The next meeting will be on Tuesday, Nov. 28th (more details below).
Everyone in the City of Lake Worth’s business community, those concerned about the future of our businesses, and everyone looking to possibly open a new business here in Lake Worth are invited and strongly encouraged to attend the next and future meetings of the Lake Worth Business Alliance.
It’s very important to understand this IS NOT a meeting to address any one problem or particular issue a business or investor may be having. However, following the meeting there will be many in attendance who will be very able and eager to give you good ideas and possible solutions.
The Lake Worth Business Alliance is about THE BIG PICTURE. How everyone working together, an alliance, can bring about the changes necessary so the next time when you hear the words “Lake Worth is open for business” you know those words are true and not just a slogan.
The initial get-together of those interested in starting a business alliance met at Tacos al Carbon on October 18th. About 30 people were in attendance on a rainy night it needs to be noted. Following that meeting a small group of volunteers met twice to talk about the organizational structure. The last one happened yesterday (Nov. 14th) at TooJay’s in the Downtown to discuss more about the beginning stages and narrow the focus of the group, e.g., a mission statement.
Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein is highly supportive and has attended two meetings thus far. It’s his belief the business community here in this City needs to be more engaged and involved plus the City needs a clear, reliable, and consistent way to communicate its message to the entire business community and vice versa, City-wide, something that’s been lacking for far too long.
It was encouraging to see new faces with fresh ideas at the meeting yesterday and it was great hearing what they all had to say. A lot of great ideas emerged like using the hashtag #mylakeworth to promote good news and positive messages about the City of Lake Worth. We concluded the meeting asking everyone to come up with concepts for a Lake Worth Business Alliance mission statement. These will be collected via email from everyone already on our list and shouldn’t take very long. Check back in a few days and will share some of those suggestions.
We need everyone’s input! If you want to be involved and are not yet on the mailing list send your contact information via email to: wesblackman@gmail.com
These ideas will be printed out and shared with everyone at the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 28th at 8:00 a.m. at Toojay’s on Lake Ave. in Downtown Lake Worth.
We would like each person to bring along someone new that hasn’t attended a meeting thus far.
Some of the themes discussed about the focus of the Lake Worth Business Alliance are paying very close attention to what is coming up at City Commission meetings and at City boards as well that impact the business community. The geographic area covered by this business alliance is limited to the municipal limits of Lake Worth to help better define the City’s identity and branding, improve business-to-business networking and for attracting more customers for all businesses.
Events can be promoted and businesses can coordinate activities, advertising, and marketing related to those activities, the idea being the better “branded” the City of Lake Worth is the better “branded” our business community and services will become. Some upcoming events discussed included the Tree Lighting ceremony coming up on December 1st at the Cultural Plaza as well as the Holiday Parade on December 16th.
Hope to see a big crowd on November 28th at Toojay’s. FYI: we’ll be running a very tight meeting with an agenda focused on the goals moving forward. These meetings will not be an “airing of grievances”; it’s time to move forward. The most important part of the meeting will be comments and suggestions regarding how best to achieve this new organization’s goals. So be prepared to speak your mind or come with your ideas written down and turned in at this meeting. You are encouraged to email them ahead of time.
Not sure if you can attend the meeting coming up? Then send your ideas to me and I’ll forward that information on to the organizers. Once again, the email address is: wesblackman@gmail.com
Breaking news from Post reporter Olivia Hitchcock: “Six gang members arrested in recent Lake Worth killings”; the first paragraph: LAKE WORTH
— Six gang members, five of whom are juveniles, have been arrested in two recent Lake Worth killings, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.
Blog post from earlier today:
From the editor at The Palm Beach Post in the Sunday editorial last week:
“The death toll understates the violence. As charted
by Post reporter Olivia Hitchcock, gunfire has injured 12 people as
well as killed two, just since Oct. 20. The mayhem has resulted in only
two arrests. The shootings stem from the drug trade, sure, but for
other, depressingly mundane reasons as well: a domestic dispute, an
insult. Minor provocations that used to prompt a fistfight now end in
semi-automatic fire. [emphasis added] It’s clear that there are too many guns around and too little sense.” —November 12th editorial titled, “Unacceptable rise in WPB homicides requires quicker action”.*
From Wikipedia: “A gunfire locator or gunshot detection system is a system that detects and conveys [in real time] the location of gunfire or other weapon fire using acoustic, optical, or potentially other types of sensors, as well as a combination of such sensors. . . . Systems used in urban settings integrate a geographic information system so the display includes a map and address location of each incident.”
