This is our moment in time.
This is our opportunity to leave Vero Beach better than we found it, and present future generations with a gift that will improve their quality of life for decades.
This is our chance to enhance our already-special community by transforming 33 lagoon-side acres – currently occupied by a defunct power plant and soon-to-be-relocated sewage facility – into a picturesque, park-like gathering place that offers amenities we so sorely lack.
And we can do all of this without sacrificing any of Vero’s small-town charm.
To Vero Beach voters about to decide the fate of the city’s plan to develop a dining, retail, social and recreational hub on the mainland waterfront parcel known as the Three Corners, our message is:
Don’t blow it.
Don’t listen to those who see all development as evil, and believe every remaining patch of vacant, publicly owned land must become a park.
Don’t be fooled by the misrepresentations being peddled by the Keep Vero Vero crowd, which has hijacked a neighborhood movement opposing the expansion of the city marina with the goal of derailing the Three Corners project.
When you cast your ballot in this election, vote “yes” on the city-crafted referendum asking voters to amend the charter to allow commercial use on the power-plant parcel north of the 17th Street Bridge, if officials can negotiate a long-term lease with a cooperative developer.
Then vote “no” on the Vero Beach Preservation Alliance-authored, two-pronged referendum that asks voters to:
- Add the land containing the marina’s boat-storage facility to the charter’s list of protected properties.
- Restrict “any future structures” added to the charter’s protected properties to no more than 500 square feet (slightly more than three parking spaces), and limit the expansion of existing structures to no more than 20 percent of their current footprint and volume, unless approved by city voters in a referendum.
Do NOT vote “yes” on both ballot initiatives.
If you vote “yes” on both, you’re contradicting yourself – because the delays and uncertainty created by the alliance’s referendum likely would kill the Three Corners project.
Think about it: Would any reputable developer be willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a site plan, knowing voters could reject it in a referendum that could be months away?
What if a voter-approved site plan needed to be amended to accommodate additional parking, or another sidewalk, or expanded restrooms beyond the ridiculously small limits of the alliance’s referendum?
The developer again would be required to go to the voters, who would essentially replace our elected City Council as partners in the deal.
As former Vero Beach Mayor Harry Howle put it: “If both referendums pass, we’re going to have the willingness of the people to allow development of the Three Corners property, but we won’t have the ability.”
That’s why you also should be rooting hard for the city to prevail in its lawsuit, which seeks to void the alliance’s referendum by challenging what it believes are ambiguities in the ballot initiative’s wording.
At a hearing earlier this month, Circuit Judge Laurie Buchanan rescheduled a trial on the matter for Nov. 4 – four days before Election Day. However, Vero Beach City Attorney John Turner said she informed both sides she will not issue a ruling until 7:01 p.m. on Nov. 8, immediately after the polls close.
“She wants to hear the case before the election, but she doesn’t want her ruling to influence the vote,” Turner said. “She will not know the outcome of the referendum before making her ruling. Her decision will solely on the facts and the law.”
It’s impossible to know how Buchanan will rule, but city voters should assume the alliance’s referendum will determine the fate of the Three Corners project.
The city hired celebrated urban planner Andres Duany to produce a design concept, which was presented to the community in a series of well-attended charrettes, where he sought public input.
His final presentation received a standing ovation.
“The outreach to the community was huge, and there was a lot of public participation,” Duany said earlier this month, when he returned to Vero Beach to re-present his concept and answer questions at Walking Tree Brewery, where he was welcomed by a large and enthusiastic gathering of citizens, business owners and public officials.
“But,” he added, “that was a very high point from which to fall.”
Duany went on to warn project supporters that the length of the process – as well as the many months that have passed since the City Council voted to move forward with his plan – could result in an “erosion of enthusiasm.”
We can’t let that happen.
Vero Beach has plenty of parks. It doesn’t need another one, especially with the cost of maintenance.
Vero Beach does need revenue, however, and leasing the Three Corners property to a developer would put a substantial amount of money in the city’s coffers.
“If the city’s referendum is approved, we’re going to select a developer and negotiate a deal that make sense to both parties,” City Manager Monte Falls said. “But you can expect the lease to reflect what a developer would pay for prime real estate on the lagoon.”
The project also would provide jobs and generate some sales-tax revenue.
This shouldn’t be solely about money, though. This should be about making the best place to live on Florida’s east coast even better.
“The Three Corners project,” Howle said, “would be the best thing ever to happen to this city.”
Certainly, if done right, the development would fill a gaping void in our community, which, unlike Sebastian and Fort Pierce, lacks open-to-the-public waterfront dining and a riverwalk-type experience on the mainland.
As the county continues to grow, especially to the west, the Three Corners site also would ease the in-season traffic and congestion along Ocean Drive by providing a dining and socializing alternative on the lagoon’s west bank.
Downtown Vero is nice and offers some wonderful restaurants, shops and pubs, but it’s not on the water – and, on the mainland, the Three Corners project might be the city’s last best chance to get us there anytime soon.
Shall I remind you how many years it took to complete the sale of the city’s electric utility to Florida Power & Light? Or how long the former Dodgertown Golf Club property sat idle before it was sold to the county?
The city moves at the speed of erosion.
So if the Three Corners project doesn’t move forward now, you can expect that stretch of waterfront to remain fenced, off limits to the public, and vacant for years, maybe decades.
The city would continue to mow the grass every so often, just to prevent the property from becoming a weed-infested eyesore that embarrasses all of us. But it’s potential would be wasted.
Is that what we want?
Developing a dining, retail, social and recreational hub on the Three Corners property wouldn’t turn Vero Beach into Port St. Lucie, nor would it destroy the feel and flavor of our community.
Vero would still be Vero – as much as it can be as the county’s population surpasses 160,000 – but it finally would offer a much-needed gathering place on the mainland’s waterfront.
This is our moment in time.
Let it be Vero’s finest hour.
