During the first of four workshops about expanding Indian River County’s Urban Service Boundary, the people who showed up strongly preferred extending county services in two large pockets of land near Vero and Sebastian instead of pushing development westward.
The two areas where county utilities are not yet available or planned are called “donut holes” because they are encircled by neighborhoods already within the county’s Urban Service Boundary.
One donut hole runs between 66th Avenue and 90th Avenue, from County Road 510 in the north to 26th Street in the south. The other runs between 58th Avenue and 82nd Avenue, from 16th Street (College Lane) in the north, past Oslo Road, south to the Indian River-St. Lucie County line.
After a presentation by consultant Eric Raasch of the Inspire Placemaking Collective and county officials, those attending the workshop were armed with sticky red dots and asked to mark areas on three sets of boards where they felt the county should extend services. All stuck their dots in the two rectangular “donut hole” areas. No one placed a dot west of Interstate 95.
Indian River Shores Councilman Bob Auwaerter attended the workshop, then offered his opinion at the May 13 Shores Town Council meeting.
“While it doesn’t impact us in terms of being right next to the Town of Indian River Shores, it impacts us from the perspective really of a tool, in my opinion, to bring about some affordable housing and lower cost housing,” he said, noting the need for places that people in their 20s and 30s could afford.
But those attending the first workshop weren’t thinking about high-density apartment complexes or affordable housing.
Attendees were asked what types of housing they would prefer to be built in any expanded service area. Most preferred large-lot, single-family development, similar to the “ranchettes” popular west of 66th Avenue, with the next most-popular choices being mixed-use development, mid-rise apartments, and townhomes.
Two workshops were set for yesterday at the Intergenerational Recreation Center, and the final sessions are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (May 29) at the Indian River County Administration Complex, Building A.
