PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — WPTV is digging into a recent unanimous vote from Port St. Lucie city leaders for a $2.5 million purchase of nearly 105 acres of land.
Located on the western side of the city, between I-95 and Rosser Boulevard, city leaders say this purchase can help push back development in the growing city.
WATCH: City leaders say land will be preserved
Patsy Ward lives near the parcel and said it reminds her of what makes Florida special.
“It’s beautiful, it's still the natural wooded area,” said Ward. “The whole reason why I bought out here.”
On Aug. 25, the Port St. Lucie city council voted unanimously to purchase the plot of land from Rosser Lakes LLC.
It’s bordered by I-95, Rosser Boulevard and Open View Drive.
“We do get a lot of feedback that we don't want any more growth in the city,” said Vice Mayor Jolien Caraballo.
It’s feedback Caraballo said she agrees with.
“If I could do a moratorium on every developer in this city and stop them from building today, I would do it,” said Caraballo.
She said the land was zoned single-family residential and could’ve brought even more homes to the area.
“We chose to purchase the property to avoid more rooftops,” said Caraballo.
Port St Lucie
Local city ranked last in park study. What they're doing to remedy that
Mayor Shannon Martin said the land, which includes two lakes, will now be preserved.
“It is a beautiful future park site,” said Martin. “Our residents have told us they want us to acquire more land for parks, and so that's exactly what we are doing.”
For Ward, she said it’ll be a nice addition.
“We really did want maybe a park over there, something for the kids,” said Ward. “It's going to be better than residential.”
