STUART – A former city commissioner’s intent to hamstring a hotelier’s plans to build a Fairfield Inn downtown between Federal Highway and 6th Street backfired a year and a half later when a circuit court judge granted him a new hearing because the Commission majority failed to comply with its own city code in its decision for denial.
Judge Marsha Ewing’s decision had its genesis on Feb. 10. 2025 when the then Commissioner majority led by Christopher Collins balked at rezoning a 0.33-acre parcel from urban waterfront to urban highway. That parcel and two others were already combined under a unity of title requested by city staff, and hotelier Nimesh Patel needed matching zoning to avoid conflicting developmental regulations. After a motion for approval of the rezoning by Commissioner Eula Clarke died for lack of a second, then Vice-Mayor Collins tried to convince Patel to pursue a conditional use, which he refused. Collins then made a motion for denial, which was seconded by Commissioner Sean Reed. When City Attorney Lee Baggett advised them to rephrase the motion to approval and then deny it to make it easier for Patel to reapply, Collins refused. That motion passed 3-2, with Commissioners Clarke and Campbell Rich dissenting.
Collins resigned from the Commission at the end of April 2026 to make a successful bid for the County Commission. His replacement Merritt Matheson has shifted the Board majority to a more pro-business stance since the August election. Fast-forward to Sept. 28 of this year and Baggett’s explanation as to why the Commission was having to repeat the 2025 quasi-judicial hearing…