Positive Preliminary Reaction to the EAR

You know, in the midst of what seems like a never ending stream of bad news coming from 7 N. Dixie Hwy, it's nice to hear some good news for a change. The first results related to the saga of our Evaluation and Appraisal Report - EAR (a report required to be submitted to the State of Florida every 7 years that discusses how the City is performing related to its Master Plan). are in and they are POSITIVE!

At the January 16 meeting of the City Commission, the Commission voted 3-2 (Jennings, Drautz dissenting) to send the EAR to the State Department of Community Affairs. Along with the EAR, the land use change requests regarding the establishment of the Beach and Casino future land use district and another project related land use plan change were transmitted as well.

As part of the State review process, all Comprehensive Plan related matters are forwarded to Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council for their comments and those comments are then forwarded to Tallahassee.

The following letter represents Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council's take on our EAR:


You might remember at the January 16 meeting, before the vote on this item, Commissioner Jennings and Mayor Drautz made a big deal about this being "rushed through" and the Mayor said something to the effect of "Here we go again, Lake Worth sending up another incomplete document". It was almost as if he would relish the news that our EAR was incomplete - confirming his suspicions, whatever they are.

You can click on the above letter to see it in greater detail. If you are unable to on your computer, the following is a quote from the letter:

"...we have reviewed the Evaluation and Appraisal
Report (EAR) adopted by the City of Lake Worth on January 16, 2007. The City has done a very thorough job in preparing the EAR, including the incorporation of the results of the recent City-driven visioning and strategic master planning process."

So, the first step in the review process is complete and under review by the Department of Community Affairs. Our EAR, although late (a plight shared by many communities throughout the state), did the job that it was supposed to do and is being favorably received by reviewers. We, as all municipalities in Palm Beach County must do, will continue to address workforce housing issues as mentioned later in the letter.

"Political advertisement paid for and approved by Wes Blackman for Commissioner – District #3"