Like footprints left in the sand, only these are digital...

The images from then Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill's FaceBook page have since been removed, but this was forwarded to me by someone who had access to that page back when.  The Commission turned down Commissioner Mulvehill's proposal for 45 ft. maximum heights east of Federal at its 6/19/12 meeting.  These were posted on June 20, 21012.  Now looking for the part of the video from the June 19, 2012 meeting where she waves these images from the dais.

Then, ten days later...

Images prepared by someone, somehow, sometime around the time of signature gathering efforts...

 Showing their interpretation of what a 65 ft. height limit would ultimately lead to in Lake Worth - devoid of any other restrictions and ignoring that many properties would not likely be the subject of redevelopment activity due to difficulties in property assembly and other land use regulations.

Comes this from the City - contained in back-up for 2/20 joint meeting between the Planning and Zoning and Historic Resource Preservation Boards...

Click title to link to back-up material for meeting from the City's website.  Kudos to the Department of Community Sustainability staff for their work in putting this document together.  I expect to have an animated discussion about one of the main underpinnings of the Comprehensive Plan and proposed Land Development Regulations (LDRs) at the meeting.  

In addition, the following images were prepared by the staff which is a representation of what could be built in the area between 1st Avenue South and 2nd Avenue North - east of Federal - if the height limit as contained in the approved Comprehensive Plan would remain at 65 ft. and there was no Charter amendment limiting height in this area to 45 feet.  Just such a referendum appears on our municipal ballot for March 12th.

These renderings and depictions are a stark departure from those that were waved from the dais by then Commissioner Mulvehill as an example of what would happen if the Comp Plan contained a 65 ft. height limitation and not 45 ft.

Here are the "What if?" representations as prepared by the city of the "hotel" district envisioned in the plan  These appear on the last seven pages of the report.  One wonders if this will be distributed widely by the city other than through the agenda for this meeting and Mr. Water's presentation on 2/18 at the northwest corner of Golfview and 1st Avenue South - the location for the Bryant Park Neighborhood Association meeting?

Are we looking at a future Lake Worth here?

Joel Chandler - Florida Open Government Watch 02/15 by High Noon in Lake Worth | Blog Talk Radio

Join me today at noon for another edition of High Noon in Lake Worth.  I am welcoming Joel Chandler, a Florida public information advocate and activist.  Last year, he was honored by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press in being winner of the 2012 Sunshine Local Hero Award.  Based in Lakeland, Florida, Mr. Chandler has helped citizens throughout the state with public information requests - filing more than 100 open records lawsuits.  He has an on-line review of government transparency in the state called FOGWatch (Florida Open Government Watch).  This should be poignant and some information might be able to be gleaned in our local efforts to promote open government.

Leave questions to be answered during the show below under comments.  You can click title to link for the live show, or for the archived show once the show airs.

Talk on Downtown Height Referendum by Frank Palen (2/11)

The following are four parts of the talk given by Frank Palen at last night's South Palm Park Neighborhood Association meeting at Brogues.

Hand-outs distributed at meeting above.

Walter Cronkite Predicting the Future Home Office c. 1967

Also got a copy of Gavin Newsom's new book "Citizenville" - once page is loaded, click image for video

Bronx family livid after developer builds apartment 12 inches from their home - NYPOST.com

The trivial blogger, now in full "super duper" campaign mode, cites this article as somehow applying to our situation in Lake Worth, the membership on advisory boards and the height referendum.  Madness flourishes...click title for link.

Spreading the truth...

Elevations of the Gulfstream Hotel:

100' to "top of structure"; 86' to "top of parapet"; 75' to "finished roof".

Author Interview: Charlie LeDuff, Author Of 'Detroit: An American Autopsy' : NPR

I picked up this book and added it to my Kindle library.  The story of Detroit is a sad and complex one.  For those who shun the notion of economic prosperity, it is a cautionary tale.  Click title for link to an interview with the author.

Spent part of yesterday afternoon at the Casino Building...

 

This is in advance of the "Dance through the Decades" event this coming Saturday.  Bill and I went to help unload and unwrap the chairs and to scope out a location for the historic slide show I've collected.  As a reminder, I am still accepting old pictures of Lake Worth to incorporate into the show - the deadline is this Friday.  Depending on the weather, we might be able to project them on an outside wall near the main entrance to the ballroom.

The floor looked fine and showed no remnants of water damage.  I'll have to check some pictures I took back in May, but I think the thresholds were changed out to prevent water from entering the ballroom area.

This is a storage area behind the north wall of the ballroom.

This is the unfinished space that may become an "upscale" restaurant.  Killer views.  Lake Worth resident Jon Faust will be recording oral histories of anyone who is attending the event in this space.

This is a view of the inside of one of the fiberglass domes - of course a finished ceiling will eventually cover this up.

This is the wainscoting in the ballroom.  The spacing is irregular and I don't know how well it will hold up over time.

These holes may be new to address the water problem.

I understand that the event is sold out.

Daily Affirmation #5 - "Vote Yes - How low can you go?"

Can't get enough of her!

From another blogger in town...

"Why do people want to change something wonderful? They say building higher buildings downtown will increase the tax base. We already know that the city will not get any additional tax revenues as it goes to the CRA and the city will be stuck with additional expenses. If we start building higher, developers will make money. Realtors will make money. Planners will make money. And local newspapers will make more money in advertising dollars generated by all of the aforementioned. So when you hear from a naysayer on why we should start building up in our downtown because they say business will go elsewhere, tell them you don't want to be duped! Take another look down Lake Avenue."

Lynn's Little Bit of Trivia -- Lake Worth, February 11, 2013

"Super Duper" Lynn Anderson

Ms Anderson, please.  No one wants to change something wonderful.  In fact, the ballot measure you are so enamored with would actually change height regulations in an area of the downtown that have been in existence for years and our downtown is still filled with "charm."  There is no one beating down the door to build a 65 foot high building east of Federal.  Our existing Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations will keep the area pretty much the same - period.  Do you know that the Gulfstream Hotel is 72 feet high?  What about the other tall buildings which surround it?  The Respectful Planning PAC is not being respectful to the built environment of our downtown and seeks to change something that has worked for years.  What's the pay-off?  I would also note that allowable height has been lowered to 45 feet between Dixie and Federal, along Lake and Lucerne Avenues so that we can't build another building as tall as the Lucerne in that area.  When is enough enough?  When are people going to stop moving the goal line and let the city get out of its own way?

Lake Worth Herald Editorial 2/7/13

Used with permission

Trouble is, in Lake Worth, we have some Super Dupers...

Lake Worth agrees to settle claims for $365,000 | www.palmbeachpost.com

More legacies from the Stanton era - the hemorrhaging of cash for lawyer fees is starting to slow.  Click title for link.

Pics from the Mango Groves Neighborhood Association Art Stroll ((2/10)

 This event was held at the Coconut Walk townhouses in the 200 block of North L Street.  They were one of the last townhouse projects to be built in the city prior to the economic collapse.  The space created between the two buildings - both with three story sections OH MY! - seems like something you might find in Europe.  It was all decorated quite nicely and was the perfect location for an event like this.