The Big Myth: ‘Overwhelming support’ to keep a hotel building height to 45′ or less in our Downtown Hotel District.

The latest appeal was denied by the court and there is nothing left in the way any more to build a hotel to 65′ next to the Gulfstream Hotel. However, the City is up against people with money to burn, so anything is possible at this point. We’ll likely hear more about this from the City Attorney at the City Commission meeting tomorrow.

Before the ‘overwhelming support’ to keep building heights to 45′ is debunked, to learn the facts about building heights in Downtown Lake Worth use this link:

Within the 12 block hotel district east of Federal Hwy, the limit is 45′ with one exception: Only a hotel of 50 rooms or more can go to the 65′ allowed in the Charter.

For example, that would be the block where our historic Gulfstream Hotel is located:

Can you see that little white dot? That’s the block where the Gulfstream Hotel sits. Per the Charter, a hotel can be built up to 65′ there, now a vacant lot.

So. . . how much support did the proponents of a 45′ limit have in the community, for example, JoAnn Golden a former commissioner here in the City? Let’s take a look back to when she was still on the dais:

In 2011 JoAnn Golden got clobbered by then-citizen Andy Amoroso, who continues as a City Commissioner to the present day.

Now let’s go to forward to the ‘overwhelming’ heights vote in 2013. The votes “Yes” are to limit building heights:

Note the voter turnout. Dismal:

Doesn’t look so very overwhelming, does it? So much for “rallying the troops” to limit building height in our Downtown, huh?

Remember, it was the so-called heights vote in 2013 that the state legislature deemed to be “null and void” (City Attorney Glen Torcivia explains this quite well in a video, use this link).

Then in 2015 these red & white signs (illegal per City Code) started popping up around Lake Worth and believe it or not, some still do to this day:

This is one version of the SRS sign. Can you guess who still has one of these signs up? You guessed right. 

You see, the story goes “at the door” if a hotel gets built to 65′ that would set the stage for the “vultures” to steal our BEACH! Silly. Now do you see how all this nonsense comes together? And sadly, this nonsense has been going on for nearly 5 years now.

Remember this handed out “at the door”? They said they were ‘concerned citizens’ who just cared about the truth.

Just one piece of propaganda used to confuse voters into voting “Yes” to limit building heights.