SuDa vs. Clearpath, the ReMatch Is Set - City of Vero Beach Receives Only Two Proposals for Three Corners
With a failed downtown referendum, last Tuesday’s deadline shifts focus for City Council in 2025.
One wonders how the City Council missed so terribly regarding voter sentiment for the revitalization of downtown. At the center of the plan for the 50 acres of prime Main Street real estate was the ballot referendum to rezone from 17 to 62 units per acre. If passed, the referendum would have given developers the ability to expand downtown by up to 1800 apartment units. There were elaborate renderings of new facades covering the old. 14th Avenue was going to become a pedestrian walkway.
Polling for approval was well into the majority range among the 3000 or so asked by the advocates for the downtown revitalization project. So confident, they formed a PAC named Citizens for Graceful Growth. Yet, when voting ended, the referendum was rejected by 65% of city voters with 63% of them also rejecting the transfer of development rights if an owner wanted to sell.
There is the latest fallback explanation as to why citizens rejected the referendums. It said, “Blame Trump voters.”
Turnout was historically high in the city which featured a general election with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. At the Let’s Talk Vero event on November 25th, one lady prefaced her question that the referendum should not have been put on the ballot in such a contentious election. She added, “There were a lot of people that had no idea what they were reading. When they read those questions, and they immediately said, ‘It's development, ‘no.’ Whereas, our electorate during a non-presidential election may be more educated on this type of issue…”
However, the unexpected results were so brutal suggesting voters knew exactly what they were doing. Referendum advocates who spent nearly 4 years promoting the revitalization effort, were shocked. How did they totally miss citizen sentiment? Advocates had a professional well-backed campaign. At that Let’s Talk Vero event, Vero Beach Mayor John Cotugno summed up his explanation for the results. He said, “I see this as a better determination of what the community wanted and therefore it may be for us to make a better case for it. And, maybe there was hubris on our part thinking that, ‘Trust us, populace. We'll get it right.’"
Mayor Cotugno may very well be on to something. It does sound like a trust issue. Concerning big decision issues, none loomed larger in 2024 than the breaking of trust by the people in charge over the process for the Three Corners project. In May, after nearly 6 years of community outreach, developing an eco-friendly Master Plan, taking two separate bid submissions and vetting four candidates, the City Council awarded nothing. Nefarious activities on behalf of bids played a key roll.
A new request for proposal (RFP)
This past Tuesday at 2PM was the the request for proposal (RFP ) deadline for the second go-around of selecting a Three Corners developer. Only two proposals were submitted. One was by Clearpath with the Ridge Group and DMJR Development. The second submission was by The Blue at Vero Beach, LLC who is comprised of Madison Marquette and SuDa as well as The Continental Companies and Edward Jones & Co.
For those who remember the first bid process, it was basically these two teams with dynamically different proposals who were at the forefront of the conversation to develop Three Corners. Originally, there was a vote on May 28th that awarded SuDa the contract. Within 5 days, the Mayor scheduled a special meeting on June 7th to get the vote rescinded claiming SuDa had violated the rules of the RFP.
Before that vote was taken on May 28th, there was discussion about SuDa’s proposal and their questionable tactics of emailing the board - an RFP violation. Yet, a community financial supporter of Clearpath, Brian Barefoot, who claimed he met many times with the firm emailed the board too. City attorney, John Turner read from the RFP, He quoted, “The City reserves the right to reject any or all submittals, or parts of all submittals, and to re- advertise this RFP; or to postpone or cancel, at any time, this RFP process. The City also reserves the right to delay opening any proposals, to waive informalities in any proposal, and to reject any or all proposals in whole or in part with or without cause and/or to accept the proposal that, in the City’s sole judgment, will serve the best interest of the City of Vero Beach, Florida.”
