Humiston Park Revitalization Back on Track: A Tale of Political Intrigue

The revitalization of Humiston Park, delayed for weeks by a group which sought to persuade the state Department of Environmental Protection that most Vero Beach residents opposed it, got back on track July 9th after the DEP gave the city approval to move ahead.

The greenlight came after Vero Beach agreed to adopt an ordinance restricting 22 new parking places for exclusive use by Humiston Park patrons during hours the park is open, and to bar employees working in the adjacent Ocean Park Plaza from parking anywhere in the lot during park hours.

Work on the park renovation now is slated to commence within the next two weeks, and the Humiston Park improvements should be completed early next year, officials said.

The saga of what hopefully was the final attempt to block the changes to Humiston Park -- originally approved a year ago -- is an all-too-classic tale of Vero Beach politics, confusion and intrigue.

On Tuesday, June 23, 2008, Vice Mayor Sabe Abell, City Public Works Director Monte Falls and City Attorney Charles Vitunac journeyed to Tallahassee after receiving a surprisingly negative reaction to the Humiston changes in a conference call with Linda Reeves of the State Division of Parks and Recreation.

Reeves told the group that her office had delayed its decision as a result of the strong opposition to the changes, including a 22-page petition mailed in April opposing the Humiston Park renovations.

The petition had 403 signatures, including 22 residents of Sebastian, 7 from Fellsmere, 2 from Port St. Lucie, 3 from Fort Pierce, and a variety of signers who listed their homes as in Michigan, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Connecticut.

In examining the signatures, Vice Mayor Abell said he was surprised to find the petition opposing the renovation signed twice by County Commission candidate Honey Minuse.

“Honey Minuse spoke in favor of the Humiston project during a City Council Meeting, but here is her signature within three days opposing it," Abell said.

Minuse initially told us she did not recall signing the petition, and asked if there was a date on it. She subsequently agreed she had signed it.

“At that time, I was the President of the Indian River Neighborhood Association. The only thing I want to say about this is that I felt that the Council should listen to the people instead of the staff," Minuse said. She declined to elaborate on her reasons for her apparent change in position.

Other names of note on the petition which opposed changes to the park were City Council Member Ken Daige, County Commissioner Sandra Bowden, and former City Council Member Lynn Larkin.

Bowden, asked about her position on Humiston, said she had signed the petition but termed it “vague.”

But vague or not, the petition was the only one the state received -- even though the Oceanside Business Association had collected signatures of beach businesses and residents endorsing the project more than a year ago.

“I don’t understand why the State didn’t get our petition,” said OBA President Betty Cochrane. “I personally handed our petition to Mayor Tom White almost a year ago in City Hall. He told me that he would take care of it.”

“I think it was signed by nearly every member of the Beachside Business Association along with lots of residents," added Nancy Cook, owner of The Twig on Ocean Drive. "This took weeks and weeks. We faxed it to the Clerk's office and to City Hall.”

“The state’s decision to delay a few weeks ago came as a surprise to us," Falls said.“We have never had to defend a project with e-mails, petitions and the like. There was a lot of heresay and misinformation being given to them that we just didn’t know about.”

So before heading to Tallahassee on June 23rd, the delegation dug the letters, copies of e-mails, petitions and notes of callers favoring the Humiston project out of the City Clerk’s file cabinet and hand-carried them to Tallahassee.

“We had no idea," said Attorney Susan Brantley of the Department of Parks and Recreation. "Our office only received everything negative about the project. Never anything positive. We never saw the positive petitions or e-mails or letters from the people in Vero Beach in favor of it.”

The visitation clearly turned the tide for the Humiston revitalization.

"They said it was going to be so beautiful," Falls said. "They just loved it."

So on July 9, a letter of approval for the Humiston Beach renovation finally arrived from the state's Reeves.

“ Pursuant to the City's request for our Department review and approval of the proposed facility renovations and parking expansion at Humiston Park. We have completed the review of the proposed changes and determine that the City's proposal is in compliance with the federal requirements of the Land and Water Conservation Program Rule of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior."

Reeves also appended an intriguing note at the end of the letter of approval:

“We would like to convey a special thanks to Representative Stan Mayfield and Representative Ralph Poppell for their outstanding leadership roles throughout this review and approval process.”