More reasons to visit the Taco Lady!

Scrabble Anyone?

Love Scrabble? Come and Play with us on the NAPC "Front Porch! Friday, April 18th at Evening on the Avenues. $5 a game - Pay once - Winners keep playing! Two boards going at the same time! Proceeds go to help fund the July 4th Raft Race! Hosted this week by the Nice Neighbors from Bryant Park! Derby Day Tickets also available!

Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God, Vol. III: Occidental Mythology, p. 522

"The adventure of the Grail––the quest within for those creative values by which the Waste Land is redeemed––has become today for each the unavoidable task; for, as there is no more any fixed horizon, there is no more any fixed center, any Mecca, Rome, or Jerusalem. Our circle today is that announced, c. 1450, by Nicholas Cusanus: whose circumference is nowhere and whose center is everywhere; the circle of infinite radius, which is also a straight line."

From the City of Deerfield Beach's YouTube Channel promoting Quiet Waters Park

PBC advisory board sends ‘message’ — No 6,500-home Minto... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

A large group of Acreage residents attended a Palm Beach County Planning Commission meeting yesterday (4/11) to voice opposition to the large Minto development planned for the former Callery-Judge Groves property. They are seeking to double the number of residential units approved, and increase the amount of commercial and institutional space. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny their requests, but this is an advisory board and only the first of many meetings that will discuss the project. People in the Acreage enjoy a rural lifestyle and fear being over-run by increased traffic and other impacts caused by the project. Click title for link to article.

This is how one person described the impact of the project:

Tracy Grudzielanek, one of more than 30 speakers, quoted from the Bible to emphasize her fears that Minto West will ruin the rural character of the area.
“The gates of hell shall open up and hordes of locusts shall descend upon, devouring everything in sight. That is what Minto will be doing,’’ she said.

Lake Worth is in the unfortunate position of having to compete for a slice of the growth represented by these large western projects, while keeping our existing character. To a large extent, we have accomplished that with re-writing our development regulations. But the market forces still push development to western areas of the county where land is less expensive and dependent on the automobile for the great majority of transportation needs.

Six plans to make Lake Worth a better place | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

This symposium was held two Thursday nights ago (4/3) at the Casino Building ballroom. Staff invited people that are design professionals, urban planners, land use attorneys and others in real estate projects. They were brought together to show a selection of six (6) different locations in Lake Worth could accommodate redevelopment. The highlight was showing how to work with our new land development regulations and how Lake Worth has built a review process that is one of the shortest in Palm Beach County. 

I heard that the event was well attended. I am coordinating with Mr. Waters on the best way to deliver the information dispensed in the PowerPoint presentation. It is a very large file. The presentation lasted about an hour and a half. Click title for link to Eliot Kleinberg's review of the meeting and the various prototype locations.

The city had mapped out all of its clusters of unimproved property, then hired a consultant group, showed them six sites, and directed them to use their imagination, said William Waters, the city’s director for community sustainability.
“Let’s say a developer came and said, ‘Let me know what I can do on this property,’ ” Waters said this week. “We gave them (consultants) free rein.”

Reinventing the Cultural Scene in South Florida April 23, 2014, 11 am-2 pm

The Colony Hotel, 155 Hammon Avenue, Palm Beach, FL 33480

JoAnne Berkow, also known as JB, is an artist, entrepreneur, poet and philanthropist. She has written several books including "Painted Poetry" and "What They Didn't Teach You in Art School". The first is an illustrated collection of philosophical poetry and the second is a book on how to become a more successful professional artist. She owns Rosetta Stone Fine Art Gallery. In the past she also founded the Touchstone Gallery, one of the most successful cooperative galleries in Washington, D.C. and Frenchman's Art Gallery and Studios, Inc. a membership gallery in Juno Beach. She is now taking on her most challenging project, Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts, which will be a 18,000 sf complex housing a fine art metal foundry, glass art studio and a ceramic studio in the City of Lake Worth.

Lake Worth's Mayor and City Commissioners getting a jump on things...

Frida Kahlo

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.” 

Some pics from last night's fun at E.R. Bradley's Beach Club...

This was a fundraiser put on by the Lake Worth Recreation Board for next weekend's Easter-related festivities. It was well attended and the musicians, including Mel and Vinnie, kept everyone in high spirits.

