Development of the Town
In 1985, the Deerfield Groves Partnership purchased land owned by Deerfield Company (two separate, unrelated entities), most of which was within the boundaries of the Town of Orchid. The intent was to process and aggressively market the Orchid Island grapefruit. At the time the land use permitted in the Town of Orchid was quite restrictive permitting only eight living units per acre. Ideal for the citrus groves that still dominated the area, while the remainder of the barrier island in Indian River County had started to be developed. The Town still was a close-knit community of just a few households at the time.
Just a couple of years later, the land in the Town of Orchid was sold to the Orchid Island Association Ltd. Part of the deal was to dis-incorporate a tract of land on Earring Point to allow grove owners in that area to live outside of Town of Orchid. Some of these were descendants of the original settlers such as Joe Michael, son of A.B. Michael, and his wife, Anne Michael. They decided to have their property, which was located south of the Wabasso bridge, de-annexed from the Town, fearing that development of the Town would destroy what had made it special to begin with.
Robert Haines III of Avon, CT was a general partner and President of the group. It was his intent to establish a luxury, gated community of a few hundred homes in the Town. Generously sized lots were marked out around an 18-hole golf course. Homes were constructed and priced at the $3 million mark.
A Home Rule Charter of Orchid, FL was adopted on September 20, 1988, which stated; The Town of Orchid in Indian River County, Florida, which was created by the Florida Legislature, shall continue as a municipal corporation with a Council-Manager form of government. Nevertheless, the first Town Manager wouldn’t be hired until over two years later in October 1990.
Meanwhile, councilmembers were appointed rather than elected and it was Robert “Hutch” Haines IV (son of the developer) who served as the Mayor. Together with Councilmember Robert Bradshaw, he also filled the function of a planning and zoning commission. The development plan for the Town included 1,343 housing units on 480 acres of developable land for a gross density of 2.79 units per acre.
The projection for the Town’s 2010 population was a total of 2,801 residents of which 700 would be year-round. At that time, there were only “four homes in Orchid. Two [were] mobile homes placed there [by the developer in 1989 and occupied by council members so that they could be legal residents of the town], while the others [were] a $40,000 home built in 1939 and a vacant $40,000 home built in 1980. … According to the plan, the only public facility the town [expected] to build over the 20-year planning period [was] a Town Hall, which would be built with property taxes.”
A major component in the vision that Robert Haines III had for the Town was the creation of the Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club. He would break ground on its construction in 1988. Arnold Palmer designed the Club’s world-famous golf course; an emerald jewel between the beautiful blues of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River. He said of the area that it was “an ideal location. It’s one of the nicest spots along the Treasure Coast of Florida.”
“It was a time of great anticipation and excitement; more than one hundred workmen were on the property each day, creating what would become the magnificent 22.000 square foot Beach Club” described Ann Zugelter of the period.
Ernie Polverari, the first Town Manager for Orchid, was said by the Town’s long-time attorney, Bruce Brakett, to have been “instrumental in transforming a tiny community that just happened to be incorporated into a real town with a budget and other structures of government.” Indeed, Ernie served the town in many ways including in functions as Police Chief and Building Inspector.
