Fort Pierce commissioners on Nov. 10 asked staff to develop a comprehensive annexation strategy that prioritizes commercial and light-industrial corridors, with a particular focus on Indrio Road, South Kings Highway and the airport industrial park.

Kevin Freeman, planning director, framed the issue as a choice about the city’s future growth, saying the city must weigh options for voluntary and involuntary annexations and “look at the continuity and the compactness of target areas” under state law. “We have options to fill that puzzle piece,” Freeman said, urging a data-driven approach to fiscal and service impacts.

Commissioner Broderick urged concentrating on industrial and employment-generating uses, saying residential developments typically do not generate net general-fund gains. “Residential house tops are revenue neutral to the city,” Broderick said, arguing that light industrial development would bring higher tax revenue and job growth. He recommended targeting north to Indrio and west to Kings Highway, and incorporating the airport industrial park into long-term boundaries.

Commissioner Johnson and other commissioners emphasized the need to pair any annexation plan with a thorough assessment of service costs — police, solid waste, stormwater, roads and internal administrative workloads — and with early coordination with Fort Pierce Utilities Authority (FPUA) and St. Lucie County. Johnson noted that annexing residential areas shifts recurring service demand — refuse collection, policing and roadway maintenance — onto the city and that the commission should understand those costs early in the planning process.

Freeman told the commission that staff will return with options and recommended next steps; commissioners asked staff to include fiscal modeling, transportation and infrastructure impacts, and potential timelines for voluntary approaches. Commissioners also asked staff to check existing contracts and prior coordination with the Economic Development Council and FPUA and to consider whether a consultant is required to produce an executable, multi-year plan.

No formal annexation action was taken at the meeting. The commission’s direction was procedural: staff should draft an annexation strategy and analysis for commission consideration that includes (1) a financial model of revenue versus service costs by land-use type, (2) an implementation timeline that prioritizes contiguous commercial/industrial corridors, and (3) coordination steps with FPUA and St. Lucie County.