West Palm Beach has had twenty-five homicides so far this year, in 24 of
those senseless crimes firearms were the weapon. Two weeks ago — over
just a one-week period of time — there were two more homicides in the
City of Lake Worth bringing the total number of homicides to six in
2017, 5 of those murdered were victims of firearms. Twenty-nine people murdered by guns in WPB and Lake Worth.
Just like injuries and homicides by gunfire are clustered in areas of West Palm Beach, that’s also the case in the City of Lake Worth. Only one homicide was east of Dixie Hwy.; the others were west of Dixie in District 1 and District 2.
[Click on this link for the map of Districts 1–4 in the City lf Lake Worth.]
Instead of looking at gun violence and shootings as a “Lake Worth
problem” or a “West Palm Beach problem” could the solution be Lake
Worth’s District 14 PBSO and the West Palm Beach Police Dept. working together
and collaborating to acquire gunshot detection technology to help solve
a regional problem here in Palm Beach County? Wouldn’t you like to know more?
But has a beat reporter from either Lake Worth or West Palm Beach taken up this topic? No.
This topic of gunfire detection technology is not a new one by any means. Gunshot detection technology (for example, ShotSpotter,
“Real-Time Intelligence to Fight Gun Violence”) was a topic of
discussion several times at the Lake Worth City Commission and possibly
funded by the County’s ¢1 Sales Tax proceeds.
Last June after a homicide in Lake Worth, in City Commissioner Omari
Hardy’s District 2 (the City’s 4th homicide of 2017), Hardy brought up the topic of “ShotSpotter” technology and District 1 Commissioner Scott Maxwell (also the City’s Vice Mayor) also came out in strong support of the idea and agreed to discuss this idea further.
“This is a subscription service and is quite expensive. However, it was decided to work with PBSO and find out if there was a way to get around this problem.”
So. . .
As to the question — if an enterprising reporter is up to the task — how much does acquiring gunshot detection technology cost? If the cost is prohibitive is there a way for cities to pool resources? “Is it possible for the West Palm Beach PD and Lake Worth PBSO District 14 to work together and solve this very serious problem?”
Or is the real problem, for some who’ve become accustomed to the status quo, is the thought of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth working together to help stop gun violence just completely unimaginable?
*On the issue of crime the editor at The Palm Beach Post recently praised PBSO Sheriff Ric Bradshaw who “smartly requested $1.8 million to hire 15 entry-level deputies” applying for a highly coveted federal grant for COPS. Community Oriented Policing Services: This program is “the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing . . . through information and grant resources.”
Do tree islands in Florida Everglades, “[H]ave the potential for permanent, year-round occupation”?
Meet at the Main Library located at 3650 Summit Blvd. in West Palm Beach (use this link for directions and more information). The lecture is titled, “The Archaeology of Everglades Tree Islands” by Palm Beach County Historic Preservation Research Intern Jessica Baker:
“During this presentation, we will be exploring the archaeology of Everglades tree islands through time, with particular focus on the genesis and prehistoric occupation of this network of islands which spans ~12,000 square miles of wetlands.”
and. . .
“It has long been held that Belle Glade and the surrounding Everglades area was largely a series of short-term occupational areas of those traveling from coast to coast; this discussion will illuminate the incredible amount of potential habitation area and the resources available, which have the potential for permanent, year-round occupation.”
Whilst on the topic. . .
Have you ever visited the Lawrence E. Will Museum of the Glades, “exploring the total Glades experience”? The museum will record history-in-the-making, an excerpt from the museum’s website:
“The water and sedges [south of what’s now called Lake Okeechobee] created feet of rich muck, which when eventually drained, turned into an agricultural wonder. Now some of that land close to the lake is beginning to be used for manufacturing in South Florida’s industrial expansion. This is sure to bring cultural and economic change in the next decade to the Glades.”
Tonight’s special guest speaker is Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo:
Remember, the Blue Front is more than just excellent BBQ, “it’s a step back in time” to what is called mid-20th Century “roadside architecture”.
