Council rejects Murphy USA gas‑station special exception after councilors cite traffic and intensity concerns

The Port St. Lucie City Council on Jan. 20 denied a special‑exception request for a Murphy USA convenience store with fuel sales at the northwest corner of Southwest Gatlin Boulevard and Southwest Impor Drive, citing traffic safety and intensity concerns.

Planning staff presented the conceptual site and landscape plans for the 1.73‑acre site and said staff and planning and zoning had been working with the applicant to identify off‑site mitigation measures after the item was tabled previously. Frances Forman of Planning & Zoning described agreed improvements, including a 573‑foot left‑turn‑lane extension from Gatlin onto Impor Drive and a roughly 365–385‑foot extension of the right‑turn lane from Impor onto Gatlin, as well as a divided median to control turning movements. Public Works staff and the applicant confirmed the design includes a long right‑turn deceleration lane into the site and other signal/stripe changes.

Council members questioned whether the proposed turn‑lane improvements would be sufficient to address stacking, queuing and safety on what several council members described as a heavily used corridor. Multiple council members said the aggregate intensity of businesses along the corridor already creates safety and circulation problems; several asked how adding another high‑intensity use would improve safety for residents and drivers.

Arif Shahadeh of HSQ Group, representing Murphy USA, said the applicant had worked extensively with Public Works and had obtained permits from South Florida permitting authorities for improvements. He said the proposed turn lanes and median would increase the level of service and that the applicant had gone beyond the initial requirements.

During roll call, the votes were recorded as: Mayor Martin — No; Councilman Bonner — No; Vice Mayor Caraballo — No; Councilwoman Morgan — Yes; Councilman Pickett — No. The motion to approve the special exception failed. Several council members who voted against the motion specifically cited traffic‑safety issues and the cumulative intensity of uses on Gatlin Boulevard as the basis for their votes.

Staff had recommended certain off‑site improvements be completed prior to final inspection of the site, and the applicant had agreed to turn‑lane extensions and a median. Nevertheless, the council concluded the remaining traffic and stacking concerns, and the proposed use’s intensity at that specific corner, were not sufficiently mitigated to approve the special‑exception request.

Because the application was denied, the applicant may return with a revised proposal or pursue alternative sites; staff indicated the decision was made after considering the special‑exception criteria in city code, including ingress/egress, traffic and safety, compatibility with adjacent uses, and alternative measures to reduce the project's scale or intensity.

The council did not approve the Murphy USA special exception at this hearing, and no construction or site plan activity for Murphy USA may proceed absent a new approval.