FORT PIERCE – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the City of Fort Pierce are maintaining virtual silence surrounding the status of a December warning by FDEP that “docking structures and activities” at a popular North Hutchinson Island restaurant/bar are illegally encroaching on state land.
In a letter to Sara Hedges, Fort Pierce city attorney, the FDEP said an investigation of boundary issues at Little Jim Bait and Tackle, 601 N. Causeway Dr., could result in “liability for damages and restoration, and the judicial imposition of civil penalties…”
Despite the Dec. 17, 2025, letter from FDEP that gave the city 15 days to offer dates to meet with state officials, neither the FDEP nor the city have issued statements specifically addressing the status of the alleged violations or penalties, in response to inquiries from Hometown News…