Plans are advancing rapidly for Boca Raton’s new skate park and pump track.
The facility will be at North Park, the former Ocean Breeze golf course property in the Boca Teeca community. It will replace the Tim Huxhold Skate Park that is being displaced by redevelopment of the area around City Hall.
According to an April 29 email from Deputy City Manager Andy Lukasik, the new park—estimated at between 55,000 and 60,000 square feet—will cost $3.6 million. The city will pay roughly two-thirds. The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which owns the site, will pay the balance.
Briann Harms is the district’s executive director. She said the agency has been working with the consultant that has helped to craft the master plan for North Park in conjunction with the city’s overall recreation needs. Harms said the skate park location, on the east side just south of the racket complex, won’t affect plans for nature trails and playgrounds.
This project is part of two other city initiatives. One is downtown redevelopment. Lukasik said the city will include the skate park money in “our budget for the downtown campus.” The other is opening Jeffrey Street from Dixie Highway—east of North Park—to Northwest Second Avenue, creating an east-west link via Jeffrey Street to Clint Moore Road.
Part of that project is a tunnel under Jeffrey Street. The city is requiring for access between the north and south sides of North Park. In his email, Lukasik notes that the city must approve plans for the tunnel before issuing a permit for the park. According to Lukasik, however, that permit will not depend on plans for the tunnel. A condition will state that the city is to build the tunnel, and the district will reimburse the city. Officials are “targeting” the June 5 meeting for the Planning and Zoning Board to consider the North Park master plan.
Some Boca Teeca residents oppose the skate park. On social media, one accused the district of making “a backroom deal.” In fact, the skate park was on the district’s agenda. It drew many supporters, some of whom previously had urged the city to find a replacement for the Huxhold facility.
One of those supporters is Fabiana Delfino, a professional skateboarder who happens to live in Boca Teeca. Delfino told district board members that she would not have become one of the country’s most promising female skateboarders without access to Huxhold, which opened in 1998.
Harms said groundbreaking for the racket facility will take place next month, with construction expected to take a year. Design work for the skate park will begin next month “with public input.” That work could take roughly 18 months.
Subculture Coffee discussions continue in Delray Beach
At today’s meeting, the Delray Beach City Commission again will discuss Subculture Coffee—the business that has been the subject of so much recent debate.
Two neighboring businesses on Northeast Sixth Avenue have regularly alleged code violations, usually about parking. Mayor Tom Carney and especially Commissioner Juli Casale have alleged that the staff has been too easy on Subculture.
According to the staff memo, representatives from four departments met with Subculture owner Rodney Mayo on May 6. Mayo agreed to submit a “life safety plan,” to satisfy fire department concerns about exits and entrances. He also agreed to paint stripes on parking places. Mayo said he submitted a permit for a concrete “apron” between the street and the parking lot, but the city has no record of the permit.
In response to complaints about smell, Mayo agreed to use trash cans instead of dumpsters and has moved them to the back of the building. The city wants him to install a free-standing sign. Discussions continue about parking for live events. Mayo’s initial approval, the memo says, did not anticipate such events.
Mayo and city officials also are looking for additional “on-street parking options.” I’ll have more after the meeting.
Delray Beach city staff examines critical financings
Amid the regular noise of Delray Beach’s political factions, the staff works away on meeting the city’s basic needs.
In a May 1 email to City Manager Terrence Moore, Chief Financial Officer Henry Dachowitz said his office is examining three “financings.” One would help the Community Redevelopment Agency raise $40 million for public works projects in areas the agency has targeted for redevelopment. The second, a revenue bond, would finance the long-delayed renovation of the city’s golf course. The third would pay for stormwater upgrades in a city facing challenges from rising seas.
More details on what Dachowitz calls “these exciting developments” will come when “details are available.”
Citizen task force agrees on finalists for PBC administrator
A citizen task force has agreed on six finalists to be Palm Beach County administrator.
Three are high-ranking county employees—Deputy Administrator Patick Rutter, Assistant Administrator Isami C. Ayala-Collazo and Keith Clinkscales, director of strategic planning and performance management.
Rutter was an assistant before getting the No. 2 job and served as director of planning and zoning. Ayala-Collazo oversees airports, facilities and the tourist development council. Rutter has been with the county for 22 years, and Ayala-Collazo for six.
Other finalists include the city manager of Norcross, Ga., a city of about 20,000 northeast of Atlanta. Palm Beach County’s population is roughly 1.5 million. Another is director of the department of innovation and economic opportunity in Birmingham, Ala. Finally, there’s County Clerk and Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo.
Current Administrator Verdenia Baker was the deputy under Robert Weisman, who had been the deputy himself. Since there’s general agreement on the quality of Weisman’s and Baker’s performance, Rutter would seem the obvious choice.
As I have reported, though, major developers such as Related Ross want Abruzzo, despite his lack of relevant experience. I’ll have more as the process moves along.
Boca advisory board to consider proposal to offset environmental damage
On the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of the Boca Raton Environmental Advisory Board is a proposal to offset damage at a property near Town Center mall.
According to the staff memo, the owner of the office building at 5458 Town Center Road has not “historically maintained” a 2.1-acre preserve that is part of the 18.6-acre property. In 2024, the city issued a code violation for destruction of native species without a permit and failing to submit a management plan for the site that aligns with rules before annexation into the city in 2003.
Under the proposal, the owner would reduce the existing preserve by two-thirds and create a new, 0.7-acre preserve that a conservation easement would protect. The staff recommends approval, saying that the overall benefit would be greater than trying to improve the current preserve. The owner also would put $36,327 into the city’s preservation trust fund.
Surge in Boca and Delray populations
According to new figures, Boca Raton and Delray Beach have reached population milestones since the 2020 census.
Based on 2024 estimates, Boca Raton is home to 102,238 people, up from 97,436 five years ago. Delray Beach is at 70,140. In 2020, the population was 66,486.
