There’s no good reason for Vero Beach voters to reject the City Council’s efforts to revitalize the downtown core by increasing the residential density to encourage the construction of apartments to attract a younger demographic.
The two referendums on the city ballot next month will not generate unwanted congestion, or threaten height restrictions, or put us on a slippery slope to higher density in other parts of town.
They will not do any harm to our beloved small-town charm.
If anything, they’ll probably add to it – by creating a more-vibrant and walkable downtown, where people live and shop and gather, resurrecting the Rockwellian feel of yesteryear.
At the very least, they’ll make such a dream possible.
Yet, here we are, less than a month from Election Day, and the fate of those city referendums appears to be a toss-up, garnering far less support than the slam-dunk triumph of the Three Corners ballot initiative only two years ago.
Why is the community not rallying around the downtown referendums with the same rousing, grass-roots gusto that resulted in more than 70 percent of city voters embracing the proposed development of the mainland’s waterfront into a dining, retail, social and recreational hub?
Why has the response to the city’s Downtown Master Plan, which the council approved last summer, been so tepid?
Simple: There’s no compelling reason to put these initiatives on the ballot now, especially with the city already engaged in major projects to relocate its wastewater treatment plant, expand and improve its marina, and develop the Three Corners sites.
Mayor John Cotugno likes to refer to Vero Beach as “The Little City That Could,” because the council has been so aggressive in pursuing projects of such magnitude and expense.
And the council’s ambition is laudable.
Just because our little city can do something, however, doesn’t mean it should – not all at once, anyway.
Besides, the council seems to be too far out front with these downtown referendums, pushing for something the community isn’t ready for, doesn’t quite understand and hasn’t had time to digest.
As Councilwoman Tracey Zudans warned at more than one recent meeting: The “density” scares people, particularly residents who see the both the city and county grappling with the consequences of growth since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They see Vero Beach and its roadways getting more crowded each year, and they fear our once-Mayberry-like community is losing its identity and being gobbled up by the encroaching South Florida sprawl.
Getting more people to live downtown – and adding to the area’s dining and retail offerings – won’t turn Vero Beach into Fort Lauderdale, but the city and referendum proponents haven’t done nearly enough to ease those concerns.
Then there’s this: Many in community are happy with downtown the way it is now, and they see no need for the city to involve itself as the area continues to improve without government assistance.
They feel no sense of urgency to do something, when doing nothing seems to be working.
Did you know that nearly all of the downtown properties available for lease are already occupied?
And that rents are the highest they’ve ever been?
So while there’s plenty of room for growth and improvement downtown, it’s fair wonder if property owners will be motivated to increase their investment to build the apartments necessary for the city’s plan to succeed.
Perhaps those property owners could be convinced to sell to developers willing to make such an investment, but remember: The city’s plan calls for the construction of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments that would be affordable to young adults in the community’s workforce.
In other words, developers would need to be enticed to build apartments that would rent for less than the market rate, because the city wants those units to go to younger tenants – specifically teachers, first responders and hospital workers, as well as Piper Aircraft employees and service-industry workers.
City officials say too many of those members of our workforce now commute from outside the county because they can’t afford to live here.
To try to provide them with housing that allows them to live where they work isn’t merely admirable; it will soon become necessary, especially as the county’s growing population races toward 175,000 and is projected to reach 200,000 by 2030.
“That’s a big pool to draw from, and this isn’t going to happen overnight,” Cotugno said. “This is a generational project.”
But will building apartments downtown be enough to attract young, college-educated professionals seeking jobs with large companies, particularly in the wildly popular information technology and financial industries?
Probably not.
Currently, our largest full-time employers are the School District, Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, county (including constitutional offices), and Piper. And we’re too far from the Orlando and South Florida markets, where younger workers can find more-suitable jobs – as well as more-active social scenes.
Might better opportunities come in the future? Sure, but there don’t appear to be any on the horizon.
So why the rush?
Again, voters should not hesitate to approve the two referendums – one would increase the residential density in the downtown area from 17 to 36 units per acre with a total of 1,800 units in the district, and the other would allow property owners to transfer development rights to enable more units in some buildings – next month.
All they’d be doing is laying the foundation for the future.
Now, though, is not the most-opportune time to move forward with a development plan that, at the moment, has little chance to succeed anytime soon.
Think about it.
Why would any forward-looking developer make a significant investment downtown, not knowing how the area will be impacted by the much-anticipated Three Corners project?
And the potential competition doesn’t end there, or even along Ocean Drive.
One out-of-town developer purchased the Indian River Mall property earlier this year and already has presented to county officials a grand plan to create a town-center-type community hub that would include restaurants, big-name retail stores, a hotel, and apartment buildings equipped with a clubhouse and swimming pool.
If that plan becomes a reality, as it has in other parts of Florida and across the country, the revamped mall complex is sure to attract diners and shoppers from all over the county, including people who might otherwise have gone downtown.
Together, the Three Corners development and a mall-area town center almost certainly will have a noticeable effect on downtown businesses – but the impact doesn’t need to be devastating.
City officials say the offerings along Ocean Drive, at the Three Corners and in the downtown district will differ enough to avoid cannibalization, but the mall plan gives local residents even more choices.
Downtown, they say, will have a different vibe, because of its historic flavor, edgy nightlife and youthful appeal.
The key, however, is getting younger adults to live there, which means providing the affordable types of housing that makes such a neighborhood possible.
That’s a good reason to vote for the city’s referendums, which will clear a path to the Downtown Vero of tomorrow.
That’s not a compelling reason to ask us to vote now, before everyone’s had a chance to feel good about it – and with so many other more-pressing, major projects on the city’s plate.
There’s another election next year.
