Petitioners want judge to intervene in St. Lucie development dispute

By staff reporter

August 9, 2006

A group of St. Lucie County residents formally filed a petition in Tallahassee on Tuesday, asking a judge to intervene in a dispute over a controversial plan to develop the north county.

They joined the state Department of Community Affairs which filed its own petition against the Towns, Villages and Countryside comprehensive plan Monday. They are asking a judge with the state Division of Administrative Hearings to find the county is not in compliance with several state rules and regulations and violated the law by approving the plan.

No hearing dates have been set, records say.
The DCA has already notified the county that it did not think the plan was in compliance and cited a lack of drinking water, not enough transportation facility enhancements and too few low-income, very-low income and moderate income housing opportunities as some of the flaws.
The TVC, which covers about 18,000 acres in north St. Lucie County, makes developers build mixed-use towns and villages with higher density rather than sprawling subdivisions. The controversial plan is the result of two years of planning, public meetings and negotiations with land owners in the plan area, but some property owners have fought against it claiming it takes away property rights.