ST. LUCIE COUNTY – After more than five hours of discussion — some of which heated — County Commissioners decided to continue a limited discussion on conditions for the Shinn Road Equestrian Estates project.

Commissioners wanted further discussion after seeing conditions for the 106-home, 532-acre project designed for the equestrian community. The conditions include a multi-use path, road connectivity, equestrian amenities and whether the community would be gated.

The project is north of Okeechobee Road and southeast of the Save the Chimps Sanctuary and would provide a space where horse owners could move and have enough space for their animals.

The county will take up the discussion on Jan. 19 or shortly thereafter. Though all five Commissioners voted early Wednesday to continue the item with conditions, only three showed support for the project. Those included Commissioners Chris Dzadovsky, Paula Lewis and Chris Craft. Commissioners Doug Coward and Charles Grande did not support the project due to questions about whether the plans met open space, buffering and clustering conditions in the county’s land codes.

“This is absolutely not good planning,” Coward said.

Staff recommended that the project get denied after planning and zoning voted 5-4 in approval of the project.

Attorney Johnathan Ferguson, representing the applicant, said staff was wrong in recommending Commissioners deny the project over concerns about open space, buffering and whether the parcels are clustered.

Ferguson asked that all those speaking be sworn in under oath.

“We respectfully disagree with staff’s opinion,” Ferguson said.

The biggest question of the evening came from different interpretations of a part of the code, which read “but not limited to” in regards to open space. Coward said the intent of the code was to make sure back yards in residences did not count for open space in land intended for agriculture.

Craft and Lewis said Coward’s interpretations of the codes were too strict.

“I personally think this particular development is what it claims to be,” Lewis said. “We do need to provide choices for people. Whatever happened to those folks who want to move to the country?”

Open space has been a controversial term in the county, which is in the midst of completing a Western Lands study that would help the county avoid inconsistencies in the future and provide clear direction for future applicants and boards. Yards have been counted as open space but the county questions whether yards on residences in agricultural zones should be counted.

By Eric Pfahler

Tags: agriculture, buffering, code, planning and zoning, shinn road equestrian estates, space

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 10:55 am and is filed under St. Lucie County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.