Greenacres mayor has plan to market city’s condos

Good idea!  From the article (click title for link):

The mayor’s plan calls for using online ads to drive potential buyers to a section of the city’s website that encourages buyers in the Northeast and Canada to “own a piece of paradise” and tempts them with the catch phrase, “Did you know you could own a South Florida home 7 miles from the beach starting at $40,000?”

1 mile from the ocean sounds better, doesn't it?

FCC proposes public Wi-Fi networks

This would be AWESOME - notice how the big wireless providers are lining up against the proposal.  Click title for link to article.

David Willson - Editorial Cartoonist 02/04 by High Noon in Lake Worth | Blog Talk Radio

Note:  This show is rescheduled to Monday 2/4.  The show did not air at its usual Friday time due to problems with the host website.  Hope you can join us!

This should be fun.  David Willson is the editorial cartoonist for the Palm Beach Daily News (The Shiny Sheet) and has been for the past 20 or so years.  He is a native of West Palm Beach and has a rich background in illustration.  Click title for link to the live show on 2/1 at noon or for the archived show after it airs.  Leave any questions you would like to ask in the comments section below.  Thanks!

Click here for a link to David Willson's website - where you can purchase his new book Billionaires and Butterfly Ballots.

Update on the ginormous garage...

These are recent pictures taken of the large garage structure at the southwest corner of North D Street and 17th Avenue.  This property is deep within a single family zoned neighborhood.  According to the city, the current code allows for this sort of structure.  Ultimately, the building is to be attached to the existing, smaller single family house.  This will make it "technically" part of the house structure on the property

There is now a silt fence surrounding the other structure, which makes one wonder what is going to happen next.  In answer to a series of questions posed by me in an e-mail to William Waters which included whether the building permit is still open, when will the building be painted and whether there is anything in the code that prevents an unpainted, cinder block building from remaining that way, he responded as follows: "Will get back to you on the garage.  I do believe we now have the authority to have the building painted but permit is still open and I believe there are modifications being sought.  We are getting our attorney involved to ensure everything is to the code we have which no one likes." (1/28/13)

Mr. Waters was out part of last week with a severe eye infection.  I will follow-up with him this week to see if there is anything new.

Builders question Palm Beach County development fee increases - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Discussion going on at the County Commission level about how to structure impact fee increases and the effect those increases may have on our struggling economy.  One of the lynch pins of the Lake Worth Comprehensive Plan and coming Land Development Regulations is something referred to as "Community Benefits."  As currently conceptualized, this Community Benefit program would require a developer to calculate the project's impact - anything about the second floor would count in the calculation of that building's "impact."  The developer would either pay into a fund established by the city based upon a per-square-foot equation.  The fund would provide a source of money for certain Community Benefit projects identified in a list of projects that the City Commission could change on a year-to-year basis.  They could also provide on-site improvements over and above the minimum requirement, but could not take credit for anything that "mitigate project impacts."  The question has been asked whether, given the fact that no one is beating down the city's door to develop anything, is this the right program to roll out at this time?  Is this the wrong medicine to give the patient?

The city's attorneys are looking at how this program will be structured and are attempting to provide assurance that the whole Community Benefit program is legal and it is one that is defensible.  Other policy decisions will need to be made whether or not it makes sense to impose this requirement on new development at this time.  Questions remain whether or not it can be called an impact fee, a tax, zoning exaction, redistribution of a public resource or any combination thereof.

There is a joint meeting scheduled for February 20th between the Planning and Zoning Board and the Historic Resource Preservation Board which will focus solely on the Community Benefit program as proposed.  Stay tuned...

Click title for link to Sun-Sentinel article.

Everything you wanted to know about Transit Oriented Development in 251 pages

Click title for link to report recently put together by the Environmental Protection Agency on transit oriented development (TOD) projects.  The possibility exists for Lake Worth to have, at some time in our future, four possible TOD transit stations with mixed use components at four different locations.

Ed Koch dies...

Access a sticking point for South End dune work | www.palmbeachdailynews.com

Years ago, when Marc Drautz was Mayor, the Town of Palm Beach came knocking at our door.  Then Mayor MacDonald of Palm Beach had approached Mayor Drautz about using the Lake Worth beach for access for sand replenishment of their beaches in the area.  From what I remember, Mayor Drautz indicated that it shouldn't be a problem long before the matter came before the City Commission formally.  When it did, with the Mayor of Palm Beach in attendance, they were greeted with the "Lake Worth Shuffle" and Commission summarily refused to provide access for beach re-nourishment.  I am glad to read that our current Mayor was in attendance at this meeting.  Click title for link. 

Lantana bridge replacement facing unexpected costs - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Oh, oh - this could mean continued higher traffic volumes through our downtown area.  There seems to be a fight brewing between Palm Beach County and the Town of Lantana.  Click title for link.

Lovely and Wonderful!

Pics and a story from the beach...

Yesterday, a friend of mine ventured to the beach.  Click here for some pictures of the improvements around the property that are coming to a close.

Let me introduce you to the white elephants living at the property:  The Pool and Pool Building.

According to my friend, one of the lifeguards there said that he hasn't heard anyone talking about what is going to happen with the pool.  The lifeguards had been using the pool for training purposes - in its existing condition.  They were still able to swim in it in its current condition but were told to stop using the pool about a month ago.  He said that you can see how one corner of the pool is lower than the others and it wasn't that way before they started construction (destruction?) of the Casino building.  He thought it was all the banging, perhaps during demolition?

Now, for training, they have to spend time in the ocean which puts them at a higher risk of man-of-war stings and other ocean pests.

If anyone can add anymore information to this post, please do so under the comment section below.

Stacy Ritter Calls For State Probes Of Laud Lakes : BrowardBeat.com

Former "High Noon in Lake Worth" guest Chaz Stevens gets help from a Broward County Commissioner to investigate Lauderdale Lakes and its CRA.  Click title for link.

Culture clash, or culture convergence? Rightist survivalism meets green urbanism | Kaid Benfield's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

Click title for link.  Seems that our local anarchists would find a lot to like about Glenn Beck's idea of a "planned community."  Self-sufficiency, self-policing, resiliency, no national brands, a moat - virtual or otherwise around the community.  They say that the road through anarchy eventually leads to oppression.  Perhaps we see the sprouting of that here?

Maybe you can catch up on the locals' plans at the next Monkeywrench Cafe, coming to a neighborhood near you!

Lake Worth voters to decide on elections, building height limits | www.palmbeachpost.com

Click title for link to annoying PBP article.  The following will likely be misread to construe that the Comprehensive Plan can be changed by the votes of two people on the City Commission - instead of by two readings and a majority of affirmative votes.  Here is the section:

Proponents of height limits say they need to be in the charter to preserve Lake Worth’s low-rise, small-town feel. The comprehensive plan can be changed by two votes of the city commission — though the process requires public hearings and state review and takes at least six months.

High-rise Palm Beach: Changes in altitude

Worth reading in light of the ballot issue coming this March.  Think of the area south of Sloan's Curve to the border of South Palm Beach - it is more dense and much of it built on fill (the west side of A-1A).  Guess what - we are not in a development vortex.  Hardly - one could say that Lake Worth has been left behind and many would say that is good thing.  But the ballot measure does nothing other than to perpetuate the "developer" behind-the-bushes myth.  It is fear mongering at its worst.

Click title for link to article.