On the consent agenda for the Aug. 5 meeting, there was an item related to the parking garage for Sundy Village, the mixed-use project set to open this year along Swinton Avenue near Atlantic Avenue. The consent agenda is for items not considered controversial; typically one vote covers all the items on the list.
This item should not have been controversial. It was approval of an agreement under which the developer, Pebb Capital, could close the garage four days a month for private events. At all other times, Pebb would have to make 138 of the 165 spaces available to the public .
Last December, the previous commission agreed to move in this direction. City officials decided that they didn’t want to manage the garage—Pebb would manage and maintain it, in exchange for exclusive use on those four days. The city would get 138 parking spaces for almost nothing.
Commissioner Juli Casale asked to pull the item from the consent agenda for discussion. Mayor Tom Carney said, “I’d like to look at this a little more myself.” With Commissioner Thomas Markert, Casale and Carney made up the slate that in March became the new commission majority.
Casale implied that the agreement amounted to an unfair favor. In fact, Pebb’s Todd Benson responded that the company actually “had wanted more days” to use the garage for private events. Carney said, “I’m not sure staff had the authority” to give the exception. (The staff has authority to negotiate such agreements.)
“I think this helps everyone,” Benson said.
“I’m not saying no,” Carney said. “I just don’t know enough to say yes.”
Casale proposed a requirement that Pebb get commission approval for each day the company wanted to use the garage. Seeking to be diplomatic, Benson said, “It’s more of an operational issue.” After all, the commission meets just twice a month and items must go on the agenda days ahead of the meeting. Corporate schedules are fluid.
“Is there an easier way?” Benson asked.
“No,” Casale said. “There isn’t.”
Pebb took over this project from a developer whose design had angered many in Delray Beach, especially historic preservationists. After holding community meetings, Pebb revamped the project. It will feature some of Delray Beach’s oldest buildings, bringing office space, and the historic preservation board embraced it.
But former Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who is aligned with Casale, Carney and Markert, didn’t like Sundy Village. Those three then decided to needlessly malign Pebb and the staff for crafting an agreement that satisfied the politics of Delray Beach nine months ago but not the politics of the moment.
Carney tried to mollify Benson by saying that Pebb’s requests to use the garage would be just a formality. “It would be a consent item, unless someone wants to pull it off.”
Which is what Casale did.
I have written previously that the current Delray Beach City Commission seems determined to undo the actions of the previous commission—even when it seems that doing so isn’t good for the city. This appears to be another example.
Delray Beach gets new fire chief
Delray Beach has a new fire chief.
City Manager Terrence Moore announced in his Friday newsletter that the city has hired Ronald Martin, chief of safety for the state fire marshal’s office in Louisiana. According to the newsletter, Martin has considerable Florida experience, having spent 13 years with the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District, rising from fire marshal to chief. He was in Lee County when Hurricane Ian hit in 2022.
Martin will succeed Keith Tomey. Moore fired him in May for policy violations. Tomey has sued, claiming wrongful termination. Kevin Green had served as interim chief. He will return to his position as assistant chief.
A staff committee that included, among others, Assistant City Manager Jeff Oris and Police Chief Russ Mager, recommended five finalists—four outsiders and Green. Moore told me Monday that Martin “checked all the boxes,” especially noting his understanding of “the needs of Delray Beach” and his “leadership acumen.” Martin will start Oct. 7.
Delray to receive beach nourishment funds
In his newsletter, Moore also reported that Delray Beach is in line to receive all $28.5 million to finance the city’s latest beach renourishment program.
Public works administrators said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has committed $9.7 million toward the project. That money will supplement an earlier state allocation of $3.8 million. The rest will come from the federal government—$11.2 million—and the county $3.8 million.
Missie Barletto, the public works director, said Delray Beach ranks third on the list of state projects “but will rise to No. 1” when the federal financing agreement is official. Work should begin in the winter of 2025-26.
Ag Reserve under threat again
Last fall, it seemed that Palm Beach County’s coastal farm belt was safe for a while. Perhaps not.
On Aug. 22, the county commission rejected the recommendation of county planners and allowed as much as 213,000 square feet of warehouse space on land designated for preservation within the Agricultural Reserve Area. That’s the roughly 22,000-acre region west of State Road 7 between Clint Moore Road and Lantana Road.
The beneficiaries will be the Bedner family, which runs one of the largest farm operations in the reserve. Part of that operation is a retail store in the reserve that the county allowed in 2012, even though the conversion from a produce stand didn’t conform with rules to protect agriculture. (The family also has a retail store in downtown Delray Beach.)
According to the staff memo, converting preservation land to warehouse for the Bedners would represent a “fundamental policy change” from what the commission did for the Bedners 12 years ago. The family said it could use the money from selling or leasing the warehouse land to continue farming.
As the memo noted, however, “There would be no increase in the amount of land with a use that is agricultural, environmentally sensitive, or furthers other open space purposes. As a result, the proposed change results in no-net-gain of preserve land, provides a further exception for a use that was previously accommodated, and fails to further the existing goals and objective policies” in the reserve “of farmland protection and agricultural perpetuation.”
No matter. The commission voted 5-1 to set another precedent that could undercut the quarter-century effort —financed with $100 million in public money—to protect the reserve. Eleven months ago, the same commission blocked an attempt by GL Homes to trade land outside the reserve for permission to build homes inside the reserve. That encouraging development looks more like a one-off.
Swatting incident at Town Center Mall
Another day, another example of the joys of social media.
At about 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the Boca Raton Police Department, police “received a call from a subject who stated he was parked on the north side of (Town Center mall) with guns and bombs, and the desire to kill.” Members of the bomb squad arrived. “Officers quickly located the rental vehicle and established a perimeter.” The mall was evacuated “as a precaution.”
Investigators connected the vehicle to 19-year-old Cody Conrod, who reportedly has 7.8 million followers on the Twitch live-streaming platform. Conrod, who goes by the nickname “Clix,” calls himself a “pro fortnite (sic) player who loves to interact with fans.”
Officers “detained” Conrod. He “was cooperative and advised he believed the threat may have been called in by an unknown viewer as a hoax, because he was live-streaming inside the mall.” The bomb squad found “nothing suspicious.”
Most likely, the mall was another victim of “swatting”—calling in fake threats. Law enforcement, of course, must presume that the threat is real. Thanks, social media.
Virtual 5K to clean up Boca
Last March, Andy Thomson ran successfully for the Boca Raton City Council. He’s still running.
During Thomson’s first stint on the council, he ran all 475 miles of city streets picking up trash—1,300 pounds, by his count. Hundreds of volunteers helped.
On Saturday, Thomson is holding the RunTheCity Virtual 5K. Participants can choose their own five-kilometer route within the city, pick up trash and turn it into a central collection point. For information, visit RunTheCityBoca.com.
Thomson himself is moving from land to water. He announced that he and his family intend to kayak all 77 miles of waterways within the city—collecting trash, of course.
Correction
The headline of this post was updated after a correction was issued on Sept. 24.
