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The Vero Beach Art Clubwill not withdraw its recentbombshell letter laying claimto the balance of the land itco-leases with the Vero BeachMuseum of Art, according toa board member.

Chris Pierce, a member of

the art club boards negotiat-ing team, characterized an

agreement on how much theclub should pay to use mu-seum space as only a cease-fire for now in what couldbecome a literal turf battle be-tween the two factions.

Pierce says the museum hasnot responded to the letter.

Riverfront market leads thebeachside real estate recovery. P58

Ocean Drive buildinggets an island look. P44

ews 1-8rts 19-22ooks 36-37alendar 56ining 50-53

Editorial 34Faith 55Games 39-41Health 23-26Insight 27-42

People 9-18Pets 54Real Estate 57-62Style 45-47Wine 51

October 13, 2011 Volume 4, Issue 41 Newsstand Price $1.00

TO ADVERTISE CALL

772-559-4187

FOR CIRCULATION

CALL 772-226-7925

Wind-whipped seascause new beacherosion. Page 8.

Crowds turn out for First FridayGallery Stroll. P10

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly

Turf war: Vero Art Club wants hold onland next to Museum for possible home

BY MICHELLE GENZStaff Writer

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

A police ofcer directs trafc with lights out at the intersection of Beachland Boulevard and A1A.

Vero in the dark: Small storm, big blackoutsVero electrics bid tostay free of FPL nothelped by response

BY LISA ZAHNERStaff Writer

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Oslo boat ramproject backersarget of probe

BY STEVEN M. THOMASStaff Writer

Vero Beach electrics re-sponse to major weekendpower outages caused by astorm that didnt rise to thelevel of a tropical depressionseriously undercut argumentsagainst selling the utility toFlorida Power & Light.

Huge swaths of barrier is-land customers were withoutpower for prolonged periodsSaturday and Sunday with

Ocean Drive and its hotelsand restaurants in darknessSunday night and calls toVero electric were answeredby a recording that offered noinformation and no option tospeak to a person.

One argument frequently

Central Vero Beach sits in darkness during a power outage on Sunday night. PHOTOS BY TOM McCARTHY JR.

A fraudulent letter-writingmpaign and questionablenatures on petitions are be-

g investigated by a state agen-whose approval is neededa controversial $1 million

unty project to dredge por-ns of the Indian River lagoonthe Oslo Road boat ramp

d build a parking lot.A 32963 review of St. Johnsver Water Management Dis-ct documents found morean 100 letters of acknowl-gment sent by St. Johns

supposed boat ramp sup-rters were returned to thetrict stamped No Sucheet, No Such Numberd Unable to deliver.A number of letters to thetrict from Vero Beach andrt Pierce residents protest-

the unauthorized use ofeir names on petitions orters of support.In a letter received by St.hns on March 26, 2010, Rus-l Pieper wrote: Please bevised I did not send any let-s to your department. I do

t own a boat or have anyerest in boat ramps . . . Iould like a copy of the letterat was sent using my name.elieve my identity was sto-

n. I want to use the letter toake a report to law enforce-ent so the criminal(s) that

Erosion carves away beach at Wabasso.

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REAL ESTATE

58 Vero Beach 32963 / October 13, 2011 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly

The price of single-family river-front homes on the barrier is-land has hit a hard bottom of

value and is rebounding.The median sale price for a house on

the water, but not on the ocean, was$800,000 in September, up 17 per centcompared to the same month two yearsago, according to MLS statistics report-ed by Terradatum.com.

The average listing price for thosehomes is $1.34 million, up 13 per centfrom September 2009. The change ininventory, which is finally beginning to

impact prices, is even more dramatic.There has been a 72 per cent reduc-

tion of riverfront inventory over thepast two years, which is substantial,says Dale Sorensen Jr., who tracks VeroBeach real estate statistics and trendswith a sophisticated software programthat can pinpoint market activity.

In February 2010, an inventory highpoint, 302 single-family riverfronthomes were for sale on the barrier is-

land. By last month, the number haddwindled to 85.

Dale Sorenson Real Estate Inc. has

capitalized on and helped drive thetrend of strong riverfront sales, han-dling 17 of 30 riverfront sales this yearwith Broker Matilde Sorensen leadingthe way. My mother handled one sideor the other or both in 10 of our 17 river-front transactions, says Dale Jr.

Matilde Sorensen started in the real

estate business in Vero Beach in 1978when her husband, Dale Sr., opened anagency in what she calls a teeny tiny of-fice on Beachland.

He was working for Gulf & Westernand they were moving their office butwe didnt want to move, so we wentinto the real estate business, she says.I love being a hostess for Vero Beach,showing people all the area has to offer.Once they are sold on the area, sellingthem a house is easy.

