Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard
District 4 Newsletter, August 26, 2025
Dear Friends,
Hurricane Erin was a real showstopper introduction to our storm season. If hurricanes' paths track as they have in previous years, the early storms tend to shift northward and fizzle out in the Atlantic Ocean.
As the season progresses, however, the storms will track much more westerly, making landfall either on the Atlantic shore or the Gulf shores.
If you are a Martin County property owner, you will have received your Truth in Millage Notice (TRIM notice) by now, which is filled with valuable information.
If you own property and make Florida your permanent residence as of January 1 of the tax year, you may qualify for a homestead exemption. Once an owner qualifies for a homestead exemption, in all subsequent years, the assessed value cannot increase more than 3% of the change in the Consumer Price Index whichever is lower.
Due to Florida's complicated tax laws, a transfer in property ownership may cause a significant change in ad valorum taxes for the new buyer. If you purchased in 2025, you won't see your estimated taxes until the trim notice is mailed to you in August 2026. Estimate your taxes now to plan ahead for the financial impact.
We are happy to help answer your questions.
Sarah Heard
BOARD SUMMARY FROM 08/12/2025
PROC-1 was a presentation by Jenny Fields, Martin County Property Appraiser.
Ms. Fields gave us a brief summary of the notices and tax bills and timelines and resident requirements that her office will be executing in the upcoming months. Ms. Fields is a thorough tax expert and she is always eager and ready to help all residents understand their responsibilities. Taxes are complicated. If you are unsure about your tax obligations, don't hesitate to seek help in our very capable property appraisers' offices.
CNST-9 was an agenda item requesting approval of an artwork purchase agreement for the purchase of sculpture to be placed at The Patio at Palm City Place.
Chapter 13 of the Martin County Code requires a set aside of 1% of any new or remodeled county construction to be budgeted for public art. In any year when no construction takes place, the county allocates $50,000 to the Art in Public Places program.
Martin County received an excellent and unprecedented opportunity to acquire some remarkable art created by internationally acclaimed artists Gillie and Marc. Their oversized bronze sculptures can be seen all over the world.
The sculpture we are considering is titled "It was a Very Windy Day They Would Never Forget" and features signature characters Rabbitwoman and Dogman valiantly hanging onto the trunk of a coconut palm tree in the gale force winds. The sculpture stands 7 feet tall and weighs 800 pounds.
The cost of the artwork is $132,000. The Public Art Advisory Committee pursued the opportunity to pay $33,000 for a one year loan. In June of 2025, the artists presented an unprecedented offer to Martin County by offering this sculpture for permanent acquisition at a price of $33,000, inclusive of shipping.
We anticipate that a 10% - 15% import tariff has been levied as of August 1st so an additional $4050 has been reserved.
The motion to acquire the sculpture was unanimously approved.
PHQJ-1 was a public hearing to amend the Martin County zoning atlas from RM-8 (residential multi-family, up to 8 units per acre) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the Paddock at Palm City.
This was a rezoning request for an 8.6 acre parcel on the southeast corner of SW Martin Highway and SW 30th Avenue in Palm City. Proposed is a development of 51 two-story townhomes in 11 buildings and 6 two-story duplexes, resulting in a density of 6.7 units per acre.
The site plan featured the only entrance and exit into the development occurring at the same intersection of the commercial facility located on SW 30th Avenue. Both parties agreed to offset the entrance/exit to avoid commercial truck/car conflict. The applicant also agreed to donate $50,000 to projects at Hidden Oaks Middle School and $50,000 to the Martin County Parks Department as public benefits in exchange for some setbacks flexibility in the layout of the project.
The project was unanimously approved.
PHQJ-2 was a public hearing to consider an amendment to the Martin County Zoning atlas for 456 South Ocean.
This was a request to change the existing zoning on 38 parcels with an approximate area of 1914 acres from A-1 Small Farms and A-2 Agricultural District to AR-SA Agricultural Ranchette District. The site is located at the northeastern intersection of SW 96th Street and SW Citrus Boulevard, west of the C-44 canal extending north to I-95 and the Florida Turnpike in Palm City. The entire parcel is wholly outside any Urban Service District and is under exclusive use as agriculture, now crops.
The A-1 zoning district is consistent with an Agricultural Ranchette Future Land Use (FLU) and the A-2 zoning district is consistent with an Agricultural FLU.
The property's FLU is Agricultural Ranchette.
As you can see from the included zoning district maps, the A-1 zoning district parcels are closer to the Urban Service Districts and the more dense urban or suburban uses to the north and east of this property.
The A-2 zoning districts are located much more distant from the Urban Service Districts.