Learn more about the Mango Groves Neighborhood Assoc. using this link. This is a public meeting and everyone is invited to attend:
“Hi everyone, once again it’s time for a meeting and we are a bit late making the announcement. We will meet at Blue Front tonight at 7:00. Mayor Pam Triolo will be in attendance to give us an update on our fair city. Hope to see you all there!”
Did you hear about that new bagel store in Lake Worth called “Bagels &”? Clever name, no? Has that “LDub” vibe everybody likes to talk about.
“We take pride in being a staple for the Lake Worth community, and providing some of the best tasting food around!”
To try out Bagels & you can visit its premises from Monday–Sunday, 6:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. See below for the address, directions, phone number, and website. From the press release:
Bagels & Lake Worth: Serving The Local Community, One Delicious Bagel At A Time.
“LAKE WORTH, FL — Bagels &, Lake Worth’s beloved destination for breakfast and brunch, [emphasis added] has had a successful start to catering events ahead of the busy fall and holiday season. Providing a custom selection of items from its menu, Bagels & takes on catering for events large and small — anything from a picnic at the beach, to a family get together, or even elegant business functions — taking painstaking care of the finest details, making sure all attendees absolutely love their food and overall experience.”
One of the important things a business will look at when considering a location here in the City of Lake Worth is how well the City does at “branding” and creating an “instantly recognizable brand”. For example, the Village of Wellington has done a terrific job at branding and is very careful to protect its image.
The City of Lake Worth back in 2012, according to an article by former Post reporter Willie Howard, came up with a way to make the City more recognizable much like Wellington did so people aren’t confused about whether a business is “in Wellington” or somewhere else in unincorporated PBC. Excerpts from the article by Willie Howard:
“LAKE WORTH— City commissioners are scheduled to decide Tuesday [June 19th, 2012] whether to
ask voters to approve two amendments to the charter — one changing the
city’s name to Lake Worth Beach . . . Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell is suggesting changing the city’s name
to Lake Worth Beach to help distinguish Lake Worth from parts of
unincorporated Palm Beach County that have Lake Worth mailing addresses.
According to postal officials, places as far west as Wellington can use
Lake Worth mailing addresses. In a memo to the commission about the name change, Maxwell notes that
crimes committed west of the city in unincorporated parts of Palm Beach
County are sometimes reported by the media as happening in Lake Worth.
Residents with Lake Worth mailing addresses who live west of the city
mistakenly come to city hall seeking solutions to their problems. Maxwell said Lake Worth is distinctive, with its walkable downtown and
beach, and that the new name would create an ‘instantly recognizable
brand for the city.’ ”
But enough about old history. It doesn’t matter any more.
You want to learn more about “Bagels &” right?
“Bagels & offers an extensive breakfast menu featuring its famed
bagels, along with other breakfast staples such as bialys, eggs,
pancakes, jumbo muffins and more.”
Directions: Drive west on Lake Worth Rd. and go south on Congress Ave. Once you pass the Great Walled City of Atlantis go west on Lantana Rd. to S. Military Trail. Go south on Military to Hypoluxo Rd. and then go west. Once you pass Jog Rd. the bagel store will be on the south side of the road. . .
Beginning to get the idea? This bagel store isn’t in the City of Lake Worth. It just has a ‘Lake Worth’ zip code.
Bagels & is located in the southwestern corner (bottom left) in this map, courtesy of your Palm Beach County government.
Maxwell’s idea of “Lake Worth Beach” doesn’t sound like such a bad idea after all, does it?
As Lake Worth prepares to kick off the exciting CANVAS outdoor art project for later this month, today three sculptures will arrive in Lake Worth. We’ve just learned that a giant crane, sculptures and installers are on their way to the Cultural Council project space. They will be installing over the next couple of hours. If you’d like to stop by and photograph/film the process, please let me know.
Would have liked to set up the tripod with sound equipment but just as the installations began the rain began. If you would like to go by and see these sculptures for yourself they are located behind the Cultural Council on ‘L’ St. between Lake Ave. and 1st Ave. South.
Some photos from today (short video follows the pics):
Click on images to enlarge:
Two sculptures arrived today. One more will be delivered later this week.
View from ‘L’ St. behind the Cultural Council building.
Heavy equipment and a crane was needed.
And. . .
