During most of the debate last week on Palm Beach County’s Agricultural Reserve Area, almost none of the debate was about the reserve.
Instead, speakers focused on all the goodies GL Homes would provide if the county commission allowed the company to build nearly 1,300 homes in the reserve that it otherwise would not be able to build.
That’s how GL wanted it.
GL executives wanted commissioners to ignore warnings from conservation groups that the deal could undermine 24 years’ worth of work to preserve farming in the reserve west of Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. GL wanted commissioners to ignore their own staff, who recommended against letting the company swap land outside the reserve for permission to bust caps on development within the reserve.
That’s what happened.
By a vote of 5-2, the commission approved sending the plan to the state for review. That plan primarily involves GL building a $150 million water supply project on land near West Palm Beach that it would donate to the county. GL also would build 1,300 fewer homes on parts of that land that the company would retain.
In theory, state planners—like their county counterparts—could question the benefits of that project. Such criticism could cause the commission to reject the deal on what will have to be a necessary second vote in a few months.
Any criticism, though, would have to overcome the public relations/lobbying campaign by GL Homes that showed itself last week. After obtaining a delay last fall when the votes weren’t there for approval, GL clearly reorganized and mounted a campaign that almost amounted to intimidation.
Part of the deal would include land for a synagogue. Several speakers, including a man in ultra-Orthodox Jewish dress, said the area needs another synagogue that also could serve special-needs children. Voting down this “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” one man said, “would be heartbreaking.”
Another part of the deal would include 100 acres for a county park. One Agricultural Reserve homeowner complained that he had to drive many miles to find a park for his kids. Caring about the reserve would be “myopic and selfish,” given the rising property values.
And, of course, speakers touted the 277 workforce housing units GL would build along with 1,000 luxury homes priced at $1 million and up. Referring to his employees’ “40-minute commutes” from lower-priced, distant areas, one business owner said, “A rising tide floods all boats.”
His malaprop fit the moment. GL Homes flooded the commission chambers with misinformation and propaganda in pursuit of a deal that would give the company at least $500 million more in sales than building on its current holdings.
No one mentioned that, according to reporting in The Palm Beach Post, GL Homes for years lobbied to avoid building workforce units as part of some previous projects. The company got out of building three times as many units as GL would put in the reserve northwest of Boca Raton.
No one asked why GL Homes didn’t donate land for a synagogue or a park on its own. The company already has built 10,000 homes in and near the reserve. It has the money.
No one pointed out that the only reason GL Homes can afford to build 1,300 fewer homes on that northern land is because a previous commission increased the company’s development rights. That action came, of course, after GL Homes lobbied the commission.
County staff noted that there is no money budgeted to operate and maintain that park. That’s because the plan hasn’t considered the reserve to be a typical suburban area.
How effective was GL Homes’ campaign? Last fall, Commissioner Mack Bernard voted against that delay the company wanted. In effect, he voted to kill the deal. Last week, though, Bernard voted to advance it.
Only Maria Sachs, whose district includes the reserve, and Marci Woodward, who represents Boca Raton and Delray Beach, voted no. Woodward said she refused to be “pressured” into breaking the county’s promise to voters who in 1999 taxed themselves $150 million to buy land in the reserve and keep the coastal farm belt from becoming suburban sprawl.
Commissioner Gregg Weiss, now serving a term as the county’s honorary mayor, deserves special mention.
Weiss talks a good environmental game, but he now has voted twice for precedents that could doom the reserve. In 2021, he allowed the sale of undevelopable land within the reserve to GL Homes for the right to build 313 homes that it otherwise could not have built.
One speaker summed up the moment. “There is no emphasis,” he said caustically, on the change to the comprehensive plan that this deal would require. “Every developer now will say, ‘I own land (outside the reserve) and want to substitute it (for land within the reserve.’”)
