After more than five years, delays, and legal obstacles, the city council voted unanimously to approve the Sebastian annexation of approximately 2,044 acres of Graves Brothers property.
The city council did its best to keep Sebastian residents informed through the process, including a couple of workshops they hosted last summer for the public to attend and ask questions. Jeff Bass of the Graves Brothers was also available to answer questions from residents and county officials. They also discussed the annexation in several meetings, making every attempt to be fully transparent.
Now, the Sebastian Annexation is final, although the same environmental groups that stopped it from going forward in 2019 are threatening to sue the city again, which will cost taxpayers more money in legal expenses. In addition, many have spread misinformation about the annexation to keep citizens from supporting it.
The property is now zoned as mixed-use, providing both commercial and residential for sustainability and growth. Approximately 5 to 10% of the property will be affordable housing.
According to Sebastian Vice Mayor Chris Nunn, the plan was finalized on Tuesday. He said the landowner wants something that will fit into the current community.
The City of Sebastian currently has an average of 90% residential tax base and 10% commercial base. Nunn said the property offers a new city center that will increase the commercial tax base for Sebastian.
“It gives the ability for all those people from Vero Lake Estates or all the other developments that the county is putting around that property that will be shopping in that city center and paying taxes, which will be bringing money into the City of Sebastian,” said Nunn. “That’s huge. That’s something we don’t necessarily have that we need more of, so this plan is great.”
Councilman Bob McPartlan, who voted for the previous annexation in 2019, said this process has been the most transparent.
“We have given it time; we’ve had several workshops,” said McPartlan. “The city has been the most transparent and had the best intentions.”
McPartlan says he’s not against the environmental groups, but there’s no number they will be happy with regarding the number of homes being built.
Mayor Fred Jones agreed with the rest of the council and fully supported the annexation.
“We’ve delayed this thing, and we’ve worked very hard on this through staff, our outside attorneys, the county, and everyone else,” said Jones. “The product that we have before us, I believe, is a very good document, and it’s binding; it protects the city and the landowner himself.”
The plan for the annexation is to offer single-family homes, qualified, affordable housing, and some medium-density to allow townhomes.
The City of Sebastian has an ordinance to allow 50% open space for parks and recreation facilities, which will be applied to the new annexation. In addition, new commercial businesses from the town center will keep it sustainable as the area grows.
In June 2022, Sebastian Daily asked its readers to participate in an annexation poll. Nearly 82 percent of our readers favored it to control growth.
Indian River County attorney Dylan Reingold told the council Wednesday night that he’s not trying to sabotage or stop the annexation, but from a county perspective, they are trying to figure out how to provide services to the property.
“Things like fire & rescue services, things like county roads, things like water & sewer services,” he said.
Providing water & sewer to the property will require an additional treatment plant, Reingold said. The county is looking for a commitment from the property owner and the city as they figure out how to provide services. Reingold hopes some property could be set aside for assistance as it will significantly impact existing water & sewer utilities.
The Graves Brothers have been annexing property into Sebastian for nearly 100 years. They logged much of Sebastian during the 1920s and 1930s. The family wanted to voluntarily annex this property so that the City of Sebastian could have complete control during development and growth.
Public Reaction to Sebastian Annexation
Terry McGinn, who hasn’t missed a meeting during the past two years because of the annexation, said he was for it. He said the county is developing all around Sebastian with multiple subdivisions near the annexation, including Liberty Park, Harbor Island, Blue Water Bay, and Sebastian Landing.
McGinn said as the county continues to build, especially near the south prong of the St. Sebastian River, the environmental groups haven’t said a word.
Another resident said he moved to Sebastian from Stuart because he was tired of all the development down south.
“The reason I moved is because the city council down there went crazy with building. I am totally against this annexation and anything that goes with it, part of it, for it,” he told the council.
Graham Cox, a board member of the Pelican Island Audubon Society, said he could not support the annexation in its current form. He also claims that current taxpayers will subsidize the “new city” and feels it’s a “giant Ponzi scheme.”
“You failed to hire a company consultant to manage this annexation process, and we, as Sebastian taxpayers, will pay a price for this in due course,” Cox said.
Former City Councilman Richard Gilmore said he is in favor of the annexation and that the land is going to get developed sooner or later, whether it’s under the control of the City of Sebastian or not.
“If it’s developed outside the city, those folks that are living there are still going to use our parks, our boat ramps, and they’re still going to use our golf course. They’re going to use our streets,” Gilmore said.
He emphasized that if the property is not under our control, we get nothing from it, including taxes.
“If we annex the property, we can control how it’s built. We can control through you guys [city council] and through the building and zoning department how it is structured,” Gilmore added.
Another environmental group that opposes the annexation is the Friends of St. Sebastian. Its president, Tim Glover, told the council that the owner does have a right to build, but they should also expect to protect sensitive natural resources. He was disappointed that the city didn’t take their advice and hire a planning consultant.
Reed also said the county is set to build some 3-story buildings on 2.8 acres directly on the river on Indian River Drive, just south of the city limits. But she said no one is talking about it.
“Everyone is concerned about the environment, and everyone is concerned about the manatees and everything else, and I am too. And I did hear one gentleman say earlier that the Indian River Lagoon is in crisis. But yet you don’t hear a whisper about what can happen along that shoreline with a hotel,” said Reed.
Reed said that no matter what concessions the council or property owner gives, they won’t matter as the same environmental groups will still find something wrong.
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