My E-mail to the Organizers of the Charrette

"I want to thank you all for your effort in making our Lake Worth charrette such a great success. Everyone who I have talked to that either listened to the presentation over the Internet or who was there in person is consistent in saying that it is the most positive thing that they remember going on in that room in a long time. For that, we are all especially appreciative!

I would appreciate collecting copies of all of your PowerPoint presentations. I will do some highlights on my blog and will also forward them on to the Mayor, Commissioners and key people within the administration.

Your contribution was invaluable and I think you gained a sense of what a unique place we have here, as well as the opportunities and challenges present. To have such an assemblage of talent qualifies as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in itself.

Hope the rest of the conference went as well as Wednesday! Sorry I couldn't participate in the remainder, but duty called on many fronts.

Thanks again and keep in touch."

Lake Worth Tri-Rail Station/Area Charrette

The cover of my presentation as given on the bus ride from Miami to Lake Worth.

Absolutely tremendous! Do you realize that the City of Lake Worth got the benefit of 30 planning and transit professionals from around the North American continent spending about 10 hours of their time in the examination of the feasibility of transit oriented development around our Tri-Rail station? Let's just assume that on average that we would have to pay each of them an hourly rate was $100, which is probably low. That amounts to $30,000 of FREE advice. Let alone the logistics of getting all these people together in one room outside of a national conference environment. I do have to thank John Romano of the Romano Law Group for underwriting of the event and Bizarre Avenue Cafe for hosting the event. Thanks to Palm Beach County for their participation in Charrette event and to the City of West Palm Beach for providing some last minute visual aids to facilitate the process.

I am also pleased to report that the Mayor and all the Commissioners, with Commissioner Vespo coming in near the end of the 3:30 p.m. presentation in the Commission Chambers, heard the report from the team. The amount of information covered was amazing given the relatively short time that was available to address the issues at hand.

They have promised me copies of the various PowerPoint presentations that were made during the day, including the concluding presentation in the Commission Chambers. Those will be the subject of upcoming posts here. Those presentations will also be forwarded to the Commission and administration.

Rather than take the time to recite the many findings of the Charette, I will let the upcoming posts do that. What I would like to do here is talk about the day, some of the comments that were offered to me regarding Lake Worth and where we can go from here.

The Day

It started early with me getting out the door at 6 a.m. Traffic wasn't bad until I got to the north Miami area. About then, as I was going about 15 to 10 mph, the Tri-Rail option seemed more attractive. But, as I reported, I just had too much to carry to make that feasible. So I get to the convention hotel and immediately find the bus labeled "Lake Worth - Tri-Rail". See bus below.

So, I get my stuff on the bus and wait outside for a while. Time was about 7:45 a.m. or so and it was raining a little bit. 8 o'clock comes, my phone rings and it's Lynda Westin who was my contact from South Florida Regional Transit Authority (SFRTA) in coordinating the day's activities. It turns out that the group was waiting inside the hotel by the registration area and I was to go up there to check in. Come to find out, I also was to be fitted with a clip-on mic and a speaker that went around the waist - that is if you happen to be on a college cross-country team or swim 50 laps a day. I went without the mic and speaker set-up, although since I didn't use it during the day it was forgotten and is still in my possession. Then I was given a list of the attendees in the class and the names were printed in this size of type (Doe, Jane - Smith, Mary). That plus some of the names having more vowels than consonants made things interesting. So, once dispensed with those duties, we were off to the buses.

Once on I-95 north, Jeff Tumlin from Nelson/Nygaard (transportation consulting firm) introduced me. He happened to be the technical leader of the session - he is the one that made the excellent summary presentation in the Commission Chambers. I went through my presentation. It was designed so that we would have time on the bus to get to know Lake Worth and the area that the group would be examining during the day. That way we could take less time on a tour around town and get right to work on the tasks at hand.

It was obvious from their questions that this was a very sophisticated gathering of professionals from around the U.S. and Canada - many from California. They were interested in the beginnings of Tri-Rail, the status of the FEC study (east tracks for transit service) and the general make up of the area and Lake Worth specifically. I purposefully gave them the "warts and all" version of our realities here, while at the same time emphasizing the strengths and our unique qualities as well. Below is one of the pages from the presentation which highlights the area the team studied during the day.

