Planning and Zoning Commission closes hearing, will renotice Westside Racket Club plan after applicant LLC found dissolved

The Indian River County Planning and Zoning Commission on May 14 closed the public hearing on an application to restore and expand the Westside Racket Club and directed staff to renotice the item after county records showed the applicant, Westside Racket Club LLC, had been administratively dissolved under Florida law.

County staff told the commission the proposal would proceed in four phases: phase one would restore eight existing tennis courts and add four paddle courts with associated utilities, stormwater, parking and landscaping; phase two would rehabilitate an approximately 2,400-square-foot clubhouse and add two paddle courts; phase three would add a pool and four pickleball courts; and phase four would add two additional tennis courts. Staff said the site includes a roughly 1-acre stormwater pond and proposed 30-foot Type B landscape buffering around most of the project, with a 20-foot thoroughfare buffer along 43rd Avenue Southwest, and that the plan complies with the five criteria listed in county land development regulation section 971.40 subsection 9.

Neighbors who spoke at the hearing urged caution. "At completion, there will be 20 sports courts accommodating up to 80 players," said resident Dick Bird, who called the project "a large traffic generator" and cited staff estimates of about 555 average daily trips and roughly 40 vehicles per hour on Fifth Place Southwest during the project's projected operating window. Bird said pickleball courts would sit about 43 feet from his rear property line and that the scale and noise could change the neighborhood's character.

Deputy County Attorney Susan Prader told the commission it could consider reasonable conditions tied to the special-exception approval — such as buffering or lighting requirements — but could not require the applicant to demonstrate financial capacity as a condition of land-use approval. "We cannot ask questions about whether or not they have the financial ability to do this," Prader said during public comment responses. Staff and several commissioners also discussed noise-mitigation options, including acoustic fencing, quieter paddles and balls, and dark-sky fixtures.

The hearing pivoted when staff reported the listed applicant had been administratively dissolved by the state in September 2025. Counsel advised the board that, under Florida Statute 607.1405, a dissolved corporation may only undertake actions necessary to wind up its affairs, and recommended the board avoid final action while corporate authority was unresolved. Applicant representatives — including Ryan McClean, MBV Engineering, who identified members of the Wilky family as project principals — asked the board either to proceed or to grant time to resolve the corporate status. McClean said the project had been in review for about three years and asked for a continuance if necessary.

On advice of counsel the commission closed the public hearing and a motion was made to continue consideration of the application until the applicant corporation is active with the state. The motion was seconded, the board took a voice vote with one recorded opposition, and members directed staff to renotice the item so the applicant can present updated evidence after restoring corporate status. The board also suggested the applicant review the public comments posted to the meeting video before returning.

Next steps: staff will coordinate renoticing and rehearing the application after the applicant resolves corporate status and refiles; the commission did not make a substantive finding on the site's compliance beyond staff's preliminary recommendation and did not grant the special-exception or site-plan approval at the May 14 meeting.