Merritt Matheson, a former Stuart city commissioner, is running again for a seat on the Stuart City Commission. Born and raised in Martin County, Matheson worked as a fishing guide and studied environmental biology before serving on the city commission from 2018 to 2022. He is also the founder of Martin County Forever, a conservation land funding initiative.
Home Rule and State Preemption of Local Growth Control
Matheson said state legislation has steadily reduced local government’s authority over growth decisions, pointing to the Live Local Act and Senate Bill 180 as recent examples of what he described as a longer trend. He said these laws allow certain housing developments to move forward administratively, with limited local review, and argued that the resulting frustration often lands on local governments even though the underlying authority rests with the state.
He said he believes local elected officials have a responsibility to clearly explain to residents what authority they actually have, arguing that better public understanding of those limits could build more effective pressure for change at the state level.
A Different Approach to Growth: Building Conservation Capacity
Rather than relying only on case-by-case opposition to individual projects, Matheson said his approach has focused on proactively acquiring conservation land before it can be developed. That philosophy led him to help create Martin County Forever, a program funded through a half-cent sales tax approved by Martin County voters that generates roughly $22 million a year for land conservation tied to water quality.
Matheson said the program targets a total of about 45,000 to 46,000 acres over its ten-year lifespan, and that in its first year and a half it had preserved more than 3,000 acres, including a parcel on Hutchinson Island north of the House of Refuge. He said he hopes to see the sales tax renewed when its ten-year term ends.
Bringing the Model to the City of Stuart
Matheson said the city of Stuart also receives a share of the same sales tax revenue, roughly $2.7 million a year, though the city is not bound by the same ordinance language that governs the county’s portion of the funding. He said he would like to see the city create an advisory committee of residents to review the city’s remaining undeveloped parcels, rank which properties might be good candidates for conservation, and clearly communicate what could otherwise be built on those properties by right.
He said a lack of public understanding about what property owners are legally entitled to build often fuels conflict once a project is proposed, and that clearer messaging from local government could reduce that friction.
The Creekside District Hote
Matheson pointed to a Hilton hotel project on Colorado Avenue near Frazier Creek in Downtown Stuart as an example of the kind of property he believes could have been a strong candidate for conservation funding. He said he and others opposed the project when it first came before the commission during his term, and that the property changed ownership and sat undeveloped for several years afterward. At the time, he said, no dedicated conservation funding source existed to acquire the land. The property has since been cleared, and the hotel project is now under construction.
Water Quality & Lake Okeechobee
Matheson’s background as a fishing guide and his studies in environmental biology factor heavily into his focus on water quality. He said toxic algae outbreaks tied to Lake Okeechobee discharges, along with fish kills reported in 1998, shaped his early advocacy on the issue.
As a commissioner, Matheson said he helped pass a resolution calling for zero regulatory discharges from Lake Okeechobee and worked to change language in the prior water management model that had characterized certain discharge levels as beneficial to the St. Lucie Estuary. He credited advocacy from the city of Stuart, Martin County, and nonprofit groups including Friends of the Everglades and the Rivers Coalition for contributing to reduced regulatory discharges in recent years. He said a new Lake Okeechobee management plan, which will factor in the EAA reservoir project, is expected in the coming years, and that he wants Stuart to have a strong voice in that process.
TreasureCoast.com has covered related water quality topics in previous episodes, including a conversation with the Florida Oceanographic Society about protecting local ecosystems.
Term Limits, Brightline, and Lessons from His First Term
Matheson said he ran on term limits during his first campaign and successfully helped establish a 12-year term limit for Stuart city commissioners. He said the process of researching that ballot measure taught him how local referendums work, which later informed his approach to the Martin County Forever ballot initiative.
He also said that early in his first term, he attempted to oppose the Brightline rail project locally and came away with a clearer understanding of how limited local government authority can be over certain state and privately backed infrastructure projects.
Endorsements and Community Unity
Matheson addressed criticism he has faced over being endorsed by the Stuart-Martin County Chamber of Commerce, saying he was not endorsed by the chamber during his earlier campaigns for city commission. He said the support followed his work building a broad coalition behind the Martin County Forever ballot measure, which included environmental groups such as Audubon, Friends of the Everglades, and the Rivers Coalition, as well as the Martin County Taxpayers Association, the Board of Realtors, and local chambers of commerce.
He said the measure ultimately passed with about 64 percent voter approval, and argued that broad support across business and environmental groups shows more common ground exists in the community than social media disagreements might suggest. He said his goal going forward is to keep that kind of coalition focused on practical, realistic solutions rather than public disputes over motives.
Listeners interested in how local elections intersect with water policy on the Treasure Coast can also find related coverage in TreasureCoast.com’s episode on water issues ahead of local elections.