People who come here looking forwaterfront property typically look in

other places as well, says Dale Jr. Ware competing against Naples, Fort Mers, Delray, Jupiter and Ft. Lauderdalso selling the area first is critical.

Along with riverfront, oceanfront iventory is way down, but Matilde Sorensen says riverfront and oceanfrobuyers are two distinct groups. You ca

sometimes convert a riverfront buyto oceanfront, but never the other waaround, she says. People who wantbeachfront home have their mind madup. They do not waiver.

She says European buyers often comto Vero Beach with their hearts set onbeachfront home. They wont look anything on the river, she says.

Norris & Company co-owner GenGrove sees the same dynamic at work.

Oceanfront buyers want to be abto walk down from their house to thbeach, Grove says. They have the

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NEW

LISTING

Riverfront market leads island real estate recovery

BY STEVEN M. THOMASStaff Writer

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REAL ESTATE

Vero Beach 32963 / Otoer 13, 2011 59ur Vero Beach Newsweekly

art set on that experience. They lovee look of the ocean and the sound ofe waves and have no interest in livingthe river.

Matilde Sorensen says riverfront buy-are more likely to be locals familiar

th the rivers recreational opportuni-

s. People who want to be on the rivere usually boaters, she says. Theyow you see much more bird and sea

e on the river, all the manatees andlphins. Most of the time they have

ds and like to fish and water ski.Matilde Sorensen says a riverfrontme is a great place to raise a family,d she should know. We always livedthe river until we built our house in

omar, she says.Everyone we knew lived on the riv- says Dale Sorensen Jr. All we ever

did while we were growing up was goout in our boats and have fun.

He says he piloted the family GradyWhite to St. Edwards School most daysfrom 7th grade on, stopping at docksalong the way to pick up friends. A lotof us took our boats to school, he says.

If you live on the river, besides fishingand swimming and water skiing, youcan take your boat to any number ofrestaurants and three of the clubs theMoorings, Grand Harbor and Quail Val-ley. It makes it nice.

Buzz MacWilliam, owner of AlexMacWilliam Inc. agrees that ocean andriverfront buyers are distinct but saysthere can be some crossover whenoceanfront buyers tire of the high main-tenance and storm danger that comeswith being on the beach.

People who come to Vero Beach with$4 million or $5 million to spend gener-ally want to live on the ocean, but aftera couple of years of washing corrosivesalt spray off their homes they realizehow much wear and tear and upkeepis involved, he says. They may decide

to move then because the river seemsmore serene and maybe more scenic.The ocean is a big black hole at nightbut on the river you see lights of otherhomes and boats passing by. It has alittle more ambiance.

Waterfront property is at a premiumin most places but Dale Sorensen Jr.says Veros riverfront is special, evenunique, compared to many places inFlorida. I worked in Palm Beach forseveral years, and it is completely dif-ferent, he says. You have high rises all

along the waterfront and congestion onthe water. Here you have large expansesof undeveloped waterfront land. Southof the Moorings and north of the BarberBridge there is a lot of land that is in abeautiful natural state.

We took Gloria Estefan out on theboat before she bought her propertyhere and she was blown away by howquiet and natural the water is here, hesays. In South Florida on the weekendthere are boats everywhere and acci-dents are a regular occurrence. Here youmaybe see a couple guys fishing. Thereare no cigarette boats roaring past. It issafe and scenic. We have a lagoon andriver system here that is pretty unique.

MacWilliam says the upsurge in riv-erfront sales and decline in inventoryis driven in part by pent up demand.I listed a 7,000-square-foot riverfronthouse in Seagrove in July for $1.895 mil-

lion and had it under contract within aweek, he says. The first week a houseis on the market is critical because buy-ers who have decided to move here arewatching and waiting.

Prices have come down and this isa wonderful time to buy these proper-ties, which are limited in number saysGrove. The value is there.

The 85 riverfront homes currently onthe market are listed for $499,000 to $8.8million, according to Dale Sorensen Jr.

Sales prices for single-family river-front homes listed on MLS so far thisyear range from $500,000 to $2.8 mil-lion. Matilde Sorensen sold the $2.8

million home and just missed having a$4.5 million riverfront sale in 2011 whenshe closed the deal on Dec. 29, 2010.

Riverfront generally means any wa-terfront home not on the ocean, includ-ing those on coves, inlets and canalsthat have access to the Indian River La-goon. Inventory for homes directly onthe river with an unobstructed view iseven tighter than for waterfront overallwith a mere 15 houses for sale.

The market has improved, without adoubt, said Dale Sorensen Jr.

PhOTOS by TOm mccARThy JR.