What would the beaver say? Is Indrio Road exit off Interstate 95 best spot for Buc-ee's?

The TCPalm alert quickly caught my attention: “Buc-ee’s may be looking in St. Lucie County.”

My first thoughts: Cool! I love Buc-ee’s.

When I head north or to Texas, I try to time my stops to fill my vehicle tank with Buc-ee’s’ reasonably priced gasoline; freshen up at its almost country club-style, immaculate restrooms, and grab a hot, juicy brisket sandwich or kolache.

I’ve been introduced to Buc-ee’s’ yummy cinnamon gummi bears. I’ve found certain styles of their Beaver Nuggets, puffed corn tossed in a brown sugar coating, go well with some craft beer stouts.

When I visit, I see help-wanted signs for good-paying jobs, some even in the six figures.

Then reality hit.

The beauty of Buc-ee’s for me is visiting ― on a trip, not down the street. I still like my relatively quaint hometown.

Almost all Buc-ee’s I’ve been to are gargantuan, as in, off the interstate on dozens of acres. One of their downsides is the time it takes to stop, gas and go.

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I’d just rather go to a local service station or Wawa, where I can grab a decent coffee quickly.

And while I might enjoy Buc-ee’s treats on vacation, I’m not into fast food.

Then I wondered where Buc-ee’s could go in St. Lucie County.

My first thought: What if it repurposed the old outlet mall on Okeechobee Road? It’d fit in perfectly between Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 95. The property might be big enough, but there'd be access issues and what developer would want to renovate an old mall?

Oslo Road in Indian River County might be attractive to Buc-ee’s. The area is wide open, but work on an interchange just began and won’t be done for several years.

Then I read Will Greenlee’s article, noting the possibility Buc-ee’s was looking at 33 acres on the southeast corner of 95 and Indrio Road.

It was disappointing.

First, for personal reasons: I don’t want to live in walking distance of a tourist magnet, the kind of place that could attract crime and transient traffic.

Sure, call me a card-carrying member of the Not In My Back Yard club.

But there’s a more legitimate issue.

St. Lucie County tries to plan better than much of Florida

It relates to a project I followed closely in 2005, when the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council held more than 100 public meetings and worked with local landowners and St. Lucie County to develop its award-winning Towns, Villages and Countryside plan.

The plan ― an effort to stop traffic-clogging urban sprawl that victimized many other parts of once-rural Florida ― was designed for 28 square miles west of Fort Pierce in north St. Lucie County, reaching just past the Indrio Road-95 interchange.

The idea was to preserve and connect as much of the environment and agriculture as possible, while allowing an orderly flow of interconnected development. Villages would develop much like they do traditionally, as mixed-use neighborhoods, where people could walk and bike to shopping, work and school.

Combined villages, which could have more people per acre than in the past, would require 75% open space, while towns would need 60%, according to TCPalm files.

It sure would beat the kind of random development much of Florida has ― where nature yields to concrete jungles made up of strip shopping centers and cookie-cutter housing subdivisions disconnected from each other, often by gates.

But how this for a definition of a concrete jungle? 73,000 square feet of retail space, 733 parking spots, 11 bus parking slots and 120 gasoline pumps on 33 acres. Greenlee said that’s what was contained in a “conceptual plan” that “states ‘Buc-ee’s — Fort Pierce, FL’ and ‘Buc-ee’s, Ltd.’ ”

'We're holding all of the cards.'

Only later did I learn the gasoline station, if approved, would be within 834 acres rezoned by county commissioners in 2020. Tentative plans then called for a million and 88,000 square feet, respectively, of commercial and retail property; 1,878 and 805 single and multi-family homes; a fire station, school and other government amenities, and 24 gasoline pumps, according to county records.

That said, conceptual plans submitted with the 2020 approval suggested integrated uses ― not separate strip malls, residences, etc.

The big questions: Could a massive Buc-ee’s work in a well-designed project? Or, would it, like a controversial proposal from a national homebuilder commissioners will review soon, cripple the Towns, Villages and Countryside plan?

Mike Busha, retired head of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, said he knows nothing about what's happening there now, but hopes the TVC plan would remain intact.

“It’s not like we are begging for development,” Busha said, citing the demand coming from South Florida and national developers. “We're holding all of the cards. It would be a shame to give them away.

“Everybody compromised (years ago) in that deal,” he said of the TVC plan, designed to ensure proper water storage for the environment and agriculture. “There’s plenty of room for growth out there.”

But it has to be done right. The TVC set a higher standard for development.

The possible Buc-ee’s proposal is in its infancy. The national home builder’s isn’t.

Let’s hope St. Lucie County staff and commissioners fight hard to preserve the goals and details of the TVC. If a Buc-ee's works, great. But if commissioners lose sight of the end game, another bit of Florida paradise will be lost to sprawl, and we and our descendants will pay the personal price.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Buc-ee's: St. Lucie must get busy as beavers ensuring good development