Well I love a rainy night ...

Well I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good
Well I love a rainy night
It's such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain
On my face
To taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow

Wish I was washed
All my cares away
I'd wake up to a sunny day
'Cause I love a rainy night
Yes I love a rainy night
Well I love a rainy night
Well I love a rainy night

Well I love a rainy night
Well I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good
Well I love a rainy night
It's such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain
On my face
To taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow

Puts a song
In this heart of mine
Puts a smile on my face every time

'Cause I love a rainy night
Yes I love a rainy night
Ooh I love a rainy night
Yeah I love a rainy night

Wish I was washed
All my cares away
I'd wake up to a sunny day
'Cause I love a rainy night
Yes I love a rainy night
Well I love a rainy night
Well I love a rainy night

I just got back from a walk with the dogs and am just about soaked to the skin. Ditto Mars and Venus. Nice to hear the rain on the roof.

Reason to Celebrate!

This invitation was sent out by the Greater Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce announcing the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new mixed use building at the southeast corner of Federal Hwy. and 2nd Avenue North. It will take place next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

I consider this one of the best projects that we reviewed and approved while on the Planning and Zoning Board. Think about what was there (wish I had a picture, the image is burned into my mind however). The derelict gas station/car "fix it" place on the corner and the empty building in the middle of the property - right in the midst of our downtown.

In its place we have a nicely designed (thank you architect David Lawrence!) building with soon to be lush (pray for rain) tropical landscaping. Retail will be on the first floor, with office on the upper two floors. A new population will be introduced into our downtown environment - invigorating our already buoyant restaurant economy and helping nurture new retail establishments.

This building also represents the restraint that the City has shown in approving projects with a lower scale overall height than our neighboring coastal municipalities. This will be the only "Class A" office building that I know of in the City of Lake Worth - for now. More are on the way...

It really is O.K. to feel good about this building.

Some Blog Stats...

You might be interested in knowing that there were a total of 649 visitors to this blog in the month of May 2007. About 310 unique visitors (accessing from one specific PC) visit the site every other day. There were also 274 unique visitors that wandered here for the first time. The third highest category are those that visit here every two to three days (45).

Thanks for coming by!! I hope that you are able to pick up bits of information that help you understand a little more about the City of Lake Worth and the political, social and physical environment in which we find ourselves.

Remember too that you can reply or submit a question to any post on the blog by clicking on the "quote balloon" at the bottom of the entry. You can also contact me by email at wesblackman@gmail.com.

Quick up-date on the Gulfstream

I am waiting on the official vote/motion tally, but I am pleased to report that all of the Gulfstream requests were approved with conditions. I hope to post them and all the conditions (22 of them) here soon.

Thanks to all who attended and expressed their support of the project. It will contribute to our re-emergence as a tourist destination.

Be looking here in the future for a review of the project's evolution. I have some earlier versions of their proposal and you'll be able to see how much the project changed over time.

Gulfstream Hotel Expansion - Subject of Tonight's Planning and Zoning Board Meeting - 6 p.m.

My Truth Matters show reviewed this project on Lake Worth Talk last night. Here are a series of exhibits related to the project that will help explain what is proposed. You need to know about my relationship with the owner of the property, so please read the disclaimer.
This is a narrative from the application:
These are the three (3) variance requests that will be considered tonight:
Site Plan (click on image for greater detail):
Rendering looking southeast:
Rendering - south elevation:
Rendering - view looking east from Lake Avenue:
Rendering - aerial looking at entire block and surrounding area:
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO CITY STAFF REPORTS

Negative Post from Lake Worth Talk.com:

Did anyone actually look at the rendition of the hotel? It does not appear to be anything like the decor of the Gulfstream. In fact it looks altra modern to me. Doesn't fit our downtown area at all.

Now let's talk water. 51 rooms, meetings and catering, plus a high end spa. Even with a green building, where are we going to get the extra water for that kind if consumption?

And BFT, where did you read that the public will be using the garage, thus lending a hand to our parking woes? The valet parking will be for hotel and spa patrons only. And as far as leading to more downtown patronage, don't count on it. The people who will be able to afford these rates of rooms and spa treatments will be limo'd in and out of the area, never stepping foot in downtown shops or restaraunts, bet on it.

This is going to be another one of our P&Z screw-ups, watch and see. They will cave and grant whatever comes before them, the right people are backing the movement, like our Jeffy boy, Paxman, and of course Tom R. It will sail thru tonight's meeting with very little or meaningful changes to their requests for variances.

My response:

A couple of points:

The architecture of the new building reflects our current period of time. It will be a silver LEED standard building. Its height along Lake Avenue is less than the hotel to preserve a view of the historic hotel from the west, making it the most important building. Not copying the existing hotel respects it for what it is and will not be a cheap copy of it. This is a historic preservation principle. Architecture is subjective and creates different reactions. It does represent change and that is something people have a hard time accepting.

The City does not have a moratorium on new construction due to the drought. If the affects of the drought are that bad, then the City Commission should consider it. We can't arbitrarily say we don't have the capacity for this project.

Parking will be contained within the new building and take care of the demand generated by the historic hotel and the new building. Doing that opens up the public spaces along Golfview by Byrant Park for general public parking.

This will be a destination and will bring people to our City that otherwise would not be here, bringing their money with them. It will help the historic hotel remain economically viable and assure its continued operation - we need to have our flagship waterfront hotel operational. Its economic success is not guaranteed - look at its ownership history. This occupies some of the most valuable land in the City and represents a significant contribution to the tax base. Compare this to how other communities (West Palm, Boynton, Delray) have treated their land along the water and this is a reasonable example of in-fill redevelopment.

Wes Blackman

I understand that the replay of last night's show is up on Lake Worth Talk.com. About the last half of the show talked about this project. You can take a listen to it today and don't forget to refer to the TalkBlog for the seventh show exhibits.

If you hit the link to the City's website for copies of the staff reports, please be patient. There is a lot of material and it takes a while to appear in your browser.

Please try to attend the meeting tonight regardless of your opinion of the project. This is an important piece of property in our City and you really need to hear the facts and discussion that will take place tonight.

Thanks for visiting!

Special City Commission Meeting - 5 29 07, 5 p.m.

Gymnasium Re-Opening - Ribbon Cutting and Basketball Game

I took in the opportunity and attended the grand re-opening of the gymnasium on Wingfield that had been closed since the hurricanes. It looked great and good to see a lot of people in attendance. The highlight of the event was a basketball game between the "Mayoral Allstars" and the Police Athletic League. Food furnished by Toojay's was served at half-time. Mayor Clemens and Commissioner Vespo looked half their chronological age running up and down the court - impressive! Here are some pics from the event. Enjoy! re-

Vice-Mayor Lowe with the ceremonial scissors in hand for the ribbon cutting. Go Retha!

Great showing - what a positive thing to have this facility open again!

Tip-off!

Mayor Clemens kicking it up the court; Commissioner Vespo on right.

Final Score:

Mayor's Allstars 35 vs Police Athletic League 14