Here is how the scene looks now to passersby. Enjoy the video:
*For more information contact Judith Czelusniak, Public Relations Manager at the Cultural Council by calling the office, 561-471-2901, by text at 917-655-3217 or email: Judith@palmbeachculture.com
Excerpts from the agenda are below. To look over each item for yourself go to the City’s website and scroll down for “Community Redevelopment Agency” and then click on the items of interest under “Agenda Package”.
One item in particular, 7D, is the latest about a program that the CRA, the City of Lake Worth’s Electric Utility, Adopt-A-Family et al. tried to implement but before it even had a chance, on the pretense of “gentrification”, former Commissioner Ryan Maier suggested the program was a nefarious conspiracy to steal homes from City residents. But more about that later. From the agenda later today:
Public participation of non-agendaed items (3 minute limit).
Approval of minutes: August 8.
Discussion agenda: CRA Legislative Update, David Tolces.
Action agenda: A) 1013 Lucerne Avenue – Approve Purchase and Sale and Development Agreement. B) 211 North Federal Highway - Approve Grant Funding. C) Disposition Process - 1000 Lake Avenue. D) Approve Residential Rehab Grant for 930 South F Street.E) Lake Worth Advocacy Group, CRA Liaison.F) 610 South “H” – Approve Purchase and Sale and Development Agreement.
Executive director report.
Board member comments.
Adjournment.
Note: One of more members of the City Commission or member of any other City board may attend and speak.
Now to the “Conservation and Rehabilitation Program” for City homeowners.
Below are excerpts from a blog post dated June 23rd, 2016.
The video (see below) will either have you scratching your head in disbelief or angry a City commissioner would act this way on the dais.
For an entire 10 minutes at the City Commission meeting on June 10th [2016], Commissioner Ryan Maier tries to grasp how this new program works to no avail. The CRA’s Director Joan Oliva does her best to explain and so does the Electric Utility Dir. Jack Borsch and others to no avail. Maier’s convinced there is a massive conspiracy involving multiple private and public entities and he won’t let it go. Eventually the vote was 4-1 with Maier voting “No”. Even [former] Commissioner McVoy voted “Yes”. Here is what to focus on in the video below:
At the 9:10 mark Maier begins his comments.
Pay particular attention to 13:30–19:30.
Eventually Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell calls for the vote and shortly after that the public in attendance roundly applauds the end of this nonsense.
“You depend on us. You depend on a free press.” —Quote. Timothy D. Burke, publisher of Palm Beach Post, Nov. 4th, 2017, following news by reporter Jeff Ostrowski, “Cox Media Group said Tuesday it has put a for-sale sign on The Palm Beach Post.”
Other than vehicle crashes and an occasional crime does anyone remember the last time there was any political news about Greenacres in the print edition of the Post’s daily “Local” section? News about code enforcement? Or an update on the merge with PBSO? The Post beat reporter for the City of Lake Worth is also supposed to be covering political news from the City of Greenacres as well.
Let’s pause momentarily. Test your knowledge. How much do you know about the City of Greenacres?
Did you know Greenacres also has a Little Free Library program and they are also on Facebook? It’s true.
This month marks two years since the Greenacres PD merged with PBSO. Have you seen anything about that in the Post?
Greenacres is having elections next March too.
Is the City of Greenacres, per Frank Cerabino, just a place, “In the middle of Palm Beach County’s suburban sprawl between the glitzier Wellington and the cooler Lake Worth”, and Greenacres is “[A] little bit of everything and a lot of nothing.” No, of course not.
And. . . by area and population Greenacres is nearly the same size as Lake Worth.
But of course, for reasons unknown, the focus in almost totally on the City of Lake Worth. For example, every Monday is the Post’s Lake Worth Very Very Special Monday Cursory Print Edition (LWVVSMCPE), a weekly print edition item. That’s right. Each and every Monday about Lake Worth on page B3.
Do you live in Greenacres and want to know why your news is being ignored? Write a Letter to the Editor and ask why (use this link to learn how).
Remember “IN FOCUS: LAKE WORTH” and those “Icy treats”? This RaceTrac isn’t in Lake Worth. It’s located in Palm Springs.
There’s more information to help the good people of Greenacres as well: Do you know about the “5 Tips” to get your community event, business, or service noticed in the Post? Use this link to learn more. The expert at the Post, Business Editor Antonio Fins writes,
“. . . the trick is reaching to the right journalist.”
