🌅 🏛️ Data Center Delayed

It's Friday! There's so much to get to down below, but first I want to talk about a story that's very near and dear to my heart, something I'm super excited about. I haven't said anything here, but I'm getting ready to go on a trip abroad, and when going on a trip abroad, one needs a passport to travel.

I just read something today that I wanted to share with you: the St. Lucie County Clerk and Comptroller has extended hours this weekend to help people with their passport. It's from 8 to 1. I thought this is so fly and so cool. I already got my passport, so I don't need the extended hours, but being that I just did it, it's fresh in my mind, so I wanted to make sure I said something here. If you need a passport, either a new one or a renewal, make sure you check this out.

🌅 Things To Do: If you're looking for things to do this weekend, we put together a whole rundown of 30 events happening.

💜 People Pass Shoutout: Thank you to everyone supporting the newsletter! If you want to help keep this going, support here.

☀️ Day: High of 85°F | A thick cloud cover and humid with a thunderstorm. Winds ENE at 8 mph. 55% chance of rain.
🌙 Night: Low of 73°F | A thunderstorm around this evening, otherwise partly cloudy. Winds NE at 2 mph. 55% chance of rain.
🌅 Sunrise: 7:08 AM | 🌇 Sunset: 7:23 PM
🌙 Moonrise: 2:12 PM | 🌚 Moonset: 12:23 AM
🎶 Sounds like: "No Ordinary Love" — Sade

🏙️ FORT PIERCE: The Fort Pierce Planning Board declined to make a zoning determination for data centers on Thursday, pushing the question back to the City Commission for discussion, and Willow Lakes LLC then tabled its rezoning application for Project Neptune to a date uncertain.

🤔 Why it matters

Project Neptune is the proposed 174 acre data center at the northwest corner of Interstate 95 and West Midway Road, on land previously planned as a resort with a wave garden. Before the board could hear the rezoning request, it first had to decide what zoning category data centers fall under, because the city's code does not currently list "data center" as a permitted use anywhere. That decision would have opened the door for data center development citywide, not just this one project.

🏛️ What happened in the room

I got to City Hall around 2 p.m. and had to park on the top floor of the parking garage. Inside, it was standing room only, and a recess had to be called for people to find seats. The rest were sent to the lobby to watch the meeting there.

The first hour was spent on the zoning classification question, not the actual project. Planning Director Kev Freeman walked the board through the options, essentially light industrial, heavy industrial, or something in between, and told them staff was not comfortable making a strong recommendation without more analysis. He told the board staff had already received more than a hundred objections from the community, and that any decision made would essentially lock the city in under State Bill 180, which protects development entitlements through October 2027.

Kev Freeman: "I think there's huge public disquiet about data centers, wider than the city itself."

📋 Two motions passed unanimously

Sitting in the back of the room, I was getting a lot of questions from people about what was actually being voted on. A lot of folks felt like the item was being kicked down the road, and I do not think people felt good about the outcome.

📄 Willow Lakes tables Project Neptune

After the board declined to make the zoning determination, the Project Neptune rezoning came up next. Attorney Lee Dobbins stepped to the podium and asked to table the application to a date uncertain. The board accepted. If Willow Lakes brings it back, it will require new public hearing notices.

After the meeting, I talked to people on both sides. Those in favor spoke about the economic benefits and made the point that data centers are not what they used to be. Those opposed talked about water quality, environmental concerns, Florida's heat requiring different cooling systems, and our exposure to hurricanes.

📖 The full breakdown

I wrote up everything I saw and heard in the room in more detail. Read the full story right here.

🎥 Watch the full meeting

We also uploaded the full Planning Board meeting to our YouTube channel. Watch it right here.

💬 What do you think about data centers coming to the Treasure Coast? Leave us a voicemail at (772) 212-1504.

Vero Beach City Council approved construction of a new long-term parking lot that will expand capacity from 80 spaces to over 500 as the airport prepares for new flight service. Construction begins in March with completion expected by next summer. The expansion ends free parking at the airport. Interim Airport Director Brandon Dambeck said the airport operates without taxpayer dollars and must charge for parking to fund operational upgrades and maintenance.

👉 Read more (WPTV)

St. Lucie County, Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie Village are all finalizing their fiscal year 2027 spending plans by September 30. St. Lucie County's budget is 974.4 million with a millage rate of 7.8341 mills, while Fort Pierce's budget is 73.3 million at 6.9 mills. Port St. Lucie's budget is 232.5 million at 4.8750 mills. St. Lucie County and Fort Pierce have already completed their final hearings. Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie Village still have hearings coming up.

👉 Read more (Sunland News)

Stuart is conducting a survey to gauge residents' interest in allowing backyard chickens before the city decides whether to change its regulations. The proposed ordinance would allow residents to keep up to four female chickens in a coop no more than 6 feet tall in certain residential areas. Commissioner Sean Reed expressed interest in broader rules and fewer restrictions, while Commissioner Merritt Matheson raised concerns about invasive species if chickens are released. The commission is expected to finalize the survey at its September 28 meeting and discuss chickens again on October 12.

👉 Read more (WQCS)

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