We got off at the 10th Avenue exit toward Dixie and went south to turn left on Lake Avenue. When we turned on to Lake Avenue, Jeff Tumlin commented, "This is much nicer than I thought it was going to be - this is a great downtown." We went to the beach, went around the loop road, then headed west on Lucerne to Lake Worth Road, turned around at Palm Beach Community College and then found our way to Bizarre.

Later on in the day, I happened to be sitting next to an architect whose practice is in Vancouver - part of an international architectural firm with offices around the world. I asked him what he thought of the experience and he said, "The day was great. You know, when we got off the expressway, I asked myself why are we coming here? Then, when I saw the downtown, I knew why." Without prompting from me, he then asked, "What about the beach? That looks so sad." I told him I know, didn't want to bore him with the details about how we can't get out of our own way to make it a better place.

We got off the bus and settled in to the second floor of Bizarre. Received some general orientation presentations about what transit oriented development is all about (those will be posted here as soon as I get them), had a nice working/organizing time during lunch. It was good to see John Paxman, Ron Exline and Dr. McDungagle there from the Planning and Zoning Board. Commissioner Golden spent some time in the afternoon, getting a sense of what was going on. These pictures are all from the working session that took place after lunch and before the presentation in the Commission Chambers later in the day.

The gentleman in the medium blue shirt in the foreground of the picture above was from California. He expressed his enthusiasm for the charrette and the mobile workshop during the presentation in the Chambers. He said that he goes to a lot of these things and its the best one that he's ever been to - they were actually able to get in and work on something worthwhile and produce a result. He also, immediately after I took a seat near him before the presentation, asked, "Where are the cameras? Aren't your meetings broadcast on cable? That's the first thing that I would change." I couldn't agree more.

Anyway, as soon as the PowerPoint presentations land in my in box, I will be posting them here.

Happy Halloween!

From Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. I just got these two pictures of three dogs
dressed up for the holiday, but there were many people out with their kids in costume, a DJ (playing Ghost Busters about every third song). I stopped by before I headed back up to Lake Worth.
Also spoiled myself with a sashimi dinner - see pic below.

Notice the orange hollowed-out (Hallowed-out?) to look like a jack-o-lantern.

Plans for Tomorrow - Rail-Volution Conference

Well, things are a little different in terms of plans and logistics for tomorrow, but I think it's going to turn out o.k. or better. I kept focusing on the need to automate what would normally be a traditional PowerPoint presentation - minimizing moving parts for presentation on the bus. Through this video software program that I downloaded, I thought that would be possible.

As I was assembling this PowerPoint and the minutes turned to hours turned to days, I thought better of that and am gong decidedly low tech in terms of the presentation method. What better way that to print out the PowerPoint and present it that way. No messing with whatever is on the bus, no disappointments and anxiety the morning of. What is missed though is all the nifty animations and gizmos that I implanted in the PowerPoint.

But, there is an alternative to that and it involves a new technology, to me, that will allow an upload of the entire presentation to a website that will contain my narration in real time. That way, anyone can access it as if it were a live presentation and they will have the benefit of seeing things how they were meant to seen. I plan on working on that over the coming weekend, so stay tuned. I will be sure to provide a link here.

The other change in plans, and I am disappointed in this, is that I will not be riding Tri-Rail to Miami tomorrow morning. Gone is the attempt of early-rising at 4 a.m. (that I will not miss) and taking the 5 a.m. southbound to Miami, going to the Metrorail and then a cab to the hotel. That would have been "walking the walk" as they say. I've done the trip many times on the weekends before and found it quite enjoyable. This decision was made since it turns out that I would need a "pack mule" to accompany me as I am now toting enough copies of the presentation for people on the bus, along with Lake Worth books from the Greater Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce (they have a lot of them in their office for sale for $10, you might want to check them out) and some CDs spotlighting Lake Worth. That, plus my stuff including laptop and related ephemera, puts it over the scales in terms of using Tri-Rail. So, I will be going in my car, which allows me to leave at a little more leisurely hour. Now I will be riding the bus back to Miami and then will have to drive my car back in the evening. But, that's how it goes.

