Port St. Lucie planners approve amendment to land-use conversion manual allowing 'unified control'

The Port St. Lucie Planning & Zoning Board voted Jan. 6 to recommend City Council approval of a zoning text amendment that allows property owners to use a legal "unified control" agreement instead of a recorded unity of title when seeking conversions in designated conversion areas.

Sofia Trail, a planner in the city’s Planning & Zoning Department, told the board the conversion manual — originally adopted in the mid-1980s and last amended in 2018 — guides rezoning of single-family platted lots along major corridors. The amendment would let multiple property owners execute a legal agreement to be treated as a single unified project for development review, Trail said.

Trail said the change is intended to provide more flexibility for property owners and developers while keeping conversion projects consistent with Future Land Use Policy 114.13 and recent updates to the comprehensive plan. Staff concluded the amendment is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and recommended that the board recommend approval to City Council.

A board member asked whether unified control would permit multiple separate projects on the same set of lots; Trail and staff answered that the agreement must bind owners to develop the parcels as one unified project, not several independent projects. Staff also said unified-control documents will be reviewed by the city attorney in the same way unity-of-title documents are reviewed.

After public comment was closed, the board voted to recommend approval. The board’s recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for final action.