From TakeBackDelrayBeach on Facebook

These you would call problems experienced by communities that have turned things around and have had redevelopment take place to enliven their city. However, there is a downside to that in what made the city attractive for people to live in initially can be a fragile thing. In other words, you can have too much of a good thing. In Lake Worth, we have re-written our land development regulations in order to allow for sustainable and harmonious redevelopment, when it happens. We are only seeing the beginning of this here. But it is also important to point out that the regulations that are designed to limit growth and redevelopment cannot be a static thing. They must change over time to accommodate new realities. Delray Beach is experiencing that now.

This is what appeared on Facebook recently.

DELRAY BEACH is at a crossroads. Hailed by the press as the "it city" of South Florida, Delray has attracted numerous developers with multi-million dollar projects, eager to invest in our thriving downtown. While Delray is fortunate to have so many interested suitors, the city has done an ineffective job of chaperoning these massive projects - leading to widespread discontent among its citizens. Despite petitions, protests, lawsuits, traffic studies, and historic designations, developers too often seem to have their way with Delray.

This is why the proposed new Land Development Regulations (LDRs) for the Central Business District (CBD) are so crucial to the future of our downtown and the quality of life in our Village by the Sea. We desperately need a stricter set of guidelines so the city can actively manage development in our downtown, with strong and transparent rules governing height, density, parking, architecture and green space. There needs to be a lasting, consistent set of standards applied to every proposed project – we must replace the current management-by-exception “conditional use” program that encourages back room negotiations and the obvious influence of developer money on our city’s future.

We applaud the efforts of Mayor Glickstein and Vice-Mayor Petrolia to cap our downtown at 4 stories (54 feet), and encourage the City Commission to finish the job. Make the proposed LDRs strong and complete enough to ensure truly responsible development. Not enough parking is required from developers of hotels, office space and restaurants. There are no restrictions on studios and one-bedroom apartments, which leads to a more transient population. Green space requirements have been scaled back from previous versions to allow for more density.

Most worrisome is the proposed "bonus program," an opportunity for developers to work outside of the new LDRs in exchange for various amenities to the city. While well-intended, the bonus program is still a negotiated-exception program (like the current Conditional Use) – a continuation of the trade-offs, legal and political antics that led to the approval of Atlantic Crossing.

We want to support meaningful changes to the LDRs, but there's still room for improvement here to better serve our city.

We strongly encourage all residents to attend the first public hearing of the proposed LDRs for the downtown on Tuesday, November 18, starting at 7 pm, in the City Commission Chambers at City Hall. Public comment is invited - please speak up for the preservation and continued prudent growth of our downtown. Let's Develop Responsibly.

[This post was sent to City Commission by e-mail]