There was good, bad and ugly the other night at Sebastian City Council.
The bad was the core of the meeting May 13. The council supported pitches to bring into city limits 586 acres of farmland east and south of the 2,044 acres south of County Road 510 Graves Brothers annexed into the city in 2023. Indian River County regulations would allow only 117 homes on the 586 acres, compared to a potential 1,758 allowed by Sebastian.
Developers, though, plan only 1,402 homes in two subdivisions (an estimated 1,111 people in Sebastian Pines) just east of Graves Brothers and 900 homes (1,980 people in Cresswind) just south of Graves to about 59th Street.
Sebastian South on its way
As one Sebastian resident ― a self-described refugee from growth in Martin County, facing traffic woes from massive annexations in Port St. Lucie ― noted, approving the projects would send a clear message to developers the city is wide-open for development.
The three annexations create a virtual Sebastian South, encompassing part of the area between 66th and 82nd avenues.
That’s a long way from City Hall.
Perhaps as importantly, the three annexations alone could more than double the population of the city to about 53,536 at build out.
That could put double the pressure on a charming small town — the one that includes a unique working waterfront and a cool entertainment district along the Indian River Lagoon, public golf course, 422-acre conservation area behind City Hall and boat ramps sometimes too crowded now.
The reality is growth everywhere near Sebastian — approved by Indian River County, Fellsmere, Brevard County or Palm Bay ― could mess things up for the city. That is why it pays for Sebastian to work with these entities to mitigate the impacts.
The best hope for Sebastian’s annexations is to create a town center on the Graves property where residents could truly live, work and play — rarely getting into their cars to venture elsewhere. It would have been more palatable if Sebastian Pines and Cresswind were seamlessly integrated into the Graves site. That said, a live, work, play project has never been executed effectively in Indian River County.
It seems the main reason Sebastian agreed to the annexations was to control future growth, perhaps wisely realizing pro-growth county commissioners could not be trusted.
Sadly, the council’s reasoning sounded similar to arguments made for annexation in Port St. Lucie and other growth-riddled cities. They want commercial property to boost property values. The reality is all too often developers would rather build only homes and cheap, strip shopping centers.
At the meeting May 13, several residents, including Gary Comes, who lives along 69th Street, chastised the council for not caring about its neighbors in the rural, unincorporated county where people are permitted to farm and have gun ranges.
“Where does it stop?” he asked, comparing Sebastian’s annexation binge to Russia’s taking of Crimea, before it launched efforts to gain more territory in Ukraine. “It may be good for you, but what is it doing to the other neighbors that are still there and have to change their way of life?”
While annexations for only homes aren’t good long-term investments for residents of the city and county — growth almost never pays for itself even with Cresswind’s promised, extra contribution to a city recreation fund — the real ugliness came in some questionable details of the Cresswind proposal.
Before a column published May 7, I asked Sebastian staff for details on Cresswind (I found many detailed documents about it dating to June 2025 on the St. Johns River Water Management District permitting website.)
Developers make questionable claims
Sebastian staff shared very little. It was only on the May 13 agenda I found the following:
Claims by Urban Design Studio, a West Palm Beach consultant for Kolter, the South Florida developer, about how great it would be that Sebastian would generate about $1.8 million a year in property taxes from the 55-and-over community, assuming average home prices of $750,000.
Numerous assumptions seemed misleading. For example, developers assumed that among full-time residents (about 80% of the community), homestead exemptions would be only $25,000 each. The basic homestead exemption is at least $50,000 now, and it increases each year by the rate of inflation (assuming the Florida Legislature and voters do not increase it or otherwise limit municipalities’ ability to generate revenue).
Likewise, developers assumed not one of the estimated 720 homesteaders would bring with them potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars worth each of portability exemptions earned from owning prior Florida homes.
It would have been nice if a) developers were accurate, b) stretched their one-year tax projection out a decade or more (assuming tax caps and historical millage rates to get a more accurate number) and c) city staff did a better job of auditing and analyzing developers’ claims rather than just signing off on them.
I also was shocked by the claim the fiscal impact of having to add four police officers to patrol the area was “minor” at $392,000 per year.
How minor will that impact be when police raises, new equipment and allocations for overhead every other city resident pays for are routinely higher than increases in Cresswind taxes? And what about the cost of gasoline? Cresswind, whose pitch will be heard again by the council on May 26, is almost 10 miles from the police station.
Then there’s access to the site on 82nd Avenue. While 69th Street is paved and might be the main access for residents, it could take 15 years or more to complete 82nd Avenue from 26th Street to 510.
(Somehow, much to the chagrin of motorists dealing with increased traffic near Vero Beach’s airport and Cleveland Clinic, the 82nd Avenue project has been prioritized by Indian River County over widening 26th Street from 43rd Avenue to U.S. 1.)
I trust city officials will not let construction begin until 82nd Avenue is complete.
What would future Sebastian look like?
As for Sebastian Pines, I chuckled at a claim made by its consultant, also from Urban Design Studio, that the project, which wraps around two unowned parcels, is “compact” — a requirement for annexation.
Enough of the bad news.
The best news came after Councilman Chris Nunn ― in supporting the annexations ― flippantly said he’d be willing to support just about any annexation.
The good news began when Mayor Fred Jones, who on Feb. 12 lamented the city’s pace of growth to radio host Bob Soos only to support both annexations, said he would not be in favor of annexing farther south of Cresswind.
That led to a productive discussion late in the meeting, when Councilman Ed Dodd proposed tasking City Manager Brian Benton with putting together a map to “define” future city boundaries.
Dodd said he could see the city going as far south as 53rd Street, which could become the next Interstate 95 interchange decades from now.
Nunn (prudently clarifying his original comment), Jones and first-term council member Sherrie Matthews agreed. She suggested the city could use its comprehensive plan as a start.
Better, collaborative planning on the horizon?
It’s a good idea, given the comprehensive plan:
I know of no such written strategy, which seems essential.
I liked the council’s idea to come up with a plan it could then run by Fellsmere and Indian River County.
Doing so would lead to greater collaboration countywide, essential to planning better and avoiding the intergovernmental conflicts and poor development patterns (look at our bordering counties) that have plagued other counties in Florida.
At least there’s hope Sebastian will refine its growth plans.
This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.
If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida city gobbles up ag land, but turkey plans could end | Opinion
Reporting by Laurence Reisman, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
