As it turned out, we didn’t we didn’t need Circuit Judge Laurie Buchanan to trash the Vero Beach Preservation Alliance-authored referendum, which was as poorly worded as it was wrongheaded and threatened the wildly popular Three Corners project.
By the time she issued her order voiding the desperate and deceptive ballot initiative – just minutes after the polls closed Tuesday night – city voters had already spoken, delivering a staggering blow to the Keep Vero Vero crowd and embracing a bold message filled with optimism, vision and civic pride.
Not only did voters soundly reject the alliance’s thinly veiled attempt to thwart Vero Beach’s plans to create a dining, retail and recreational hub on the mainland’s waterfront, but they also overwhelmingly approved a city-endorsed referendum to allow commercial development on the property on which the defunct municipal power plant currently sits.
“The outcomes of those referendums send the message that people like the direction we’re moving,” said outgoing Vero Beach Mayor Robbie Brackett, who easily won election to the Florida House of Representatives and will soon head to Tallahassee.
“The city has no obligation to provide services and amenities to county residents, but we can’t stick our heads in the ground and pretend that what happens in the county doesn’t impact us,” he added. “The county is growing, and those people eventually find their way to the city, where they use our roads, eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores and visit our beaches.
“You can’t stop progress, but you can manage it.”
Statistically, 55.5 percent of Vero Beach voters opposed the alliance’s referendum, which would’ve severely restricted the size of improvements that could be made to the city’s marina, parks and other charter-protected properties, including the Three Corners parcels on the west end of the 17th Street Bridge.
In real numbers, though, fewer than 3,000 of the city’s 11,600-plus registered were motivated to vote in favor of the referendum.
Meanwhile, nearly 80 percent of the Vero Beach voters approved the city’s power plant parcel referendum, which amended the city charter to allow the city to pursue a long-term lease with a developer intrigued by the Three Corners design concept created by celebrated urban planner Andres Duany and presented to the community in a series of well-attended charrettes.
“We’re obviously pleased the vote came down on our side,” Vero Beach City Manager Monte Falls said. “You can’t always predict how these things are going to turn out.”
This one, though, was a slam dunk.
City voters weren’t fooled. They didn’t buy the alliance’s misleading claims. They recognized that an obviously dwindling Keep Vero Vero faction had hijacked a neighborhood movement opposing the expansion of the municipal marina with the goal of derailing the Three Corners project.
They understood that the uncertainty created by the alliance’s referendum, which would’ve required voter approval for all but the smallest improvements to charter properties, would have deterred developers from investing in site plans and other pre-construction work.
It was no coincidence that city voters were presented with seven ballot initiatives – including a countywide referendum pertaining to the purchase of environmentally sensitive land – and the alliance’s question was the only one they rejected.
And it should surprise no one that alliance organizers did not respond to requests for comment.
What could they say?
That they should’ve limited the scope of their referendum to the marina expansion? That they misjudged the will of a vast majority of city residents? That they were duped by the Keep Vero Vero gang?
The results of the city elections, even beyond the two Three Corners-related referendums, spoke volumes about where the city stands on the project, which will only enhance our already-special community by transforming 33 lagoon-side acres into a picturesque, park-like gathering place that offers amenities we so sorely lack.
Three new City Council members were elected – Tracey Zudans (15.5 percent of the vote), Linda Moore (14.7 percent) and John Carroll (14.4 percent) – and all of them have expressed support for the Three Corners development. They also opposed the alliance’s referendum.
One of the two defeated incumbents, Bob McCabe, had voted against the project, and it likely hindered his re-election bid in what proved to be a tight eight-candidate race.
Moore, co-owner of the Kilted Mermaid restaurant in downtown Vero and a political newcomer, served on the Three Corners Steering Committee. Carroll is a civil engineer who has served on the city’s Planning & Zoning and Code Enforcement boards.
Both Zudans and Carroll have spouses who were City Council members, so they should have a feel for what’s coming.
As for other election matters:
- Showing a willingness to invest in the community’s future, a whopping 78 percent of voters countywide approved the land-purchase referendum, which allows the County Commission to borrow $50 million to purchase and preserve environmentally sensitive lands west of Blue Cypress Lake and I-95, as well as along the Indian River Lagoon.
Some of the money will be used to provide public access to the properties and build parking lots, trails and restrooms.
According to the referendum endorsed by the Indian River Land Trust, the loan will be repaid by a property-tax increase. The owner of a $250,000 home can expect to pay an additional $44 annually for 20 years.
Another example of civic pride.
- Incumbent Jackie Rosario received 55 percent of the vote to defeat challenger Cindy Gibbs and win a second term on the School Board, where she has strongly advocated for the culture-war issues pushed by the Moms For Liberty and taken positions that often put her on the losing end of 4-1 votes.
Endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rosario won comfortably against a political newcomer. However, she was the lone Republican on the countywide ballot to receive less than 65 percent of the vote.
That means Republicans who voted for DeSantis, Brackett, Sen. Marco Rubio and Congressman Bill Posey didn’t vote for her.
Why?
- While Brackett will now focus his attention on issues beyond Vero Beach – he expects to spend up to five months each year in Tallahassee and plans to buy a home there – he said he will keep tabs on what’s happening here.
Especially the Three Corners project.
“I think a tone has been set and a loud message has been sent to the do-nothing people,” Brackett said. “We have to accept the county is growing and recognize that Vero Beach is a tourist town.
“There are 100,000 people on three sides of us,” he added. “If we don’t make the right decisions regarding infrastructure, traffic, parking and the other challenges we’re confronting now, our problems are only going to get worse.”
