contributes to a nationwide trend of standardized downtown offerings.” Board members said the Gordons’ concept appeared complementary on many of the code’s subcriteria — storefront size, façade compatibility and limits on signage and drive-throughs — but several members remained concerned about longer-term market effects of allowing a franchised concept in the downtown formula area.

A motion to accept staff’s recommendation and grant the exception was made and seconded; on roll call the advisory board voted 4-2 against the request. The board’s vote is advisory; the item will proceed to the City Commission for final action next week, as noted during the meeting.

The record before the advisory board shows staff recommended forwarding the petition to the City Commission with conditions to ensure façade, signage and build-out conform to the urban-code standards, and to limit expansion beyond the current storefront and frontage. The applicant said the proposed Stuart location would employ about six to eight people and that their existing operations are locally managed franchises that rely on a mix of in-store sales and limited online fulfillment.

The advisory board’s discussion and the public comments underscore competing city priorities: encouraging downtown occupancy and investment, and protecting the small-scale, locally owned character that the formula-business rules were written to preserve. The City Commission will consider the advisory board’s recommendation and the record developed at the hearing when it takes up the final decision.