“I hang out at RaceTrac a lot because it’s a good, clean, and inviting place to plug in my laptop when I’m working in and around Lake Worth, [emphasis added] something I’m now doing four days a week — a new mandate from our editors to fully embed ourselves in the communities we cover.”
“. . . [F]ully embed ourselves in the communities we cover”?
If you live in Greenacres and are scratching your head right about now, well, join the club.
“His [Frank Cerabino’s 2016] review and ranking of Greenacres, where I reside, is insulting, and any fact-checking is missing. Although I am not Asian, he neglected to include them in our mix of residents. And ‘a little bit of everything and a lot of nothing’ is so far off-base [emphasis added], it proves he not only knows nothing about our community but didn’t bother to find out. Just going to our city’s website would have enlightened him.”
As noted in the Post yesterday, on page B3 of the Local section (also listed on the City’s official calendar), on Wednesday at 6:00 is a Joint Workshop between the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Board and the Historic Resource Preservation Board (HRPB) in City Hall chambers.
Also on the City calendar next Wednesday at 6:30 is a meeting in the City Hall conference room of the Recreation Advisory Board (RAB), which should be very interesting because that board has not met in over twelve years so it’s unclear if there will be a quorum next week since no one knows for sure if RAB has any members left.
Note as well on the City calendar there is a Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA) meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:00. As yet there is no agenda available. Stay tuned as they say.
Before making any plans to attend a public City meeting next week you might want to contact the City Clerk first to see if there are any changes to the schedule next week, just to be on the safe side.
It is deeply troubling to see murder again on the rise in West Palm Beach. This year, 24 homicides have been reported in the city as of Friday, the most of any year in The Palm Beach Post’s database, which goes back to 2009 — and it’s only early November.
What’s more “deeply troubling” is the editor just focuses on West Palm Beach. Riviera Beach, just next door, has 11 homicides so far this year. Out of 87 homicides in Palm Beach County thirty-five (35) were in WPB and Riviera Beach, 40% of the total number of murders.
In the cities of Lake Worth, Greenacres, and all of unincorporated Palm Beach County there have been twenty-three homicides thus far in 2017 (two in Greenacres and six in Lake Worth).
Check back later on for the breakdown of the numbers. The numbers this year about the homicide rate is “deeply troubling”. West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach have their own police departments. Greenacres, Lake Worth, and all of unincorporated Palm Beach County have PBSO.
It’s time for the editor and publisher of The Palm Beach Post to put aside their petty bickering with Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and focus on what’s more important: working together and saving lives.
Festival is being held at the Bryant Park Amphitheater along the Intracoastal on Saturday, Nov. 18th from 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.*
Kids 12 years old and under enter FREE. To purchase tickets in advance for $10 use this link; tickets at the gate are $15.
WE LOVE THE KEYS! is an all day family festival with live reggae music, the area’s finest food trucks, an amazing “Kids’ Zone” and so much more.
All proceeds from this event will go to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Key West and the Lower Florida Keys, Inc. If you LOVE the Keys, please come out and enjoy this amazing event on the waterfront with your family in support of a wonderful cause. Tickets $15 at the gate.
One hundred percent (100%) of the proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity of Key West and the Lower Keys.
The City of Lake Worth’s Bryant Park, in Central Palm Beach County, is located at the western base of the Robert Harris (“Lake Worth”) Bridge. This little City has plenty of FREE street parking or pay to park at the Lake Worth Casino and walk over the bridge to Bryant Park (a ½-mile walk each way).
*If you would like to volunteer for this event or need community service hours, click on this link and look for “Questions”, send in your information and help out Habitat for Humanity at “WE LOVE THE KEYS!”
I had a very good conversation with Mr. Buddy Tuppen. That would be Buddy Tuppen, the son of another Mr. Tuppen who founded Tuppen’s Marine and Tackle on Dixie Hwy. here in Lake Worth. It was an earlier conversation with Mr. Joseph “Jay” Fearnley at the Lake Worth Rotary that set all this in motion. To read about my conversation with Mr. Fearnley use this link.
