PBC advisory board sends ‘message’ — No 6,500-home Minto... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

A large group of Acreage residents attended a Palm Beach County Planning Commission meeting yesterday (4/11) to voice opposition to the large Minto development planned for the former Callery-Judge Groves property. They are seeking to double the number of residential units approved, and increase the amount of commercial and institutional space. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny their requests, but this is an advisory board and only the first of many meetings that will discuss the project. People in the Acreage enjoy a rural lifestyle and fear being over-run by increased traffic and other impacts caused by the project. Click title for link to article.

This is how one person described the impact of the project:

Tracy Grudzielanek, one of more than 30 speakers, quoted from the Bible to emphasize her fears that Minto West will ruin the rural character of the area.
“The gates of hell shall open up and hordes of locusts shall descend upon, devouring everything in sight. That is what Minto will be doing,’’ she said.

Lake Worth is in the unfortunate position of having to compete for a slice of the growth represented by these large western projects, while keeping our existing character. To a large extent, we have accomplished that with re-writing our development regulations. But the market forces still push development to western areas of the county where land is less expensive and dependent on the automobile for the great majority of transportation needs.