Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Lake Worth voters approve cap on downtown building heights | www.palmbeachpost.com

Never totally happy, the "Yes" voters on building heights find something to be upset about.  I am not sure which is worse - sour losers or sour winners.

Let's step back a bit and look at what the "Yes" signs insinuate:  That the height limit applies to all of Lake Worth, instead of just a portion of the downtown area and that a "No" vote is for a "high rise" city.  Both of which are untrue.  In reality, both sides want Lake Worth not to follow the pattern of local municipalities and have excessively tall buildings in the downtown area.  The difference is that the "Yes" voters wanted heights controlled in the Charter and the "No" voters were comfortable with those regulations being limited to the Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Regulations.  In one spirited exchange with a key "Yes" voter yesterday, I ended up suggesting that their position would ultimately "upload" the Land Development Regulations to the Charter - which would be form of "Hometown Democracy," part of Amendment 4 that failed on a statewide basis a couple years ago.

All that I can say is that it is at least over and now perhaps we can finally finish the process the city started 8 years and $1.2 million ago (and counting) and get a coherent set of regulations together that will guide the redevelopment of Lake Worth and put the city on a path toward a brighter economic future.

Click title for link to PBP article.