I believe that this distinction was intentional. I believe that the A-1 and A-2 zoning districts were deliberate distinctions to transition the intensity of allowable uses from urban to suburban to agricultural ranchette to agricultural.
There are 2 zoning districts that implement agricultural ranchette FLU: AR-5A which allows 1 residential unit per 5 acres and AR-10A which allows 1 residential unit per 10 acres.
I believe that the A-2 parcels should receive the AR-10A zoning district and the A-1 parcels should receive the AR-5A zoning district.
Capps, Ciampi and Hetherington voted to approve AR-SA on the entire parcel. Heard and Vargas opposed.
DPQJ-1 was a request for the 80th amendment to the Martin Downs PUD zoning agreement, including a revised final site plan for the Meridian Marina project.
Martin Downs PUD was developed in the early 1990s. This 10.85 acre parcel is located east of the intersection of SW Mapp Road and SW Chapman way in Palm City. This is Phase IV of the PUD.
The proposed Phase IV waterfront building will be a 6261 square foot two-story restaurant along with 2977 square feet of marine operations/retail/office area.
This parcel already contains the marina basin, boat storage facility and associated infrastructure.
The owners of this parcel and plan have worked carefully and tirelessly with their neighbors over the past several years to design a compatible, desirable, welcome facility. It will be the only waterfront restaurant in Palm City. The design of the building is lovely, showcasing the stunning water views.
Dining operations will cease at 9:00 PM on weekdays and 10:00 PM on weekends. Music will cease at 9:00 PM every evening.
The application was unanimously approved.
DEPT-3 was a request to approve a mosaic art installation for the Manatee Pocket Mooring Field facility in Port Salerno.
A beautiful new facility housing restrooms, showers and laundry adjacent to the Mooring Field was opened last week.
This agenda item was a request to award a contract for a mosaic to be added to the outside of the new building.
The Public Art Advisory Committee recommended awarding the contract to Jim Dirks, 43 year owner at Stewart Stained Glass and Stewart.
The Board voted unanimously to approve the contract.
DEPT-5 was a request for approval of energy and energy related operational savings project contract with Trane U.S. Inc.
In January 2024, the County released a Request for Qualifications to guarantee energy, water, wastewater and operational savings performance contract. The RFQ committee unanimously chose Trane U.S. Inc as the best qualified contractor to perform these services.
The PACT agreement between the County and Trane is a guaranteed energy, water, and wastewater performance savings contract.
The County first contracted with Trane on a guaranteed performance energy contract in 2007. That and subsequent contracts with Trane have been enormously successful.
This contract includes water conservation at all 65 countywide facilities, LED lighting at all remaining facilities not already covered, PSE connection to the Jail Chiller Plant, Cummings Library HVAC replacement, and energy management optimization at the courthouse, Blake Library and Administration Building.
At the conclusion of this Trane performance contract, the county will have saved over $61 million.
The motion to approve the Trane contract was unanimously approved.
DEPT-7 was requested to approve a resolution in support of the acquisition of 383 acres of environmentally sensitive land in Palm Beach Heights (Palmar). The board approved unanimously
UPCOMING EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Martin County Senior Games
Registration now open
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The Martin County Senior Games is an annual sporting event open to persons aged 50+.
Events take place at multiple venues throughout Martin County and are open to athletes from across Florida. The top 5 finishers in each age group qualify for the Florida Senior Games.
The Games promote physical fitness, social wellness, and lifelong recreation opportunities for seniors.
Learn More
MPO Public Open House
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The Martin Metropolitan Transportation Organization wants your input on the transportation network, including roads and traffic. Attend a public open house to learn more and provide comments on the long range transportation plan on Tuesday, August 26 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the City of Stuart Commission Chambers.
Learn More
Charlie Leighton Park and Boat Ramp will close starting September 2 for a major upgrade project. Improvements include a new boat ramp, parking, additional docks and better pedestrian access.
Learn More
TRIM Notice Presentation
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Join Kayla Sullivan from the Martin County Property Appraisers Office for a presentation on your TRIM notice. Kayla is the Customer Service & Exemptions Manager.
The presentation will held at the Blake Library, Wednesday, September 10th at 1:00 pm
Learn More
UPCOMING BOARD MEETINGS
Board meetings are held in the commission chambers at 2401 SE Monterey Rd, Stuart, FL 34996.
September, 9, 2025
September 23, 2025
October 7, 2025
MCTV Television Information - MCTV Links and Info
Martin County YouTube Chanel: YouTube Channel Click Here
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CONNECT WITH US
Email Commissioner Sarah Heard
Email Commission Aide Sarah Philion
Call us at 772-221-2358.