Sabre-rattling over the heights issue

The Other Blogger did her fair share of sabre-rattling yesterday. She was either threatening or reporting that another lawsuit will be brought against the City by those who promoted and voted for the amendment that limited heights in a small area of our downtown. Apparently, they are collectively in a tizzy about the prospect of a hotel, or an extension of a hotel, being built that may exceed their arbitrary height of 45 feet, which has achieved some magical threshold above which the very fate of our City lies.

In case you are new to Lake Worth, and many are, we had a referendum back in March of 2013 on the issue of height. There was a lot of confusion surrounding the vote, whether a "no" vote meant "yes" or "yes" meant "no." There were also a lot of wacko tales about developers with "plans in hand" that would make Lake Worth a center for high-rise development. Many were told that voting for the amendment would make it impossible to have a six story building approved and constructed next door to your single family house. Hysteria reigned. And it still does.

The vote passed, but it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory for the supporters of the measure and for the City at large. Soon after the election, HB 537 was signed by the Governor that outlawed referenda related to development orders or changes to local government's comprehensive plans. It comes down to the Charter being one thing (a local government's constitution) and how a local government regulates the development of land. That is through its comprehensive plan and land development regulations. What the adherents to the Charter being superior in relation to the regulation of land development do not realize is that changes in the Charter language would trigger changes to the comprehensive plan that is forbidden after the passage of this legislation.

They initially sued to order the City to include the results of the "null and void" election in the Charter, which the city wouldn't and couldn't do since it would go against state law. The city filed a motion to dismiss the Respectful Planning PAC lawsuit and eventually the plaintiffs did just that, on their own volition. They are quick to point out that it was done "without prejudice." Thus, they could refile the lawsuit anytime.

We heard threats of this at last week's City Commission meeting when the rezoning of the Gulf Stream's western portion of its property to Downtown Mixed Use was approved on second reading. We also heard similar language from opponents during the candidate debate the following night.

The people who can't sleep at night knowing that there is a possibility that a building would be built east of Federal that has 50 or more hotel rooms and be 65 feet in height will never be satisfied. They are willing to risk the continued deterioration of the Gulf Stream hotel, place our local economy in a continued handicapped state due to the lack of appropriate lodging for guests, to preserve the principles of democracy. They are willing to use the resources of a Golden goose and others to monkeywrench the City's future. To tie this issue up in the courts and waste our tax dollars to defend it is a foolish and cowardly act.

We need a first class hotel in Lake Worth. The Gulf Stream hotel sits shuttered for ten or more years on our most prominent property in the City, on our waterfront, our main street and at the foot of one of the City's finest parks and its golf course. There are tall buildings all around this area of the City and a building of similar height would be in harmony with the surrounding built environment.

That means nothing to the people who would file a lawsuit to halt progress on saving our National Register historic hotel and having a decent place to house visiting family, friends and tourists. They would rather bleed the City's legal defense fund for the sake of their own vanity and chutzpah in preventing progress. They will also delight in making this a divisive election issue.

And an aside: Beware of the buzzwords "critical thinking." We heard that a lot last Wednesday night by the candidates trying to unseat the incumbents. Don't be pulled in. There is plenty of critical thinking going on in everyone's heads, the public and those that are on the dais and administration.

What the "critical thinking" means when we hear it from these candidates can be simply translated "paralysis by analysis." We see and hear this type of thinking whenever commissioners McVoy and Maier go on and on about an issue, usually in a circular argument. This type of "critical thinking" is to delay, distract or discuss interminably. This sort of "thinking" is more about words, not deeds. This is the kind of thinking that kept Lake Worth without a coherent set of land development regulations and a comprehensive plan for eight years. This is the type of thinking that led to no new commercial development or investment in the City for at least four years under their regime. If they don't like something no amount of discussion will ever make them happy. There will always be a group left out, something will be too high, or too much, or too little and nothing will ever get done! We are long past the time where this sort of "critical thinking" can be thought of as productive. We are still playing a game of catch up.

Keep all that in mind when you hear about the importance of those extra two stories in a very small part of the city, designed only to be used for hotels of more than 50 units. Keep that in mind when you remember that former commissions had no problem entering into lawsuits even though the city was on the losing side of the argument. Think about the Greater Bay lawsuit that went on for years, $900,000 was spent on legal fees and then concluding with the city writing a check for $1.4 million. That was just one of the lawsuits.

The current Commission has unraveled many such legal entanglements and continues to do so. We don't need to go in the other direction.