Vero Beach council approves waterfront rezoning and museum expansion, denies large lien reduction; discusses RV/boat code and boardwalk shortfall

The Vero Beach City Council on Tuesday voted 5-0 to approve a sweeping rezoning of the city’s 3 Corners waterfront redevelopment site and separately approved a long-planned lease amendment and site plan that will let the Vero Beach Museum of Art raise and rebuild its facility. The council also denied a request to reduce a $54,149 code-enforcement lien against the Village Spires condominium association and spent substantial time reviewing enforcement and possible revisions to rules restricting boats and recreational vehicles in residential driveways.

The council’s actions came during a meeting that combined second readings of ordinances and multiple administrative approvals. All formal votes recorded a unanimous 5-0 roll call (Councilmembers Voss, Dingle, Carroll, Vice Mayor Moore and Mayor Catugno).

The rezoning vote affected roughly three parcels in the former power plant/sewer-plant area described in the agenda packet as the 3 Corners waterfront site. Staff described the measure as the second of two hearings required for a map amendment and said revisions requested at the first hearing were incorporated into a revised ordinance in the council packet. The ordinance’s text on the record identified parcel acreages included in the rezoning: one parcel of about 17.38 acres and another of about 16.34 acres; the ordinance also established several new mixed-use “TC” zoning subdistricts and development standards for the area. Planning Director Jason Jeffries told the council the matter had been presented at an earlier hearing and staff summarized the changes in a memo in the packet. No public speakers opposed the rezoning during the quasi-judicial hearing and the council approved it after the required roll call.

The museum lease amendment moved forward after a staff and museum presentation. Brady Roberts, executive director of the Vero Beach Museum of Art, told the council the museum now draws about 70,000 visitors a year and that the project would replace failing buildings by raising the new two‑story building approximately nine feet above existing grade and building a terraced landscape to connect the museum to Riverside Park. Roberts said the revised plan reduces the museum footprint, returns about 1.5 acres of green space to the park and allows the museum to keep the First Floor publicly accessible and free at all times. Turner Construction is the designated contractor, and the museum anticipates beginning construction later this year with a two‑year build period and a phased demolition and reconnection in 2027. Councilmembers asked about staging, tree impacts and public access; museum staff said they would provide slides and continue community outreach. The council voted 5-0 to approve the lease amendment and related site approvals.

In a separate, contested item the council denied a request from the Village Spires condominium association to reduce a $54,149 lien tied to continuing code-enforcement penalties for sea-turtle lighting violations. City staff summarized a timeline showing an initial citation in March 2024, repeated inspections and correspondence through July 2024, and an order entered in January assessing continuing penalties at a repeat-violation daily rate. Property manager Kelly Ann Walsh told the council the association had spent years and tens of thousands of dollars replacing parking-lot fixtures and had believed the matter resolved; she said she did not receive a later hearing notice and discovered the lien only when a unit went under contract. Code enforcement staff, including officer Melody Sanderson, presented photographs, a timeline of follow-up contacts and documentation of efforts to communicate and grant extensions. After discussion about the record and the role of code enforcement, a motion to deny the lien‑reduction request carried 5-0. The council record shows the order that generated the lien assessed continuing penalties for 216 days at the applicable repeat-violation rate, leading to the $54,149 figure.

Councilmembers and members of the public spent extended time on boat and recreational-vehicle parking rules after Vice Mayor Moore asked the council to reconsider differential enforcement in beachside (R-1A) neighborhoods versus inland R-1 areas. Council and staff discussion reviewed current setbacks and zoning differences, past enforcement practices and a temporary moratorium on enforcement for some properties while staff prepares amendments. Multiple residents described receiving short timelines for compliance; one resident, Kelly Ann Walsh (a different speaker than the condominium manager in the lien matter), said she was given seven days to move a motor home after surgery and then incurred storage costs. Staff and council indicated that staff is preparing proposed amendments to boat-storage rules and setbacks, and the council urged public engagement on any revisions. Councilmembers repeatedly noted the tension between property owners who lawfully invested to accommodate boats or RVs and neighbors who say the presence of those vehicles harms neighborhood quality of life.

City staff reported on other business the council approved with little debate. The council approved an amendment to construction-management work orders related to the wastewater plant project (approval specified for “task 2a and task 3 only,” with the revised amendment amount presented on the record as approximately $1,129,005.84); the motion passed 5-0. The council also approved a FDOT public-transportation grant agreement to repair a culvert (FDOT project 457128‑1‑94‑01) by resolution (vote 5-0). The council approved two ordinances on second reading with unanimous votes: an ordinance prohibiting public camping and sleeping on public property as written in Chapter 64 amendments, and an ordinance amending code-enforcement procedures intended to clarify and make the city’s enforcement process more efficient.

Council members heard a staff update on the Humiston Boardwalk project that identified a current fully loaded cost estimate of about $4.6 million (the project estimate rose from an earlier total in the roughly $2.5 million range). Staff said the city has raised roughly $2.13 million and has received donated concrete pilings valued at about $450,000, leaving a shortfall of roughly $2.16 million. City staff said FEMA has provided partial funding but that a pending appeal could add about $400,000 if successful; staff and council discussed additional fundraising and possible value-engineering options but did not change the project scope at the meeting.

Public comment included a pastor calling on the council to consider community standards after a local restaurant hosted a drag performance (the speaker asked for events he considered inappropriate to be discontinued), and numerous residents spoke about RV/boat enforcement and the need for clearer notice and transition time for property owners who must change vehicle storage arrangements. Several councilmembers encouraged residents to submit written comments and promised continued public engagement as staff returns with draft code amendments.

The council closed the meeting having advanced the 3 Corners land‑use changes and the museum site plan and lease amendment, denied the Village Spires lien‑reduction request, approved the wastewater work-order amendment and other routine grant and ordinance votes, and directed staff to continue work on boat/RV storage regulations and the boardwalk fundraising plan.

Notes: votes recorded on roll call for each formal motion showed Councilmembers Voss, Dingle, Carroll, Vice Mayor Moore and Mayor Catugno voting yes on the items summarized above.