PORT ST. LUCIE – City Council members unanimously approved an operating agreement with the United Soccer League for the construction and maintenance of a 6,000-seat stadium at Walton & One during a special Nov. 4 meeting, after at least 20 members of the public spoke out both in support and opposition of the proposal.
This was the second reading of the ordinance publicly debated and unanimously approved by the Council on Oct. 20 after a series of meetings with the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County and USL representatives on the potential addition to city-owned property near the southeast corner of U.S. 1 and Walton Road. Most residents in opposition cried foul over those meetings because the actual applicants and their proposal were not initially revealed to the public due to a Florida statute on economic development. Community Redevelopment Agency Director Jennifer Davis began the latest meeting with a video clip of a recent PSL on the Mic edition in which she discussed the project.
“As we get into this first agenda item, we’d like to reiterate that General Fund dollars are not going to be used for the stadium project or to reimburse the operator or the developer,” she said. “The funding would be coming from the CRA increment funding revenue.”…