Plans are moving along for the development of a riverfront park south of the Port St. Lucie Botanical Garden, known as the Westmoreland property. The Port St. Lucie City Council voted to accept a $400,000 grant to construct a boardwalk along the river, and enter into negotiations with a potential restaurateur who would build a riverfront restaurant near the large ficus tree.
“This is an important step” in bringing the Riverwalk to life, Vice Mayor Shannon Martin said. “I’m anxious to see” what comes from the negotiations.
Salty4Eleven, the applicant, was the lone respondent when the city asked for proposals. The company consists of Donna Qvarnstrom-Burke and Diego Larroude, operators of Cobbs Landing and Original Tiki Bar at the Fort Pierce City Marina, as well as Bluewater Beach Grill near the Fort Pierce Inlet. The company sent a letter of interest that lined up well with the city’s proposed vision, according to City Manager Russ Blackburn.
Salty4Eleven has shown that it has the financial ability, operation ability, and has put forward a building design.
Not all on council were quite ready to move forward with negotiations. Councilwoman Jolien Caraballo recommended they hold off until a business plan – that would provide more detail as to what the restaurant envisions and how it would sustain itself – was presented. Not having that on hand before negotiations “puts us in a bit of a quandary,” Caraballo said.
Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan also raised questions about Salty4Eleven, noting that the entity wasn’t formed until May 2018, yet cites numerous years of experience.
“I’m a little bit confused,” Morgan said, adding “I just want to make sure that we’re getting the right information, the right person, the right business, and the right location to move forward. I know this is a dream of ours to have something great there.”
Martin explained that it is common for multiple partners to create new entities in order to pursue projects such as this one.
Ultimately, Caraballo was the lone vote against proceeding with Salty4Eleven.
Councilman John Carvelli said he feared the city could “discourage folks from investing” in the Riverwalk project if the council were to continue to delay.
The council expects to receive an overall update at its next Community Redevelopment Agency meeting.
Mayor Gregory Oravec said he felt the council and city had lost a bit of continuity with the project by not keeping better tabs on it. He said the riverfront park would be a very special public place, creating a waterfront experience for a waterfront community that lacks public waterfront space.
“This is our shot to do it,” he said of establishing that space.
Oravec also tried to assure those in the public who might have reservations about the city entering yet another public-private partnership. “Anyone that’s having flashbacks to anything else, any other deals – put a cold rag on your forehead,” Oravec said. “It’s OK. This is completely different. This is the total opposite of that.”
By that, he meant the restaurateur would lease the land from the city and be solely responsible for building, maintaining and operating the restaurant. The city is responsible for constructing and installing necessary infrastructure – parking, lighting, drainage, etc. – regardless of who would be operating a restaurant.
Those who have been out to the Westmoreland property have seen the historic Peacock Ranch buildings that have been relocated to the park. The buildings remain on blocks as the city works to construct the needed foundations. A traffic roundabout has been installed, as has a road, a new entry, sidewalks and lighting.
That’s all part of Phase One for the riverfront park. The next phase will be the 10-foot-wide boardwalk along the river. The boardwalk will connect the property to the Port St. Lucie Boulevard bridge to the north.
The boardwalk will be wide enough to accommodate both pedestrians and anglers. Bump-outs will be placed along the path to make way for benches so people can take in the scenery without blocking walkers.
When completed, the boardwalk will extend approximately a half-mile, according to Brad Keen, assistant director of parks and recreation.
The $400,000 grant from the Florida Inland Navigation District, for which the city applied earlier this year, will help the city leverage its own dollars for the project. Prior to this current grant, the agency has provided more than $460,000 in funding for the boardwalk. The overall boardwalk project has a price tag of about $2.6 million.
The area south of the major road includes 43 acres of city-owned waterfront land that includes the 20-acre Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens, the 10-acre future waterfront park known as the Westmoreland property, and a 13-acre passive recreation tract, which will have a hiking trail loop.
The boardwalk construction project will include lighting, a potable water line, and three fishing/public viewing platforms.
Once that phase of the overall project is done, the city plans to add eight more daytime-only boat docking slips, a pedestrian bridge under Port St. Lucie Boulevard to connect the north and south spans of boardwalk, and additional park improvements to enhance public access to the river.