We miss out on attempts to photo-journalize this Tri-Rail adventure. That will have to wait for another day.

So you ask, "Wes, why should we care about this?". And I say "I don't really know why." However, I do know that there is great interest in this conference and the attention that is being paid to Lake Worth is a wonderful opportunity for us to all learn more. There is nothing wrong with learning and that is what tomorrow is all about. Remember the final presentation will be at 3:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers.

I'll have my camera with me during the day so expect a post highlighting what transpired along with some digital pictures.

Lake Worth Population Growth 2000 to 2005

This is how Lake Worth's population growth stacks up in relation to other Palm Beach County municipalities and the State of Florida as a whole. This information is from the University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research - considered the authority when it comes to population estimates between censuses. The total number is probably under-counted originally and the City is undertaking a recount of its own to correct deficiencies from the 2000 Census. No word as to where that effort stands at this point in time. (click image for more detail)

More Evidence that Development is NOT Out-of-Control

These are some tables that I put together for the presentation tomorrow with information provided by the Planning Department. It's worth noting that the approvals for residential projects in 2005 were given at the peak of the market, most before Wilma hit. Most agree that marks the start of the slide of the residential market locally. Some of those units have not been built; others have built out partially. Some will likely be revised or disappear entirely, as explained below.

In terms of the commercial square footage, the total is relatively modest for the City of our size. Note the small parcel size - which reflects that we are essentially an in-fill development community. A comparison of the past three years of development approvals in the unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and others would display a sharp contrast with Lake Worth's record.

There also seems to be an attitude around that a person sitting in a position of authority, like Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Board, has the ability to attract, promote and get projects approved all on their own initiative. Nothing could be farther from the truth as market conditions dictate the pace of development at any point in time and exiting zoning laws lay out the basic expectations of what can be developed and what cannot be developed. And that one person is part of a voting board of seven others that greatly influence the final decision, as well as the public comment taken during the time the project is reviewed before the public.

Zoning is essentially blind of the market. The protection communities have is that if a project is approved, it has a limited amount of time to get built. In Lake Worth, projects must have a building permit within one year of their original approval. They can ask for one extension and prove extenuating circumstances. If not granted or not applied for, their approval expires and the community waits for the next project to come along.

I thought you would find this interesting.

Noel for Halloween?

Agendas for Tomorrow's Sneaky City Commission Meetings

Same back-up as when these items appeared on the regular Commission meeting agenda. No additional information or clarification. Good luck attending the 4:30 p.m. meeting. I am tied up and can't get there - might make the one at 6 p.m.

(And, no, that train pic is not misplaced from my presentation - it's meant to signify "railroading", if you know what I mean.)

Good Monday Morning...

I've been pre-occupied with preparing this presentation for this coming Wednesday as an introduction to the charrette on Transit Oriented Development around the Tri-Rail station. The pieces are falling into place now - I just got to make sure the logistics are all in place for presentation on the bus! That will be an accomplishment, for sure. It turns out that I will likely take the early (like 5 a.m.!) Tri-Rail, get a transfer at the Metro-rail and get a cab to South Beach on Wednesday morning - that's when the bus leaves to come up to Lake Worth with all the charrette participants on it. And, if everything works out the way it should, I will be on it too!

I thought you might be interested in some of my presentation narrative. Once the PowerPoint is all finished, I will find a place to post it. Somewhere you will be able to see all the GROOVY animations! Here is the first part that deals with introduction and City history:

