Letters to the Editor: March 11, 2020 – TCPalm

Treasure Coast Newspapers Published 4:00 a.m. ET March 11, 2020

Would-be Centennial Place architect Andres Duany wants to convert towering "Big Blue" into a conference center. He doesn't understand Vero. Height restrictions have given our town an envied tree canopy. We want to keep it that way. "Big Blue" must go.

Stephen Madeline, Vero Beach

Gil Smart's Feb. 26 column about the Stuart Springtree development is factually erroneous and poorly reasoned. Smart incorrectly described the proposed project as "a 280-town home plan on 13.5 acres along U.S. 1." The project actually consists of 270 or 280 "resort style" apartments in seven four-story buildings. No workforce or affordable housing units are proposed.

The property was annexed by the city in 2017. It is surrounded by single-family homes and mobile homes that have been around for decades. The developer wants to change commercial zoning like the zoning on other properties along Federal Highway to multi-family residential zoning. Only two of the seven proposed apartment buildings are on the highway. The others are farther back on the property near surrounding homes. Vehicles entering or leaving the project will use the existing neighborhoods' entry drives, adding an estimated 1,500 trips a day.

As a resident of a single-family neighborhood in Stuart, should I worry that the city will approve a four-story apartment building on the vacant lot up the street? Should residents of existing neighborhoods outside the city worry that Stuart will annex adjacent properties and destroy their neighborhoods by changing the development pattern and rules to benefit developers and city coffers?

Smart asks what can be done when a property owner wants to build an incompatible development next door. The answer is simple: Work with the neighbors. Don't be a bully. Design your project in a way that will complement, not destroy, the character of existing neighborhoods.

We can protect our neighborhoods by using common sense in planning, designing, and approving new development. Good developers make good neighbors. Bad developers destroy our quality of life and community character.

Virginia Sherlock, Stuart

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally in Dearborn, Michigan, on March 7.(Photo: Paul Sancya, Associated Press)

Sorry, Gil Smart, but you completely missed the mark in your March 4 column declaring that the Jensen Beach Boulevard widening/resurfacing project is the most annoying road construction project on the Treasure Coast.

I submit that the Kanner Highway widening project tops the list of most annoying. First we suffered through almost three years (2016 to 2019) of widening Kanner Highway from three to six lanes between the I-95 Interchange and Monterey Road.

Now those of us who live south of the I-95 Interchange are suffering through another projected two years (2019 to 2021) of widening Kanner Highway from two lanes to four lanes between I-95 and Pratt Whitney Road (CR-711). Were currently enduring the fourth year of construction between us and Downtown Stuart.

At present the Florida Club turning lanes have been eliminated. The entrance to the Florida Club is almost totally obscured and impossible to find at night. The Florida Club entrance is a rear-end collision waiting to happen for those attempting to make a left turn into the club.

Karl Saal, Stuart

Another year has passed without answer to the basic question on claims of pay inequities. Suzanne Jones March 1 letter claims that working women and racial minorities are victims of sex- and race-based discrimination, and that women are paid only 80 cents for every dollar paid to a man.

The question, again, is why a single sane employer would employ a man if he or she had to pay a 25 percent premium over what a female employee could be paid for exactly the same or comparable work? Clearly, employers would not do so and many men would be unemployed, priced completely out of the labor market. Is it at all possible that factors other than misogyny and racism may influence pay disparities in the United States?

Jim Trout, Sebastian

I do not want Bernie Sanders as the Democratic candidate for president of the United States. I don't like the way he talks. I don't like his socialistic agenda. I don't believe some of his statements are accurate. I don't like the fact that he won't release his doctors' records. You can pay people enough to write what you want them to write, so letters from three doctors are not the same as the medical records. He has had a heart attack.

Being president of the U.S. is a very stressful job. Electing a person like Bernie Sanders will create upset like we had with the election of President Trump, but in a different way.

Margaret Eubank, Port St. Lucie

Andy Marlette(Photo: Andy Marlette)

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Letters to the Editor: March 11, 2020 - TCPalm