Campaign contributions surely played a role, too. Weiss took them from all parties who benefited from that 2021 deal. Michael Barnett, whom Gov. DeSantis appointed to the commission in January, is up for a full term next year against a strong contender. Term-limited Bernard reportedly will run for the Florida Senate in 2024.
The county commission had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to keep the public trust. The commission failed.
Old School Square workshop
The topic for tonight’s Delray Beach City Commission workshop meeting is “Collaborative Dialogue and Relationship Building Involving Old School Square Center for the Arts.” More simply, the meeting is an attempt to learn whether there can be makeup after a breakup.
For 32 years, the non-profit group that turned fenced-off downtown buildings into the eponymous arts complex ran Old School Square. The complex led to the city’s revival. In August 2021, though, Mayor Shelly Petrolia and two former commissioners ended the group’s lease of that city property.
Roughly 10,000 people signed a petition opposing the action. Former mayors urged the city to negotiate. Petrolia and the commissioners refused. Old School Square Center for the Arts sued. The city countersued.
With the complex mostly closed, the city signed an agreement to have the Downtown Development Authority operate Old School Square until Sept. 30, 2024. There seemed no role for Old School Square for the Arts.
Then came the March election, which reshaped the commission. The two commissioners who joined Petrolia in ending the lease are gone. Their replacements opposed that action. So did holdover commissioners Ryan Boylston and Adam Frankel.
Less than a month after the election, Old School Square Center for the Arts and the city dropped their lawsuits. Sentiment grew for discussion of a role for the group.
Patty Jones is the group’s chairwoman. “We want to rebuild our relationship with the city,” Jones said Monday. “This is the first of many conversations, hopefully. We’re just happy to have a seat at the table after two years.”
The DDA’s job is to market downtown Delray Beach. Old School Square has no staff left, but the group has a long donor and volunteer list. Still, there has been no discussion between Old School Square and the DDA. The agency’s executive director, Laura Simon, did not return a voicemail by deadline for this post. I’ll have more after the meeting.
Parking for luxury condo in downtown Boca
Boca Raton has approved a downtown luxury condo, but the debate was mostly about mechanical parking.
On Monday, acting as the community redevelopment agency, city council members voted 4-1 for the project at 343 East Royal Palm Road. Residents of the adjoining condo to the west had opposed the project, but they settled their differences with the developer just before the hearing.
That settlement happened because the developer agreed not to install a mechanical parking garage for the four-unit condo. That will mean just seven spaces compared with 10. The developer also made several design changes and shrank the overall project a bit.
Because neighbors had worried about traffic, Councilwoman Monica Mayotte wondered why they preferred a plan with fewer spaces. Mayor Scott Singer agreed. The neighbors said they envisioned a scenario in which the garage broke and no vehicles could enter.
Mayotte pressed the point enough to vote against approval. Majority sentiment was that the developer would market the condos to buyers who don’t have the standard two cars per family. Councilman Mark Wigder said such future residents are “buying the vision of a walkable downtown.”
Boca revisits design ordinance
Boca Raton is about to start updating the ordinance that governs downtown development.
Before the city council at tonight’s meeting is a proposal to change downtown design rules. As I wrote previously, the city wants to start moving away from the Addison Mizner-inspired Mediterranean look that has been the priority since Ordinance 4035 took effect four decades ago.
The planning and zoning board recommended approval. Speaking before the board, however, Deputy City Manager George Brown called the change just “a first step.” The ordinance, he said, “needs to be overhauled.”
At a recent council meeting, Singer referenced the ordinance and complained that it restricted design options. He cited a medical office building going up in Midtown with a design he liked that the downtown code does not permit.
Ahnell and Frieser evaluations
Also on tonight’s agenda are the council’s evaluations of City Manager Leif Ahnell and City Attorney Diana Frieser.
If recent history holds, council members will generally praise Ahnell and Frieser without offering many specifics. It has been many years since each had a formal evaluation. Ahnell has held the job since 1999 and must leave no later than next year because he is in the state’s mandatory retirement system.
