Lake Worth Commission Sticks Head Up Butt, Ignores Will of Voters on High Rises - Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach - News - The Daily Pulp

O.K., folks, here is the problem. Here is an article, click title for link, that could have been written by anyone of the protagonists of the Respectful Planning PAC. First it makes the sweeping assumption that the current City Commission's answer to all of Lake Worth's problems is to have "high rise" buildings downtown. No one has every made that claim and, while the economic development and re-development our downtown may have indirect impact on the condition of the neighborhoods, there are other initiatives underway that are working on those issues independent of the height issue. It's as if the Respectful Planning people want to make it seem like some people think "all our eggs are in this one basket", just to make it a bigger issue - which in the end it is not.

Furthermore, the article repeatedly talks about "high-rise" buildings, but how many people really know what a "high-rise" building is? How many stories is it really? Is a four story building not a "high rise", but a six story building is? You wouldn't know by the article. The image portrayed here is that Lake Worth has a choice between staying "quaint and charming" or becoming another Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach where most people can agree there are "high rise" buildings downtown. I think you would have some disagreement about whether or not a six story building is "high rise" or not. 

This is what is misleading people. The world won't continue to spin if we add a few buildings over time, through the ups and downs of the economic cycles, that may have over 50 hotel rooms (a requirement again not mentioned in the article) on a limited number of lots east of Federal. That would certainly not create a "high rise" downtown as it exists in other areas of south Florida.

It's been eight plus years of spending at least $1.5 million of hard money to get a comprehensive plan and land development regulations that work and can finally give some assurance to people with money to invest in our city that it is safe to do so and so that the residents of the city know what to expect. 

Yes, there was a vote on the matter in March. Yes, the state legislature and the governor deemed all such referenda "null and void" retroactive to the enactment of the law. But that is just how it is sometimes. Stop the political opportunism to turn every "populist" issue into one that divides the community and let's get on with the business of becoming a better Lake Worth.

Check out the results for "high rise building" definitions here - is this what we are talking about when we refer to the difference between four and six stories? Here are some more. This is the image created in someone's mind when they hear "high rise" - and it doesn't mean a six story building versus a four story building. It doesn't mean a difference of 20 feet either! It means many very tall buildings which no one is proposing here.

Can we stop the distortions, please? Right now?