Commerce on Becker Road advances

By CHRIS YOUNG
PORT ST. LUCIE — After months of waiting, the City Council advanced the city's plan for the Becker Road corridor Monday night.

To the applause of more than a dozen residents, the council unanimously voted to use an $80,000 report by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council as a guide to shaping the corridor and create a conversion zone. The zone would allow the gradual conversion of residential lots into commercial lots, a recommendation from the Planning & Zoning board.

The next step is to have staff do a needs assessment with pros and cons of variables such as traffic lights versus roundabouts, Mayor Bob Minsky said.

"We have to consider cost and functionality," Minsky said.

Property owners voiced their concerns at the meeting, demanding the city choose a direction.
"It is time for you to act with a vision," resident Bill Bristol said.

Realtor Eileen Smith said before the meeting that many lot owners along Becker Road want to sell but are having difficulty because no one knows what the future holds.

"What are the setbacks, the occupancy, the parking rules, the best places for alleys?" said Smith, who owns two lots on Becker Road.

The council last gave direction on the thoroughfare in April, approving a plan showing how side streets will intersect Becker Road and sites for future drainage ponds. That plan included a four-lane road with five traffic signals and no roundabouts, but officials said they could be added later.

Councilman Christopher Cooper said if city staff recommended a four-lane road with roundabouts for Floresta Boulevard, which the council approved in June, staff should be able to do the same for Becker.

"I can't see any valid reason for not supporting roundabouts," he said.

He added that the eventual road will not look 100 percent like the planning council plan.
"It won't look like that unless one person bought the entire thing and developed it," he said.
To solve a drainage problem on the expanded Becker Road, the council also voted to remove the four-foot wide bike lanes but widen sidewalks to eight feet on each side of the road.

The council also leaned toward having future developers build their own drainage instead of having a unified drainage system.

Creating such a system could require buying more than 270 lots, Assistant City Manager Jerry Bentrott said.