Ascot Development - 2,500 Homes Planned for Site

2,500 Homes Planned for Site

2,500 Homes Planned for Site
PalmBeachPost.com - [11/17/2006]
By Jason Schultz
STUART — Martin County officials got an early look at a proposal Thursday that would bring thousands of residents, a school and a shopping center to the rural area along State Road 710 northwest of Indiantown.
A development group from Delray Beach showed the Martin County Development Review Committee its plans for the Quillen development, a 582-acre neighborhood on farmland that would include 2,250 homes, land for a school and 150,000 square feet of businesses.
"We anticipate there will be something like a grocery store because that is what is needed out there," said Dodi Glass, a land planner for the project, showing preliminary plans for a shopping center near County Road 609 and State Road 710, also known as Warfield Boulevard.
The developer wants to shift part of County Road 609 near the intersection to make it run through the middle of the shopping center, Glass said. County officials did not raise any issues with relocating the road, but said they did not like the developer's proposal for parking along the street.
"(County Road) 609 is likely to become a major commuter route," said County Traffic Engineer Lisa Wichser, noting that the road may need to be widened later because of traffic between Port St. Lucie and Indiantown. "It is not likely to be a neighborhood roadway."
County officials also raised an issue with a 15-acre site on the northeast corner of the project that the developer wants to give to the school district. County Growth Management Director Nicki Van Vonno said moving the school to the middle of the site could limit traffic congestion and make it easier for resident to walk to it.
The developers have also asked the county to team with them to apply for a state grant to build an affordable housing complex in the development, Glass said. The county commission will vote Nov. 28 on whether to join the effort.
The review committee also got its first look Thursday at another major Indiantown proposal, less than a mile away from the Quillen project on the other side of State Road 710.
A Texas company wants to build up to two storage tanks, each 190 feet tall, to store liquefied natural gas. Brad Williams, president of the company, said the tanks would store gas for power companies as a strategic reserve supply and then give it back to them during peak days or emergencies to prevent price spikes.
"This puts the commodity, the actual gas in Florida, in south Florida, near where the customers are," Williams said. "One thing the hurricanes showed over the last several years is that we have a fragile energy infrastructure."
The tanks would be located on a Superfund contamination site that once housed the Florida Steel plant. Planner Morris Crady said the continuing cleanup will not be affected by the 50-acre area used for the tanks.
Williams said the tanks, which would be next to the low-income Booker Park neighborhood and near the thousands of proposed homes in the Quillen development, would be equipped with multiple layers of protection to prevent leaks.
"We're going to put a concrete wall around the second steel shell," Williams said.
The tanks would also be surrounded by a dike and grounded to protect against lightning strikes.
County Fire Marshal John Pasqualone said the county is still reviewing the plan, but so far he thinks the tanks appear to be safe.
"The concern for an explosion is minimal. Liquefied natural gas facilities are not a target for terrorists," Pasqualone said. "We're not totally sold that this is the safest thing since a glass of water, but we'll continue to do our due diligence."

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