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Commissioners continue Tupelo Street abandonment after Sun Grove Montessori seeks 10‑foot buffer
Summary
After dozens of parents and school leaders urged protections for infants and toddlers, the Board of County Commissioners continued consideration of a petition to abandon Tupelo Street so the applicant and Sun Grove Montessori can negotiate a recorded buffer or easement before the item returns March 17.
The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday continued a public hearing on a petition to abandon a 50‑foot unopened right‑of‑way known as Tupelo Street after community members pressed for a preserved 10‑foot wooded buffer to protect Sun Grove Montessori’s outdoor classrooms.
Joanne Riley, the county’s property acquisition director, said the petition from Patricia Carter seeks to vacate the right‑of‑way so the petitioner can remove dead trees and build a detached garage. Riley said utilities, notice and agency checks had been completed as part of the abandonment process and staff recommended approval of the resolution to record the abandonment if no objections were sustained.
Speakers representing Sun Grove Montessori — including head of school Shauna Noble and board members — told commissioners the strip of right‑of‑way currently serves as a safety and privacy buffer immediately adjacent to outdoor classrooms for students as young as 6 weeks. “We are asking the commission to commit to the safety and security of our school students by including a 10‑foot easement in the approval of this abandonment,” Shauna Noble said, noting the gardens function as classrooms for infants through primary grades.
Parents and guardians made similar points. Lacey Hatchett, a Sun Grove board member and parent, said a wooded easement is a “vital piece of school infrastructure” that provides visual and acoustic privacy for toddlers. Catherine Moyses, a guardian ad litem and board member, told the board that the abandonment would “materially change the safety environment of very young children” if it removes the existing buffer.
Applicant Patricia Carter told commissioners she planned to install a privacy fence and landscaping similar to existing screening at other parts of her property and said she would be willing to consider additional plantings and setbacks. County staff and the county attorney clarified limits on the board’s ability to condition an abandonment: if the board abandons the right‑of‑way it becomes private property and the county cannot unilaterally impose post‑transfer use restrictions. County Attorney Catherine Barbieri noted the parties could record a private conservation easement or other restrictive instrument in the public records if they agree to one.
After extended questioning about setbacks, tree preservation and whether a carve‑out of the 50‑foot plat was legally possible, commissioners voted to continue the public hearing to March 17 at 6 p.m. Staff asked that the petitioner and the school work together to draft a recorded agreement — for example, a conservation easement or recorded covenant — that could be submitted with the packet for the continued hearing.
The continuation preserved the board’s discretion while creating an opportunity for the parties to negotiate a legally enforceable recorded document before the commission takes final action.
What happens next: the board continued the item to March 17 and encouraged the applicant and Sun Grove Montessori to prepare a recorded instrument or other agreed documentation to bring back to the commission for consideration.