Austin Brookley and AnnaMaria Windisch-Hunt of the Recreation Board

Mayor Muoio supports making Okeechobee Boulevard better for pedestrians | WalkableWPB

From the WalkableWPB blog comes this post about Mayor Muoio's support for a more pedestrian friendly Okeechobee Boulevard east of Parker. The city has brought in recent High Noon in Lake Worth guest Jeff Speck as a consultant and assembled a team to start making this happen.. Click title for link. Check out the video of the Mayor that is included in the link. Here is a bit:

At Mayor Muoio’s media briefing on April 2nd, reporters asked the Mayor about her thoughts around the idea of making Okeechobee Boulevard a multiway boulevard or something more pedestrian friendly [minute 16:20].
Muoio: “One of the focuses of both Jeff Speck and CNU and our downtown is ‘how do we make Okeechobee more walkable?’ So any effort to do that I would applaud and would like to be a part of."
We thank the Mayor for endorsing this idea. She has touted the benefits of walkability publicly and often, supporting Jeff Speck’s walkability study, bringing in Peter Kageyama (“For the Love of Cities”) for a lecture, and conducting the Mayor’s walk.

Editorial: In Palm Beach Gardens, let residents watch meetings... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

This Palm Beach Post editorial rightly takes Palm Beach Gardens to task for reluctantly agreeing to provide video of their meetings, but only available the day after the meeting. In fact, the decision of whether or not to do it came at the end of a meeting, with no public comment. This is not exactly a model of transparency. And the Post rightly points out that doing this should not be based on the number of people who would watch, just as elections are held regardless of the turnout. I would take that even further and suggest that having more ways for people to be aware of what their local government is doing is a good thing that might bring more people out for municipal elections. Click title for link. From the editorial:

"Such a move would have been a bold gesture a decade ago. But it is 2014, and in Palm Beach County every other city of Palm Beach Gardens’ size already allows residents to watch public meetings online, as do the county government and the school board.

For years Palm Beach Gardens has held out, rationalizing and equivocating whenever residents demanded greater access. It’s well past time for this affluent city to incur the minimal cost involved in this fundamental accommodation.

Yet even now, Palm Beach Gardens is only planning a half-measure – making meetings available a day after they take place. Watching meetings live will still be impossible online. Residents who can’t make it in person are still relegated to listening to audio-only recordings, a poor substitute that makes it difficult to follow what is happening."

Water district OKs $1.9 billion Everglades plan, starting... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

That's a lot of money and it will spent over a period of ten years. It is also dependent upon consistent funding from Congress over that period of time to keep things moving. There are some doubts about whether or not that will happen. But, for now, it seems as though various stakeholders are happy with this step to get more water running south from Lake Okeechobee. Click title for link. And, yes, Drew Martin is quoted again.

The corps will now present the project to its Civil Works Review Board. If approved, other federal and state agencies will be asked to review CEPP. The corps hopes to respond to any agency recommendations and submit the final project plan to the corps’ Chief of Engineers by the end of July. With the chief’s report, the corps can then include CEPP in the funding bill.
Thirty-five speakers were given two minutes each to comment on the project Thursday. No one spoke against it. Praise for the vote came in press releases from the governor’s office, U.S. Sugar and many environmental groups throughout the state.
“Today is the day we need to make this decision,” said Drew Martin, a member of the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District and spokesman for the Sierra Club said during public comments. “It isn’t enough but it’s something.”

April activities - Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association

Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

Let me start by thanking Mark Woods (Lake Worth's new Code Compliance Manager) for speaking at our March meeting. He is an overdue breath of fresh air. If you have any questions concerning code in this city he is the one to talk to as he is clear, concise and extremely well informed. Once again thank you Mr. Woods.

We have a busy month this month  -  especially for those who like to help take care of their city.

This Saturday, April 12th the Royal Poinciana Neighborhood Association is hosting a neighborhood cleanup. Meeting place is 404 S. C street at 8:00am. All are welcome.

The following Saturday, April 19th, Highland Elementary is again cleaning up the Lake Worth Beach area for Earthday. They will have free parking from 6:00-9:00am - those staying later will have to purchase a parking ticket. At 10:00am. the City of Lake Worth is holding their Easter Egg Hunt at Bryant Park.

On Saturday April 26th Lake Worth's CRA, along with many others, will be enhancing the TRNA area. Activities include putting the finishing touches on a kiddie playground behind the TRNA Fitness Park in the 200 block of N. H street. Volunteers will also be clean up TRNA neighborhoods. Activities start at 8:00am and finish at 1:30 with the ribbon cutting etc. Meanwhile there are other activities going on in the Cultural Plaza all day.

Hope we have something there to interest you.

Carolyn

Tonight - E.R. Bradley's on the Beach - Lake Worth Golf Course Clubhouse