Stuart CRB Splits 4-3 on Flagler Park Mural, Backs $48K in Business Grants

Chuck Gary has waited years to repave the parking lot behind his Stuart law office — long enough that every hard rain turns the cracked asphalt into a small pond and a tripping hazard. On Tuesday, the Stuart Community Redevelopment Board made sure he won't wait much longer.

The board unanimously approved five business improvement grants totaling $48,000, including a $10,000 award for the Gary Law Building's long-overdue lot repaving. The same meeting turned contentious, however, when the board split four-to-three to approve a colorful three-sided mural for the Flagler Park restroom building — a vote that exposed a fault line between members who want downtown Stuart to pop with public art and those who prefer it to blend quietly into the landscape.

The five grants — spread across exterior painting, wayfinding signage, landscaping, impact windows, and parking improvements — continue a program that has awarded $444,000 to 61 businesses since 2009, leveraging roughly $2 million in private investment, public records show. Recipients this cycle include Avanley Commerce Center and Geer Downtown LLC, which covers eight downtown storefronts in a single $10,000 grant, Kaiser Dermatology, and Owl House Properties.

The mural fight was a different matter. The proposed artwork, designed by a Miami-based artist chosen through a competitive process managed by Stuart Main Street from 12 applications, features sailfish, osprey, and tropical vegetation — vivid imagery that board Chairman McChrist argued would clash with the park's natural setting.

"I would love to see a bathroom make it disappear, make it try to go away with some combination of landscaping and realistic colors that blend into the landscape itself," McChrist said at the meeting. He and board member Whan voted no, with McChrist warning the design would make the structure "stand out like it does in the park and it screams."

Board member Laughlin raised a separate objection: why hire a Miami artist when local talent may have been available?

The mural's total cost is $18,450. Stuart Main Street is covering most of it. In a related five-to-two vote, the board recommended the full Community Redevelopment Agency approve a $3,000 matching grant toward the project — a decision the CRA will make at a future meeting, which will serve as the mural's final financial hurdle.

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