VERO BEACH, Fla. — In downtown Vero Beach, resident Donna Palmquist loves where she calls home.
“We've lived here ever since 1995 and I do love the town,” said Palmquist. “It's just a small town and I really, really love that fact.”
She’s concerned over the future of Vero Beach. On Tuesday night, city council discussed a referendum, that if approved, would increase density to 50 units per acre in downtown.
“There is a recommended number in there of capping the number of units for the downtown district, which is about 50 acres at 2,500 units total,” said Jason Jeffries, Vero Beach planning and development director.
“I'm afraid of it ending up like Miami where it’s just congested,” added Palmquist. “The denser it gets, the more people that you don’t know, the more crowded it does get.”
For now, the city council is only discussing the language of the referendum that could end up on the November ballot for voters to decide. Part of the goal is to revitalize downtown.
“The best way to incentivize new development downtown is to have increased density, so that smaller units could be built downtown,” said Jeffries. “This is all about attracting more workforce housing, or what we call attainable housing, in the downtown area.”
Angelina Poggi, the owner of Armani's Cucina in downtown Vero Beach, feels higher density would be great for business.
“I think downtown definitely needs to grow and expand,” Poggi said. “I think that if it expands more, that more people would be attracted to this area.”
While not everyone agrees on the density, most believe growth is inevitable.
“I'm very against the idea but I'd rather them be dense in downtown than spread out west,” said Palmquist.
“I don't think it’s going to be as crazy as some people anticipate. It’s never going to be a New York City. It is going to get busier,” said Poggi.
