Massive planned agricultural, employment center to start small in Palm City

Aug. 22--PALM CITY -- Consolidated Citrus is starting small: four commercial buildings on 5 acres.

But the ultimate vision is 340 times larger. According to plans submitted to the city, Citrus sees its 1,700-acre Palm City property as the home of the I-95 Agriculture and Employment Center -- a proposed 5 million square foot industrial park, including 200,000 square feet of retail space and 500 hotel rooms.

First though, Citrus wants to see how its 5-acre microcosm fares.

"We are moving forward with this first phase primarily to initiate our planning purpose," said Mitch Hutchcraft, vice president of real estate for Consolidated Citrus, which is majority owned by the Texas-based King Ranch. "We have no timetable for construction."

Hutchcraft met with Martin County Growth Management to discuss implementing a planned unit development, a type of zoning that gives the developer leeway on zoning rules in exchange for contributions to the community, such as donating land for parks and schools.

The planned unit-development zoning supplements the property's AgTEC land use designation, which allows for agriculture and business that improves the tax base, increases job opportunities and facilitates environmental enhancement.

This will be the first time the AgTEC designation is used. It was created specifically for Consolidated Citrus' I-95 Agriculture and Employment Center.

Mobile and tablet users: View an interactive map of the area.

Citrus, in September 2009, submitted to the county a proposal that would change the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan to allow a mix of agricultural and commercial land on its property on Southwest Martin Highway, near the I-95 interchange. Its proposed AgTEC category would allow 800 acres of the former citrus grove to be used for agricultural purposes and 900 acres for the industrial park. By the end of 2009, Citrus obtained its mandatory two approvals from the County Commission.

In July 2010, it got approval from the state, and the Comp Plan was amended to include AgTEC. But work on the 1,700-acre project did not proceed.

Hutchcraft says the project faced opposition -- the Martin County Conservation Alliance, for one, unsuccessfully protested the state's decision -- and "adequately addressing those issues has been part of the delay."

Citrus' AgTEC Comp Plan amendment did not receive an entirely warm reception from the County Commission; it scraped by with a 3-2 vote with commissioner Sarah Heard and former commissioner Susan Valliere dissenting.

It's likely the current slow-growth Commission will be even chillier, and moving the project from plans to reality could be difficult for the developers.

Because Citrus' five-acre parcel is going to be part of the much larger property, it might need to be treated as a Development of Regional Impact, a designation for larger developments that carries stricter rules.

"(The need for Citrus to be treated as a DRI) is certainly a question in my mind," said Growth Management Director Nicki Van Vonno. "It's something to look into."

On the other hand, Citrus needs to prove it can implement all the requirements of AgTEC and a public utilities district on just five acres, said Senior Assistant County Attorney Krista Storey.

"We're not necessarily disagreeing with (your plan), but we're really uncertain based on the large numbers of policies and requirements," she said.

Van Vonno also indicated Citrus needs to better document its agreement with Port St. Lucie to access water and wastewater treatment services.

The county could see benefits from the public utilities district, which is required to give back to the community. Citrus' water -- wherever it comes from -- could be beneficial to the local fire department, according to Doug Killane, fire prevention chief for Martin County Fire Rescue.

Many residents live far from a fire station, and anything more than 5 miles away negatively impacts a department's insurance rates.

"You may be able to assist a whole lot of your rural neighbors," Killane said. "If you're looking for people to jump on board with your project, it could be something you could offer."

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