• Introduction and Welcome
• Wes Blackman, AICP, Planning and Zoning Consultant, Principal CWB Associates, 15 year resident of Lake Worth, 8 years on the Planning, Zoning and Historic Resources Preservation Board – last 5 years as Chairman, candidate for City Commissioner in early 2007
• Thrilled with the prospect of engaging the attendees of the Rail-Volution 2007 Conference in the challenges that the City faces in establishing a Transit Oriented Development area around our existing Tri-Rail Station.
• What this presentation will do is give you an overview of the community and surrounding area that will serve as a background and a foundation on what you will be talking and conferring about today.
• We’ll start with a bit of history of the community, look at the Lake Worth of today, influential transportation facilities over time, market conditions and related information, land use characteristics – with a special focus on the area around the Tri Rail station and Lake Worth Road corridor.
• We’ll also take a virtual tour around the City and wrap up with a brief summary of description of the local public policy landscape.
• Then, I’ll be able to take your questions and hopefully provide some answers at the conclusion of the presentation.
• Again thank you for your interest in Lake Worth and if you would like to learn more about the current goings-on in Lake Worth, I encourage you to visit my Lake Worth blog. It can be found at wesblackman.blogspot.com.
• Lake Worth History
• Beginnings
• The beginnings of settlement in South Florida came around the turn of the 19^th to the 20^th Century. Development in the vicinity of Lake Worth originated in the late nineteenth century with the extension of Henry Flagler's East Coast Railway through Palm Beach County to Miami by 1895. Although Flagler did not construct a hotel in Lake Worth, the arrival of the railroad resulted in increased economic and development activity.
• What is now Lake Worth began as the town of Jewel. Samuel and Fannie James are considered the first residents of the area. They were former slaves, established the first post office in the area and owned a significant amount of land in the wilderness along the Lake Worth Lagoon.
• In 1911, Samuel James died and his wife Fannie sold the core area of their land to Palm Beach Farms Company. It was then that Harold Bryant and William Greenwood started to formulate plans for the City along the water. Platting of the central part of the City began with its characteristic 25 foot wide lots. These were originally thought to be cottage areas by the water that would be given away to those who bought larger tracts in the area known as Greenacres – now its own City immediately west of the Lake Worth. However, the “cottage” lots proved more popular and those sold at a premium. Thus, Lake Worth was born.
• Soon to be popularly called the “Wonder City”, in January of 1912 Lake Avenue was graded and rocked and by August of that year the City’s initial platting was completed. It provided for 55 miles of streets and nearly as many miles of alleys – along with nearly 7,000 lots.
• In October of 1912, the City's name changed from Lucerne to Lake Worth after post office representatives learned there was already a town in Florida called Lucerne. During the fall of 1912, Lake Worth became a thriving City with its first school, a 24-foot by 36-foot building constructed of Florida pine on "M" Street between Lake and Lucerne Avenues.
• The year 1912 ended with the publication of the City's first census showing 308 residents, 125 houses, 10 wagons, seven automobiles, 36 bicycles and 876 fowls. In 1913 concentrated efforts were being made to organize the Lake Worth Light, Water and Ice Company.
• Politics began to creep into Lake Worth in 1913 when the first vote was taken to decide whether the City would have a franchise granting a Commission form of government. The first City Officials were elected in April 1913 when the City received its first Charter.
• Soon, Lake Worth built its own power plant. The first ferry was used to cross the Intracoastal Waterway in 1913 to reach the Atlantic Ocean and beachgoers were charged five cents to take the ferry. At 6 p.m. on May 18, 1914, the electric current was turned on.
• In early 1915, the first lighted sign was installed across Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway. Its job was to advertise the City of Lake Worth
• The first bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway was built in July, 1919 and was one of the longest wooden toll- free bridges in the United States.
• The initiation of the construction of U.S. Highway 1 in 1920 spurred a tremendous amount of growth and development through the flourishing tourist trade. By 1925, U.S. 1 stretched from Maine to Miami. Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 95 completed the automobile transit facilities over time.
• Other significant events in the history of Lake Worth are a major hurricane in 1928 that decimated many of the original wooden structures, the Depression of the 1930s – which in many ways began in south Florida in the mid 1920s due to over-speculation in real estate and trouble with getting building supplies.
• The Beach
• This led to increased access to and interest in the City’s Atlantic Ocean beachfront. The City still owns this 19 acre property from the ocean to the Lake Worth Lagoon, also known as the Intracoastal Waterway. It remains a public park. Issues of the status of the property and how the City should redevelop the property have consumed the public and political dialog in the community for years. It is still an on-going issue.
• From a transportation point of view, it does represent a prime public destination at the “end of the line” – at least to the east. So while the pictures go by showing the various iterations of the Casino Building at the beach, I will offer a little history.
• Soon after its construction in 1922, the Casino developed into a major tourist attraction due to its location, architecture, and status as the best municipally owned casino in the state. Although gambling was initially conducted in the Casino, it was outlawed by the mid 1930s.
• After World War II, increases in population led to tremendous growth of the City and to the popularity of the City’s beachfront. A hurricane in 1947 destroyed much of the second story of the original building and it was rebuilt in its current configuration. Now the building is suffering from years of neglect and from deterioration due to its oceanfront location. Since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, the second floor which contains a ballroom, has been closed to the public due to hazardous conditions.
• The City has an agreement with a private developer to lease and maintain the bulk of the beach property west of the boardwalk for a twenty year period. In exchange for lease payments of $500,000 a year to the City, the developer will build around a total of 65,000 square feet of building, which includes a 40,000 square foot new casino building, small retail space, café, restrooms, pool equipment and locker rooms. (Refer to site plan as slide). Improvements to the site and parking areas are also on tap and will be funded with a variety of public monies.
• The status of the project is in legal limbo right now due to actions brought forth by citizens and a request for declaratory relief by the City regarding the applicability of a local law related to referendums as a result of petitioning to overturn a zoning and land use change on the property.
• It is not known when this project would go forward and some wonder if it ever will.

