Another big chunk of farmland in northern St. Lucie County is headed for houses. On Oct. 20, the County Commission voted 3-2 to rezone 126 acres south of Indrio Road, between Emerson Avenue and Seminole Road, from agricultural to Planned Towns and Villages, and approved a preliminary development plan for The Club at Indrio Creek, with up to 332 single-family homes and townhomes (via WQCS).
Commissioners Cathy Townsend and Larry Leet and Chair Jamie Fowler voted yes. Erin Lowry and James Clasby voted no. The item had been continued from a Sept. 15 hearing.
The plan also includes outdoor recreation areas, a flow way, and restored or newly created native upland habitat, according to WQCS. No developer was named in the coverage; land planner Bradley Currie represented the project and told commissioners the latest version was "a drop in 30 units from the last time we were before you."
The project has been shrinking all year. When it went to the county's Planning and Zoning Commission in July, the plan called for 375 homes, 246 townhomes and 129 single-family homes, plus two civic lots and two amenity areas, Hometown News reported. P&Z tabled it that night after staff said the plan didn't meet the comprehensive plan, mainly over street layout and connections. By August the count was down to 365, and P&Z recommended approval 5-1 with all of staff's conditions intact, according to Hometown News.
Roads were the sticking point. Staff wanted Seminole Road paved and brought up to county standards, while the applicant wanted only emergency access there. Currie called that requirement "a multimillion-dollar deal-killer" in August. The paper also reported the plan included a new east-west public street linking Seminole and Emerson, right-of-way for Emerson Avenue, and construction of part of Emerson and most of the internal spine road.
At the commission, the two no votes came down to fit. Lowry worried approval would open "Pandora's box" for future projects that don't match the board's vision, and Clasby said the project tried to "squeeze in something that's not compatible on too small of a piece of property." Townsend said the project met the stipulations tied to its spot inside the urban boundary and the county's Towns, Villages and Countryside area. "Do I love this project? Nope," Fowler said, while noting the board's job is to apply the code.
Indrio Creek is one of several projects lining up along the Indrio Road corridor near I-95. CBS12 reported this month that a planned Buc-ee's at I-95 and Indrio Road has finished local planning and is waiting on state permits, and that the 85-acre Indrio Town Center and the much larger Indrio Groves proposal are also in the mix.
Why it matters for Contractors
This is a preliminary approval, not a building permit. Site plans, plats and the road work still have to come, and none of the coverage named a builder or a start date. But up to 332 homes plus new public road segments is real work for site, paving and utility contractors first, and for framing, roofing and finish trades after that.
For a small shop on the Treasure Coast, the move is to watch the county's agendas for the site plan and plat filings on The Club at Indrio Creek. Those usually name the developer and engineer, and that's who's going to be hiring. And with Buc-ee's, Indrio Town Center and Indrio Groves all working through the same corridor, north county is worth keeping on your radar for the next few years.