The Blueway Trail project
on the C-51 Canal between the city’s of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach
has been getting a tremendous amount of attention on this blog, as you know, but all this took
an unexpected turn after speaking with Mr. Fearnley earlier this year: the Blueway Trail in the context of
history. There once was a marina on the C-51 Canal in Lake Worth. More on that below; first some images to put this in perspective:
Inside the hashed box: Spillway Park, C-51 Canal and the S-155 “Spillway” structure as it is today. To see this for yourself take Maryland Ave. off Federal Hwy in Lake Worth.
Note the change in orientation and C-51 Canal (on right). This image is from 1937. In the center you can see the early platted streets of what is now the College Park neighborhood in Lake Worth.
This image is from the 1950’s. Compare with the first image above. See the marina on the Lake Worth side of the C-51? How many businesses supported this marina? Motels? Restaurants? Fishing supply stores?
Buddy Tuppen is in his 80s now. His family used to live on 15th Ave. North and would ride his bike with other kids to fish around what is now Spillway Park. Doing the math that must have been around the late 1940s.
He remembers the era when the picture was taken (see image above from the 1950s). This was south and east of the previous Dixie Hwy. bridge. You can see that on the aerial.
He said there was also a “lock” so that boats could pass through.
He said the land was owned either by the City or the County (Jay
Fearnley said the City owned that land). He remembered
boats in slips that were perpendicular with the dock which ran
parallel to the shoreline of the C-51.
The marina was run
by a fellow named Bill Murrelle. After the City or County made him leave he set up shop in Lantana and had a place
called Murrelle Marine which is still in business today. Murrelle sold that business but it kept the same name. He has since passed after moving to Sebastian.
Buddy Tuppen went on to give more interesting history: his Grandfather bought the land where Tuppen’s Marine is today. The business began in either 1936 or 1937. His grandfather bought the land for past due taxes, about $38. Buddy said his Grandfather had to borrow the money from friends to make the purchase and wondered how he was going to pay it back.
Prior to being Tuppen’s Marine that lot had been a Ford dealership that was wiped out by the 1928 hurricane. The property sat idle after that hurricane until it was purchased by the Grandfather Tuppen’s in the mid 30’s.
Do you have any more history and/or pictures of this area along the C-51 Canal is Lake Worth? Please feel free to contact me: 561-308-0364; email: WesBlackman@gmail.com
The showroom “Grand Opening” at Tuppen’s in the 1950’s. It’s still there at 1006 N. Dixie Hwy.
Will another marina open up on the C-51 Canal? If so, customers will be heading to stores like Tuppen’s, eating at our restaurants, and looking for hotels. Just like it used to be in the little City of Lake Worth.
The post that’s getting so much attention today is below following a very short video. Why is it getting so much attention? Because of the words “opt out” and another thing called the “Secretary of Interior standards for historic preservation”. The words opt out are very catchy and grab the public’s attention (you’ll read more about “opt out” later on), especially all those who are excited about the prospect of ‘opting out’ of historic preservation. And just as misleading and misunderstood are the Secretary of Interior standards for historic preservation, which are in fact subjective standards. Despite what government staff and even knowledgeable proponents of historic preservation would like you to believe, Moses did not write the Secretary of Interior standards. These “standards” are meant to be guidelines. Just like history marches on so do construction materials and better, more efficient ways to protect ones property and provide for ones safety.
Just like “opt out” is a meaningless term that no one can define or explain in a legally-defined way, the words “Secretary of Interior standards” are used reverently by others like they were the Dead Sea Scrolls. The way to solve the problem with historic preservation here in the City of Lake Worth is explained below and we’ll get a lot more accomplished a lot more quickly by “opting out” of using empty rhetoric and misunderstood, confusing words or ‘standards’.
When a city, like the City of Lake Worth for example, decides to veer from the Secretary of Interior Standards there is no penalty like eternal damnation, a purgatory, or even a time-out penalty, forced to stand in a corner at City Hall for ten minutes. However some of those administering the historic preservation programs may get a little annoyed and call someone at the State level to complain but that’s about the extent of it, except of course more lawyers will need to be paid and more Commission meetings held with seemingly endless Kabuki-style debate on the dais:
So. Without further ado. . .
The blog post from yesterday about “Opt Out!”
