🌅 🏢 Causeway Cove Moving Forward No Vote

It's Wednesday! And I write this to you from vacation. No but seriously, it's been incredibly difficult to stay away, but I think it's an experiment worth going through.

I need a favor from you all if you don't mind. Let me know if your consumption or keeping up with local updates changes at all during this time. I'm interested in what does and does not get covered. It's been two years since I've been on the other side of not always being in the know and relying on the other platforms and outlets to keep me up to date. Just curious!

The Fort Pierce Planning Board met Monday to hear an update on the Causeway Cove development at 601 Seaway Drive. Because this project is moving under the Live Local Act, the board had no vote and residents had no formal public comment on the project itself 🏛️.

Staff moved the item to the top of the agenda because the room was full of residents who showed up specifically for it. Planning Director Kev Freeman and City Attorney Sara Hedges spent the first portion of the meeting explaining why nobody in that room had any power to stop or modify what is happening. Hedges put it plainly: "That is not at the city's doing. The city strictly has to follow the law."

What the project is 🏗️:

What the board was worried about 👀: Traffic was the biggest concern. One board member noted the project would add roughly 6,700 trips per day to Seaway Drive and that the census tract in that area has a permanent population of about 3,426 people. This project would increase that by 77 percent. Another board member said flat out that he does not believe the Live Local Act was designed for a project of this scale.

Residents lined up during general comment at the end of the meeting. Concerns ranged from soil contamination given the site's history as a trailer park and boat yard to whether submerged land should even count toward density calculations.

What's next: Causeway Cove moves forward through the permitting process 📅.

💬 What do you think about what happened at Monday's Planning Board meeting? Tell us right here

Fort Pierce Planning Board reviewed the Causeway Cove development project Monday, located off Seaway Drive. The proposal includes five high-rise buildings, with a 17-story structure standing 192 feet tall, more than four times the city's height limit. Plans also call for two hotels and over 70,000 square feet of retail space, plus more than 900 apartments and condos with 365 designated as affordable housing. The project qualifies under the Live Local Act, a state law allowing developers to bypass height and density restrictions with 40% affordable housing. Neighbors expressed concerns about traffic and the project's impact on the area's character. City Commissioner Michael Broderick noted the city has no authority over approval as the state of Florida now regulates the process entirely.

👉 Read more (WPTV)

Voters in St. Lucie County's Precinct 90 will cast ballots at a new polling location beginning with the August 18 primary election. Legacy High School at 14505 Crosstown Parkway will now serve residents living north of Crosstown Parkway in Port St. Lucie. The Supervisor of Elections Office said the change follows population growth since the 2024 general election, as Precinct 89 at Tradition Town Hall became overcrowded. The office continues searching for an early voting site in the Tradition area to accommodate growing population and reduce wait times at Paula Lewis Library. Voters assigned to Precinct 90 will receive notices by mail about the change.

👉 Read more (WQCS)

Port St. Lucie City Council approved a zoning amendment allowing Costco to open a 158,000-square-foot warehouse on roughly 22.8 acres near Southwest Village Parkway and Marshall Parkway in Southern Grove, across from Costco's distribution depot under construction. The amendment permits outdoor merchandise displays, a tire center, liquor sales and a fuel station with 16 double-sided pumps handling 32 vehicles simultaneously. Costco's representative said the company is targeting a 2027 opening once all approvals are secured and the property sale from the Port St. Lucie Governmental Finance Corporation for $6 million is finalized. Construction is expected to take 10-12 months.

👉 Read more (WQCS)

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