PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — On the streets outside Jessica Clinton Park in Port St. Lucie's South Bend neighborhood, painted hearts can be seen on the roadways nearby. The hearts are meant to be a memorial for 17-year-old Jessica Clinton, who died from a heart condition in 2003.
Overnight on Tuesday, the city removed the hearts in efforts to comply with the new Florida Department of Transportation regulations.
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These hearts, meant to be a symbol of support for the park’s namesake and others with similar heart conditions, were removed overnight by crews, shocking and upsetting many of the people WPTV Reporter Michael Hoffman spoke with at the park.
“Pretty bummed,” said Scala. “That was, one, a nice thing to see, but two, I know it symbolized Jessica. That's upsetting to see that it was removed.”
Others are wondering what's behind the timing in these new regulations.
“It is heartbreaking,” added Melissa Stephenson. “I would just want to know why. I understand that there's protocol, but these have been here for years, and so why would you decide to do this now?"
A Port St. Lucie spokesperson confirmed to WPTV that the city removed the hearts to comply with FDOT requirements. This is something we’re seeing across our area and the state after new legislation aims to do away with street art that FDOT says could distract drivers.
“The Florida legislature passed a law that was very clear, that I signed into law,” Governor Ron DeSantis said in a recent address to the media. “We're not doing the commandeering of the roads to put up messaging.”
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The order went to all municipalities across the state, demanding the removal of the road markings. However, some think that a case-by-case basis would be better than a blanket removal of all of them.
“Maybe it should be a case-by-case deal, which I know is really difficult when you're on a grand scale of trying to decipher, you know, a city with a state ordinance and things like that,” Stephenson said. “But to have them ripped out overnight just was a pretty poor call.”
Park staff and the city told WPTV that the hearts will return, just not on a city roadway. They plan to repaint the hearts in the park's parking lot.