As explained many times before on this blog a meme is a “word virus”, a word or words transmitted from one person or entity to other people or groups; some memes can spread like wildfire. Many of you in the City of Lake Worth will be familiar with the last time “Opt Out!” was the meme two years ago which ultimately prompted a legal opinion from the law firm Torcivia, Donlon, Goddeau & Ansay:
Ms. Squire states that she did not receive an “opt out” form to opt out of having her property included in the designation of the Northeast Lucerne Townsite Local Historic District.
Why the meme “opt out” is back is no surprise to anyone. Because the City of Lake Worth’s historic preservation program has been so poorly managed, in particular the last 2½ years, the public is completely fed up with it. And so are our elected officials. Back in 1998–1999 I was part of the effort that helped start the historic preservation program here in this City. And I’m not happy at all with what’s become of this program. I know. Because I get the phone calls and emails too. But more about “opt out” below.
The topic of historic preservation and historic districts is now a major topic of discussion and debate at the City Commission and a reporter from NBC5/WPTV was there on Tuesday night, November 7th. As expected, reporter Andrew Lofholm’s news segment finally got the attention of the beat reporter from The Palm Beach Post and a short article was hurriedly put together and appears in today’s (11/9) print edition.
Recommend everyone watch the news segment that appeared on the 11:00 news following the Commission meeting last Tuesday, click on this link to see the video produced by WPTV.
Related to the changes in the historic preservation ordinance, I couldn’t help but notice a few things. First and most glaring, Pamala Ryan, a senior associate lawyer for City Attorney Glen Torcivia gave the presentation for the City’s Community Sustainability Historic Preservation Dept. I can’t recall anything like this ever happening before. The staff at the Historic Preservation Dept. should have been out front in the lead taking the questions and “slings and arrows”, not an attorney. Someone on the dais should have at least questioned why this was the case last Tuesday.
Second reading of “Ordinance No. 2017-27 - amending Chapter 23 Land Development Regulations, Article 5 Supplemental Regulations, Section 23.5-4 Historic Preservation” will be held at the City Commission on December 5th. It will be interesting to see who takes the lead next time.
Now back to the issue, letting residents “opt out” of historic districts.
Many who purchase a home or property in a historic district are “buying into” historic preservation. But what most people weren’t expecting is the ambiguity, arbitrary decision-making, lack of design guidelines, and bad customer service from what many residents have complained about as well: an unsympathetic historic preservation staff.
It was Commissioner Omari Hardy who opened the door to the possibility of the City allowing property owners to “opt out” of a historic district. Hardy’s idea is not a new one by any means. But it needs to be noted the courts have never ruled on such a thing since the state legislature has never taken up this issue. The practical impact of ‘opting out’ would mean if you didn’t want your home improvements to be reviewed according to the Secretary of Interior standards for historic preservation you could just “opt out” and make whatever changes to your house or commercial structure without regard to those standards.
On the positive side this would greatly facilitate the speed and expense of approval for any style of window, door, roofing material, or siding, just a few examples, in terms of the actual building materials. It would also allow you to construct any size of addition in any style that is not representative of the original historic structure. Scale or size of the addition would not be a factor to be considered if it followed the City’s guidelines for home construction. One could basically build anything on their property as long as it met the standards and regulations contained in the zoning code.
Over time your neighbor and other houses on your block could also choose to “opt out” and be free of such standards. They could also demolish their structure that was formerly in a historic district and build a new building that would only have to meet the current standards contained in the City’s land development regulations for that zoning district. Houses built in the 1920s through the 1960s would not need an extra level of approval for demolition. They could just be torn down with a demolition permit issued by the building department.
But leaving the historic preservation staff out of this for a moment, imagine how that would impact the City of Lake Worth’s character? A group of volunteers has successfully produced and marketed a book called “The Cottages of Lake Worth — Living Large in Small Spaces”. This coffee table book has been marketing the character and charm of this City. What if future owners of these cottages just choose to “opt out” of the historic district they are in? Suddenly we are then a vibrant and charming historic city threatened by losing what made it so special in the first place, its history.
An analogy I’ve used is a “rowboat with fifty small holes”. Allowing property owners to “opt out” of a historic district would sink the entire historic preservation program. The problem IS NOT the historic program, the problem is how it’s been implemented the last 2½ years or so. The backlash we are seeing against the historic preservation program, and the discussion again of allowing homeowners to “opt out”, is due to an overzealous staff administering the program.