Don't forget the poll in the upper right hand part of the blog is still active through Wednesday night. When things return to normal, I'll do a sum up of my feelings on the topic.

Also - Don't miss the two SNEAKY City Commission meetings on this coming Tuesday. A clue - don't look for the City's website for any back-up - these meetings are only posted on the calendar section with NO BACK-UP. So much for representative Democracy.

From the City of Lake Worth

Lake Worth Tri-Rail Station

On October 31st at 3:30 p.m. in the City Hall Commission Chambers there will be a presentation to the community concerning the results of a workshop on the Lake Worth Tri-Rail Station. As part of the 13th annual Rail-Volution conference, urban designers, transportation planners, real-estate economist and developers representing various parts of the United States will meet to create a concept plan for a livable community adjacent to the Lake Worth Tri-Rail Station.

The City of Lake Worth has requested that the charrette participants present their findings and concept plan to the Lake Worth community. Please come and hear their recommendations concerning balancing parking, development pedestrian amenities and density around the Lake Worth Tri-Rail Station.


Click here for link to a recent article from the Seattle area regarding the reduction of one's carbon footprint through use of mass transit. I have downloaded a copy of the report that is referenced here. Let me know if you would like me to forward a copy to you.

Below is an outtake from the article:

"The study found that taking public transportation can be more than ten times as effective in reducing a household’s carbon dioxide emissions than other household actions. One commuter who normally drives alone can reduce their carbon footprint by 10 percent by simply switching to public transportation. If one person in a two-car household gives up using the second car entirely, he or she can reduce the household’s carbon footprint by 30 percent. Science Applications International Corporation prepared the study, titled Public Transportation’s Contribution to U.S. Greenhouse Gas Reduction, for The American Public Transportation Association (APTA)."

and later on in the article:

In light of the new study, APTA is calling on Congress to incorporate public transportation into a national climate change strategy that includes providing additional funding levels for more public transportation investment. Specific policy goals include providing tax credits to major employers who spend resources to support mass transit ridership programs, and tax credits to developers for mixed development residential, commercial and transportation sites that encourage greater use of public transportation.

and from the APTA report:

Are there favorable land use impacts that public transportation contributes to that result in positive environmental and social benefits?

Answer: Public transportation provides many benefits that go beyond energy and CO2 savings – as transit assets are being used to accomplish these important functions.

Investments in public transportation have the benefit of supporting higher density land uses that allow for fewer vehicle miles of travel. While it is difficult to precisely measure this impact, a number of studies have attempted to estimate the relationship between
transit passenger miles and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction as a proxy for this effect. The results range from a reduction in VMT of between 1.4 miles and 9 miles for every transit passenger mile traveled. The outcome would be more efficient use of roadways, reduced road maintenance, shorter highway commute times and reduced need for street and off- street parking.

Reminder - Ethics Workshop

Links inoperable above. Please contact me at wesblackman@gmail.com for a copy of the original .pdf file. Click images for more detail.

Fun with Electronic Devices!

