A new agreement for the Brightline station in downtown Stuart was approved on Monday.

This will involve 200 above-ground parking spaces. But where will they go?

WPTV referred this question to Michael Mortell, Stuart City Manager.

“Are they on top of each other or next to each other?” said Mortell.

Mortell said one possibility is a parking garage.

WPTV asked business owners like Christopher Johansen, owner of Psychic & the Genie in downtown Stuart, about the idea.

“Everyone wants to have their car covered in some way,” Johansen said.

But others, like Dian Bush of Palm City, told WPTV she would rather not see a large parking garage downtown.

“If they could leave it as it is and just provide adequate parking,” Bush said. “That would be ideal. Can they do that?”

Mortell said that’s possible. They have another design that calls for a one-level parking lot on the existing property on Flagler Avenue.

“It’s more attractive and fits very well with the city of Stuart,” Mortell said.

He said the plan would allow the city to preserve and conserve as many trees as possible.

A plan, Bush said, that would ensure the city remains picturesque.

“A parking lot would keep it a small town,” Bush said. “And that’s what we all like here.”

Mortell said this plan could also speed up the construction process.

“We want to open it up and give people the opportunity to use it, not overbuild it,” Mortell said. “We’ll build it appropriately and then we can expand it as needed.”

Nothing is official yet.

The Martin County Commission will discuss and vote on the agreement at its next meeting on August 27.

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