Historic districts have been shown to help sustain and increase property values around the nation where they are established and run properly for the benefit of everyone. That can all be destroyed by what is perceived as an overly-critical and time-consuming process experienced by the property owner. What I fear now is the City of Lake Worth is creating a small army of ambassadors telling everyone here in Florida, and beyond, how terrible it is to purchase a home in a historic district.
The changes approved last Tuesday night, passed unanimously on first reading, will make the historic preservation ordinance easier for people to understand and it gives priority to the more important façades of structures, e.g., the front of the home and less so to other parts of the structure. This should make the process easier to administer and more understandable for the property owner.
And don’t forget you can get a property tax exemption on your City taxes for a period of ten years based on the value of improvements to your historic property. That would be lost if people chose to “opt out” of a historic district.
And lastly, when it comes to the need for impact windows and doors and homes that need new roofs — it’s only a matter of time before we get a direct hit by a hurricane — and as the city of Charleston, S.C. is coming to grips with addressing problems and public concern about its own world-renowned historic preservation program:
Below is an excerpt from the text of the news segment which aired on the 11:00 news last night (Nov. 7th) along with the video from WPTV as well.
Check back tomorrow for more of my observations about what happened last night at “New Business” on the Commission agenda, specifically the idea of allowing property owners to “opt out” of historic districts which would in essence, over time, be the end of this City’s historic preservation program; an analogy, a rowboat with fifty small holes:
Item 11A. Ordinance No. 2017-27 - First Reading - amending Chapter 23 “Land Development Regulations”, Article 5 “Supplemental Regulations”, Section 23.5-4 “Historic Preservation” and set the second reading and public hearing for December 5, 2017.
The WPTV reporter did a good job reporting on this topic and maybe the assignment editor will remember to pencil-in Lofholm for the upcoming meeting on December 5th, second reading at the City Commission.
The deeper question, beyond historic preservation, is the overall vision for our City of Lake Worth. How can we say on one hand our City is “open for business” and there is such a need for affordable housing, and on the other hand we’re squeezing out Millennials and young families with children from being able to find and/or afford to upgrade a home in any of our historic districts? Our City has created its very own housing affordability crisis.
And a question: Why are there no historic districts west of Dixie Hwy.? Our history east of Dixie is more worth saving than our history west of Dixie, you know, “on the other side of the tracks”?
Critics of historic preservation, specifically critics of historic districts, are already using the City of Lake Worth as an example why historic districts are a bad policy idea here in South Florida. It’s not outside the realm of possibilities this City could become a test case state-wide of even nationwide for critics of historic districts and how to go about dismantling them for protection from onerous, expensive regulation and decisions by a too-often unsympathetic bureaucracy.
What’s ironic about all this our very own staff managing our historic preservation program has provided all the ammunition critics have been looking for all along. Our City of Lake Worth could go down in the history books as the city that set back historic preservation efforts two decades or even longer. If that should ever happen, it would be very sad, but not unexpected.
No one can say they are surprised. January 2016 was the tipping point in the City’s South Palm Park neighborhood and then the public reached a “boiling point” in June 2016. We kept hearing from those administering Lake Worth’s historic preservation program they were listening. But they weren’t. And the complaints kept rolling in. The phones of our electeds kept ringing. And now here we are.
The historical designation rules are set by the state’s
Department of Interior. Any local law needs approval, which they finally
have. The state rejected the first proposal earlier this year. On
Tuesday night in its first reading, relaxed rules were approved 5-0
before city commissioners. “I don’t think it’s up to us
on the commission to tell people what they can and cannot do to their
homes over and above the regulations that we already have,” Commissioner
Omari Hardy said in an interview. The rules, include allowing hurricane windows, no regulation on fences and approved future guidelines on design options. Early
next year, Hardy will try to get the law to go one step further by
allowing homeowners the option to opt out of historical designation
altogether. [emphasis added]
Click on play and the news segment by reporter Andrew Lofholm will begin following a brief advertisement:
![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL75cv6zJQFjX15ojOIIz9AjnbqH4asHJTYSDhnGnYr7rJZRha1NcNTirj2xPcId158vkz5Hw-wXgOfrlztj8Zr8jLFFCfuEN6PyV44ZlpMRmJ68xbtFL9vzxNiG7xDs_HJvm/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