I am having fun with electronics! As you know if you have been reading this blog, there is a national conference next week in Miami called "Rail-Volution" and it deals with creating more mass transit opportunities and encouraging unique development opportunities around them. They named me "Tour Coordinator" which I consider an honor. These are professionals from around the country (world?) that are focused on converting the way we get around to more environmentally sensitive methods - that is finding ways of getting people out of their single passenger fossil fuel burning automobile and into other environmentally sensitive means of transportation.

What is going to happen is that a group is coming up to Lake Worth on a bus next Wednesday morning. I volunteered to give an overall orientation and introduction to Lake Worth to the people who signed up for the day trip as part of the conference. We are going to spend the day looking at and dissecting the area around the Tri-Rail station. This is all consistent with what the City has done in its master plan to encourage transit related development around the station. This will include the area around the Community College to the west too.

Anyway, I've started working on my presentation. Initially I thought of doing a Powerpoint on the bus and narrate it while in motion. I've decided against that now - too many moving parts. What I have done is download some video editing software and I plan to either do a powerpoint that I can pre-record with a voice over courtesy of the new software or create a video through the same program. Whatever size of file will be too large to post here, but let me know if you'd like a final copy.

As part of the learning curve, I have already realized that my camcorder is not up to the task. That piece of electronics was purchased about 2 1/2 years ago. Figured out that I needed some software and immediately assumed (you know what happens when you assume - if you don't, e-mail me and I will tell you!) that I could get the software that came with the camcorder (which has long since disappeared) from the JVC website, the manufacturer of the camcorder. Well, no such luck. My call to customer service (those wonderful 800 numbers) eventually told me that the software had long since been discontinued and was not available on line. Planned obsolescence for sure. Then, a light bulb went off and I remembered that I wa susing another laptop at the time and it did have the software installed. Eureka! It worked. But only after spending about two hours yesterday getting video and then realized, after buying two cords from Radio Shack (total $60) that it only could send images to the computer that were about the size of a postage stamp. Not good to see on a bus with screens equally as small. Back to the drawing board.

So, I went out again today and used my digital camera's video function to see how that would work. Got back, downloaded the miscellaneous video pieces on my laptop and found out they were all .mov files that my new editing program doesn't recognize. Then I did a Google search for "convert mov to avi" (avi is what the program recognizes) and downloaded a freeware program to convert that. No problem. Files converted.

I experimented with a small video with titles and transitions that I am currently uploading to my blog while I am writing this. The whole "embedding" thing didn't work too well (not at all). So I am trying this. Still have yet to have success. The Blogger limit is 100 mb and the upload is 90 mb. Now it keeps re-setting for some reason.

And after a long wait, it is up and you can witness its tremendous content - hardly. But that's life on the learning curve.

Update: After getting up this morning, I found an error message saying that the upload was not successful. More attempts will be made today. The Blogger people are working on the problem. This is now officially a personal quest!

A couple of notes and reminders...

Check out the new poll to the upper right of the blog. It's going to run to the end of the month, so make sure you indicate your feelings regarding public comment during Commission meetings from now until then. I will withhold comment on my feelings until after the poll closes, and then will summarize the poll results in a new post. I am also preparing a critique of the Mayor's performance - six months into his administration - that will be posted shortly. NOT TO MISS!

We're also on for a new Truth Matters show this coming Tuesday, 10/23 at 8 to 9 p.m. Lots of stuff to go over and don't forget your comments and questions are welcome. I'll be posting an announcement on the new Lake Worth Talk discussion board as a reminder too.

An observation: I've bumped into a lot of people recently that are more concerned than ever about the direction the City is headed. From the amount of properties for sale, a perceived increase in crime, bureaucratic tales that test the bounds of horrific and seeming lack of direction from those vested with that task, a more negative view of our City is emerging in the minds of many (if this is even possible) and it has me gravely concerned. It's something that I am feeling as well, but do not want to admit. There are positive things that we can accomplish and, if not entirely turn the tide, we can slow its progress. Keep your mind open for ideas on how we can turn this ship around and make this a better place for everyone to live, work and visit.

