The Lake Harvey stormwater treatment area is a step closer to being a park.
Dennis Pickle, St. Lucie West Services District manager and utilities director, said people shouldn’t throw on their walking shoes to head over to the Lake Harvey park quite yet.
“Right now there’re no funds allocated for (a park),” Pickle said. “There are plans, but no (allocated) money.”
At its last regular meeting – Monday, Aug. 13 – the Port St. Lucie City Council approved an agreement with the district that will allow the city to turn the site into a park. Under the agreement, the district is giving the city $50,000 for planting 40 royal palms, or the equivalent, for sound mitigation at Lake Harvey. Area neighborhoods have complained that clearing trees and vegetation for the stormwater project increased ambient traffic noise to intolerable levels.
According to documents, the city has also received about $1,100 in private donations for sound mitigation and building a passive-use park with amenities such as gazebos, walking trails, fitness stations and more. Pickle said that money has come, to his understanding, from homeowner associations in St. Lucie West.
“I know they’re working with Lowe’s, Home Depot and other commercial entities to see if any would like to donate to the pergola and gazebo,” Pickle said. “If they can get those supplies donated, they’ll look for a builder to donate some time.”
Lake Harvey is at the intersection of St. Lucie West and Cashmere boulevards. A developer eyed some of the 12.5 acres there for a grocery store about five years ago. The plan hit tremendous opposition, and the district proposed buying the property for stormwater management. The district got the property for $4.4 million in 2014.
Immediately there was talk at the district about turning it into a park as well as a stormwater management area. That idea was put off for a couple years. In early 2016 the St. Lucie West Services District Board of Supervisors revived the passive-use park conversation. There was a big snag.
The district is a Community Development District, which is a hybrid creation of the State Legislature. The districts operate as governmental bodies to deliver some limited municipal services, such as water and sewer. Parks and Recreation simply isn’t in its charter. The district turned to the city and county about building a park at Lake Harvey.
The city agreed, but talk turned from trails and gazebos to dogs. Mayor Greg Oravec casually tossed out the idea of making a dog park at Lake Harvey at a City Council meeting. The idea fetched early support on the council, but got growls at the services district. District board members told St. Lucie Voice at the time residents at Kings Isle expressed displeasure at the thought of a dog park next door.
Pickle said the agreement now approved between the district and city isn’t going to revive the dog park idea. “The property still belongs to us,” Pickle said.
That means any park plans will have to pass through and get nods from the City Council and the district’s board of supervisors.
The stormwater treatment pond takes about eight acres of the Lake Harvey property. A park will require parking and setbacks, which will carve out more land from any proposed park. There’s also a contractual buffer for Kings Isle. Pickle previously said there’ll be about an acre of area left for a park at Lake Harvey.
