Fall on the Treasure Coast: A New 200-Acre Park, Fresh Tables, and Where Amendment 3 Stands
Welcome back to The Treasure Coast Insider — my every-other-week note about the good stuff of living here. The weather's starting to break, the festival calendar is filling up, and there's real movement on a couple of things I've been tracking for you. Let's get into it.
Groundbreaking: Torino Regional Park
If Tradition Regional Park got you excited last issue, here's the next one: Torino Regional Park, a new regional park nearly 200 acres in size, broke ground late last year and is now moving through design and early construction. It's a bigger footprint than Tradition's new park, and the city is targeting completion around mid-2027. It's early days — there isn't a firm amenity list to share yet — but a project this size is worth knowing about if you're weighing where to put down roots over the next couple of years. I'll keep you posted as the plans firm up.
The Fork Report: two new tables worth a visit
Maggie McFly's opened its doors at The Shoppes at Veranda Falls on Becker Road — a scratch-kitchen American grill with a big menu and an even bigger bar, and only the chain's second Florida location. And over in Tradition, Port Tradition has opened serving Mexiterranean Kitchen & Bar — a blend of Mexican and Mediterranean flavors from a chef with a handful of other concepts already under his belt around town. Both are worth a Friday night.
On the calendar: fall festival season
A few dates worth circling if you like getting out of the house once it stops feeling like a sauna outside:
- The Meat Up Fest — Saturday, October 10, at the MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Event Center.
- Sunlight Community Church Fall Festival — Saturday, October 17, at 477 SW Cashmere Blvd.
- Fall Fun Fest — a free, three-day city festival with carnival rides, trick-or-treating, and a marketplace, running through Halloween weekend with a haunted "SCAREZONE" the night of October 31 into November 1.
Good, cheap, local fun — bring the kids or just bring an appetite.
Amendment 3, revisited: where things actually stand
Back in Issue #02 I walked through the property-tax amendment headed to your November ballot. Here's the update, now that we're closer to the vote:
- It's officially on the November 3, 2026 ballot as Amendment 3, and still needs 60% approval to pass.
- Local stakes are real: one published estimate puts Port St. Lucie's potential property-tax revenue loss at more than $48 million over two years if it passes, since the city and county would need to make up that gap somewhere.
- Polling on it has been volatile. Asked in isolation, support has tested well above the 60% threshold it needs — but once voters are told what the revenue tradeoffs could mean for local services, support drops meaningfully, in some polling below the threshold. In short: this one is genuinely too close to call, not a done deal in either direction.
- Separately, St. Lucie County officials have also been debating whether to put a half-cent sales tax measure on the same ballot — and whether pairing it with Amendment 3 is smart timing or bad optics. Worth watching if you follow local government.
Same disclaimer as last time: I'm not telling you how to vote, just making sure you walk into the booth informed. Read the official ballot language, and if the outcome would meaningfully change your finances, a CPA or tax pro is worth the conversation.
Until next time
That's the roundup: a big park on the horizon, two new places to eat, a full fall calendar, and an honest read on where Amendment 3 stands. As always, no listings and no pressure. If any of this has you thinking about a move, I'm one text away.
— Jonny