DRAFT Zoning Map based upon Master Plan

This is a preliminary and rough draft of the revised Zoning Map based upon the information gathered during the Master Plan process. That effort has spanned three years and cost the City upwards of $1,000,000. The Planning and Zoning Board is in the process of wrapping up review of the changes to the Comprehensive Plan. At their November 14th workshop, they will be looking at the Future Land Use map (which is part of the Comprehensive Plan) and checking with the existing version, along with a similar analysis of the current and proposed Zoning Maps.

I hesitated posting these here due to their preliminary nature and some glaring (at least I think so) errors. But there are some themes here that are important to get to know and how these will reflect the City's development pattern in the future. The new Land Development Regulations (LDRs) will replace the City's current Zoning Code. Those new regulations are under review by staff and the consultants are providing code language to support the new provisions that are reflected in the Zoning Map. Remember, you can click on these images to see more detail and you can also save them on your computer by selecting "File" in your browser. Select "Save as..." and select a place on your hard drive to store them.

As future versions of this Zoning Map emerge, I will do my best to post them. Remember, if you have questions, you can post them under this entry by clicking on "Comments".

To make things a little more readable, I cut the original image into five segments. Above is the legend which shows the various zoning districts.

Here's the northeast part of the City, along with part of the downtown area. One of the most obvious errors here is that the Courtyards property is still shown as Commercial when it is zoned MF 30. The Arbor Plaza area across the street, by the canal, really should be the MU (Mixed-use) district that the other areas of Dixie Hwy. are. It would make an ideal mixed-use location for a redevelopment project. The mixed-use district will be more permissive than the current High Intensity Commercial in the provision of residential and office uses. Also, per the Master Plan process, more sensitivity is given for the areas surrounding the commercial areas and their transitions to adjacent residentially zoned areas.

Also note the Downtown East (red) and the Downtown Central areas - both are roughly based on our existing Central Area Commercial districts - done to better reflect the uniqueness of each area and their own and adjacent land use characteristics.

Finally, conservation zoning is being designed and will be applied to the Snook Islands which are the newly placed mangrove islands in the Lake Worth Lagoon.

Above is the southeast part of the City. One item that is being explored is the establishment of vesting procedures for property owners in the area north and south of the downtown - in roughly the same areas that were covered by the Zoning-in-Progress (ZIP). The ZIP was done to prevent the speculative accumulation of our historic cottage housing stock - part of our thumbprint that makes Lake Worth, Lake Worth. It may be possible, using this process, to actually return the density to better reflect the built environment there than the current density - yes, down-zoning. Stay tuned for this. Another glaring omission, and this is on our current zoning map as well, is the area in the extreme southeastern part of the City where we have built mulitfamily structures along the Intracoastal - but both the land use and zoning show a single family designation. Also note that the Federal Hwy corridor will be getting its own mixed use district (similar on the north side of town as well).


This the northwest part of the City. Not too many changes here other than accounting for recent annexations. Note that the Gateway area is reflected on the draft proposed Zoning Map, where it has not been reflected yet on an official map. That is another important point. The City, no surprise, has done a poor job at keeping and maintaining its official zoning map. The current version that is being distributed as the official Zoning Map has a date of 1990! So, it is hoped that since we are in a digital age, we will have a way to easily maintain an accurate copy of the future land use and zoning maps of the City.


Finally, the southwest part of the City. The most important changes here are the addition and creation of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) zones - both an east and west version. The west version coincides with the area around the Tri-Rail tracks where the current station is and west of there. Treasure Coast Regional Planning Congress' suggestion is to extend that area as a "transit corridor" all the way to the Palm Beach Community College - which is right in tune with what I have been saying all along. Remember, this area will be the subject of a charrette to be held on 10/31 as part of the national Rail-Volution conference that will be held in Miami, but will make a special trip to Lake Worth. The eastern TOD area will be the likely home of the future transit passenger station on the FEC tracks. Its area extends south from Lake Avenue along H street and the idea there is to introduce more of an arts and entertainment focus there. More on that later.

We also need to update this area in relation to recent annexations - dare I remind anyone of Sunset Drive?

Hispanic Fest - 2007

Great time this afternoon and it's still going on. Maybe the rain will either stay light or diminish as we go into the evening. Things were picking up when I left around 3 p.m. from volunteering. Guess where? The beer tent! Great food there too if you want to go there and pick up something for dinner.