Regional planning council urges Martin County to move from study to implementation on Western lands

The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council presented a consolidated review of prior western-lands studies to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 27, urging the county to move from repeated study into targeted implementation.

Tom Lanahan, executive director of the regional council, described the project as a "study of studies" that cataloged past recommendations, tracked which items were implemented, and identified gaps. He said the county has preserved large tracts through acquisitions and has an effective urban growth/urban service boundary, but that tools such as transfer-of-development-rights (TDR) programs, predictable agricultural incentives and long-term monitoring metrics are missing or underused.

Lanahan recommended concrete next steps: codify and unify planning vision, create a conservation-land database (a single map of preserved lands and priorities), consider a TDR framework and formalize agricultural sustainability and incentive programs. He and other presenters stressed that many prior recommendations remain valid and that a coordinated implementation approach — not another study — would be more useful now.

Greg Braun of Guardians of Martin County told the board that thousands of acres had already been lost while studies were under way and urged immediate action, including stronger advocacy for state land-acquisition funding such as Florida Forever and FDACS rural-family-lands programs.

Ending: The presentation concluded without formal board action; staff and commissioners discussed possible next steps including better tracking and targeted policy implementation.