UPDATE: “Did you know 85 more units of affordable housing may be coming to Lake Worth?”

But not any time soon.

The vote at the P&Z Board meeting last Wednesday was 3-3 with a member of this volunteer board absent. An even split vote means this project is a no-go for now. The developer has several options going forward so we’ll have to wait and see what will happen.

The City of Lake Worth’s Planning & Zoning Dept. can’t be a very happy place to be right now. A lot of staff time went into preparing this and, if you recall, this item was on the P&Z Board agenda last month but was cancelled because of Hurricane Irma. There must be a lot of disappointment from many quarters the prospect having to go back to square one.

And the editor at the Post will learn that a call to action, the “Housing Crisis!”, can run into a brick wall over just one issue: parking. I’ve talked to several people over the last couple of months about the parking situation on North ‘A’ St. and that was a big concern for nearby residents. They thought the project should have more on-site parking so on-street parking would not be impacted:

The proposed Banyan Court multifamily apartment community will be located in Lake Worth at 315 North A Street, 1716 3rd Ave N, 1731 4th Avenue North and 1737 4th Avenue North, just east of Interstate 95 and ¼ mile from the Lake Worth Tri-Rail stop. The current zoning is MF-20 [Multi-family], with a land use designation of MDR [Medium Density residential].

News about this affordable housing project never did get reported in the Post because of that distraction in early September:

“Cannabis”! “Marijuana”, medical “dispensary”
and a “charter school” too! Oh My. Where?
It’s in “Lake Worth”!

So it does make one wonder what would have happened if the editor at the Post was more focused on educating the public about the importance of affordable housing in the City of Lake Worth than on much more minor items such as “Cannabis!”

But Cannabis! will generate more computer clicks and sell more newspapers than news about affordable housing, even during a “Housing Crisis!” However, is there another possible solution? Maybe more affordable housing here in the City using “re-purposed shipping containers”?

As reported in The Palm Beach Post
last June, an excerpt:

During an affordable housing summit in West Palm Beach Wednesday, he [Craig Vanderlaan, executive director of Crisis Housing Solutions] told a ballroom full of county officials, lenders and developers that re-purposed shipping containers can be part of the answer to a problem they said has reached a crisis point.

Are shipping containers the answer to the “housing crisis”? No. As stated on this blog:

Before you get all excited check the zoning code first before diving ahead. More likely than not this type of structure is prohibited where you live. For instance, you couldn't build this in Lake Worth or most other cities in the County.
     No one is going to get approval to live in a shipping container here in a coastal city in Palm Beach County. Perhaps in the unincorporated County somewhere, but not here in the little City of Lake Worth.

Anyhow. Stay tuned for more updates about this affordable housing project on North ‘A’ St. and what the City and developer plan to do going forward.