Pineland Prairie

Envisioning its Future

As the county determines its future needs for employment sites, revenue, public open space and varied kinds of housing—not just for the next few years, but for the coming decades–this land at Pineland Prairie will surely feature in its planning.

It offers unique possibilities to create a wonderful new kind of community–something that doesn’t exist anywhere in Martin County or, indeed, anywhere in the state of Florida and perhaps in America.

With innovative, visionary planning and design—informed by broad community input—this new community could achieve many goals, including:

• Integration of vast expanses of natural land and public open spaces with attractive employment, residential and commercial sites. The natural landscape and public spaces could adjoin, and be interspersed with, walkable neighborhoods and commercial districts.
• Protection of important natural habitat—comprising a large portion of Pineland Prairie—in perpetuity, under the auspices of a nonprofit land conservancy, creating the largest, privately designated, public-access preservation area in Martin County.
• Promotion of active outdoor recreation, small-scale agriculture, and multi-generational living in walkable settings less dependent on driving.
• Enhancement of water quality in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, through temporary retention and natural cleaning of nutrient-rich C-23 water during the rainy season, before its return to the canal.
• Attraction of businesses both local and national, creating good jobs that will give our young adults the option of staying and flourishing in Martin County.
• Housing choices that vary by style, size, and price, for appeal to people in every stage of life, from singles and young families to active seniors.
• Integration of small farms into the community, to provide fresh foods from community gardens and markets, plus environmental education and volunteer opportunities for children and adults.
• Outdoor activities that are especially appealing to today’s young adults, families and active seniors, such as hiking, biking and horseback riding; canoeing and kayaking on small lakes; and soccer, baseball and other team sports on public fields.