Mr. Butler also shared how the City’s decision is final. Council member, John Carroll, brought up the fact that SuDa had changed their proposal from its initial submission and it couldn’t have been vetted properly. He asked the council members to refer to the original proposals. Vice mayor Linda More responded, “Are you asking us to unsee it? When we accepted the proposals, we accepted them all, knowing that SuDa was a little light on details. We accepted it anyway, and it was stated in the steering committee meetings, and, it was common knowledge that we all understood the fact that SuDa’s proposal was light on details… and we would receive more information later,” adding, “Now, if we all knew that, and we weren’t going to be happy with that, then, we should have disqualified them right away. But we accepted them … I don’t think you can go back now and disqualify them. I don’t think that’s right.”
Mr. Carroll rejected the idea of disqualifying SuDa, reiterating to look only at their original proposal. With that, Taylor Dingle’s only comment was to move forward. He said, “The proposals are ever changing. If we are not going to move to remove or disqualify anybody, I am ready to go to item 6B-2.”
Item 6B-2 on the agenda was the vote. “I don’t think we are in the process of disqualifying anyone,” said Mayor Cotugno. He had mentioned how he thought of SuDa’s reasoning from the RFP directives and the ‘separate’ email issue. He added, “We have the discretion to change that. But if you don’t have the motivation to do it, it’s not going to be changed.”
In the public comment, it was clear that citizens for the SuDa development were outnumbering all others. One public commenter mentioned real time surveying of over 200 younger residents polling at around 60% to approve the SuDa proposal. The sentiment was linked to how SuDa’s proposal embraced the Master Plan’s ideas which the community supported overwhelmingly.
The City referendum for the project was passed with 79% in 2022. The referendum proposed a Master Plan that the DPZ Design Firm, led by Andres Duany, developed for Three Corners. It considered the natural charm and environmental factors that make Vero Beach special in the hearts of a majority of people who live here all year round. Mr. Duany even sent a letter via proxies who read his opinion during public comment on the night of the vote. He reiterated the characteristics of the Master Plan insinuating that the $500 million Clearpath plan didn’t fit the plan’s intent.
SuDa won the vote where each council member ranked the four proposals, one (best) to four (worst). It received three first place votes from a majority of council members and a second place vote by Mayor Cotugno. Mr. Carroll voted it last place. The mayor and Mr. Carroll ranked Clearpath first. The city council then voted unanimously to begin negotiating the contract with SuDa. The popular proposal with the community majority had won. Councilman Dingle said, “I received nothing but thanks and praise from residents in our city.”
Instead of moving forward, Mayor Cotugno put in process the disqualification of SuDa. The special meeting was a well-coordinated effort which included a round of TV media. In a political fiasco that saw island influencers like Mr. Barefoot put outside pressure on the City Council, Mayor Cotugno called the governemnt back which led to the disqualification of SuDa’s proposal. However, the Council remained deadlocked on awarding the contract to Clearpath because Tracey Zudans had recused herself. She cited an email from Mr. Barefoot saying he would not fund her campaign for the County Commission. Ms. Zudans lost her election.
Mr. Barefoot had also sent an email to board members sharing how he had investors on the island lined up to assist Clearpath. He wrote to Mr. Dingle expressing his displeasure with his vote. He penned, “I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am with your vote last evening. That sentiment is shared by the JI members who had committed to providing financial support to Clearpath. For a young man you lacked vision and the ability to see ‘what could be.’”
The question remains if SuDa will get a fair crack at this again. With public support over 60% for their original plan, it would seem like an easy choice. Their bid should be even stronger. Yet, Tracey Zudans, a SuDa proponent, no longer sits on City Council. Her seat has been filled by newly elected, Aaron Vos, who appears to have a background in municipal government from previous experience. His vote could be the swing vote.
On January 16, 2025, Vero Beach will make public the two proposals. It is expected that Clearpath’s will remain mostly unchanged. Their team is the same. SuDa’s will most likely be refined and updated expressing even further understanding of what the residents of Vero Beach really want. It is also an opportunity for the City Council to regain trust by voting for the will of city residents. Then maybe they will get permission to address downtown.
A very well written, balanced article. It reveals some of the local political and financial corruption in town. It also highlights another 'black eye' for JI residents.