Opening Round

Wednesday June 16th, Lake Worth Democratic Club is meeting at 7 PM Pegasus Restaurant 301 North Dixie Lake Worth, to feature a discussion with Pete Brandenberg and Jeff Clemens, both running for District 89 State Senate. Come early to get a ringside seat.

Blog Horn

There’s a new Blog in town.  Click here to visit Mary Lindsey’s The Panda Papers.

Come On In, The Water’s Fine

Lake Worth’s pool by the beach will be reopening Saturday, June 5th.

All of the work to get the pool back up and running was done entirely “in house” by the utilities and public service departments.  And it was done 20,000.00 under the original estimate.

Hammon Park Denied

Click on image to enlarge.

The request for an amendment of the Master Development Plan by the Hammon Park developers was denied in a 5 to 2 vote by the Planning and Zoning Board yesterday evening.  The two alternates also voted to deny the request although their votes did not count.

Lynda Mahoney brought up the fact that the density of the development had increased from 29 per acre to over 38 per acre since the original plans for the property.  She also cited the absence of any outdoor space for children noting that there are no nearby parks and parents would have to drive them to places to play thus negating the “walkabilty” claims made by the developers.

Manuel Occhiogrosso noted the development’s almost total lack of green space, stating that even notoriously dense medieval housing had courtyards and outdoor spaces incorporated into them.

Lynda Davis also expressed concern over the absence of green space calling the project, “A pretty new warehouse for people.”

Board alternate Christopher McVoy pointed out that while developer’s infiltration drainage system did return water to the ground it was not as good as having permeable green space.  He explained that it is the organic matter that filters out pollution from the water running off roofs and asphalt.

Board chair John Paxman and vice chair Phil Spinelli were in favor of granting the amendment.  Paxman cited changes in the property size and layout due to the developers selling the parcel to the south to Publix had affected the density and that the infrastructure had already been installed.  Spinelli was concerned about the project’s 82% of impervious surface and lack of green space but said that we live in a city not a town and it was important to get the property on the tax rolls.

Linda Davis rhetorically asked, “Isn’t that property in the CRA district?”  Pointing out that the taxes would go to the CRA, not to the general tax role.  She also noted that residential developments do not contribute much in the way of taxes due to their larger use of city services.

After the vote vice chair Spinelli loudly quipped, “Can you say lawsuit?”

Hammon Park Part Deux

The Developers of Hammon Park are requesting the Planning and Zoning Board amend the Master Development Plan to allow them to finish building on the property at the corner of N. J St. and 3rd Ave N.  They are now “emphasizing the affordability of the project” (see below).

It seems that affordable housing is the new marketing buzz word for developers in order to get grants.    With NSP2 and and the City’s own affordable housing program it appears that we are already taking care of that segment.  With Publix next door and located on bus routes wouldn’t this location be better suited for seniors, there are grants available for that as well.

This is not the only issue with the project.  Lack of green-space, three story buildings abutting a residential neighborhood (no elevators) and parking are also concerns.

The P&Z Board is meeting in City Hall Chambers at 6:00 PM this evening.

Note:  New Urban Communities (NUC) is the Hammon Park developer.

In December 2009, NUC sold three-quarter of property located south of North 3rd Avenue North to Publix, which then requires a major amendment/modification to the approved RPD (Hammon Park). On March 2010, NUC closed on the Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s (FHFC) grant; consequently NUC is now requesting to amend the master development plan once more to allow the construction of the outstanding 33 units in addition to the thirteen existing dwelling units which accumulate to 46 units on the subject site. According to the Applicant the, the entire 33 units development will be constructed to LEED SILVER standards endorse by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

In 2008, Planning and Zoning Board and City Commission had profound concerns regarding the project affordability. As a result, the Applicant provides a statement below to emphasize on the affordability of the project.

“Affordability: Every unit will be marketed to low and moderate income residents. The state requirement is that all homes be affordable to persons making less than 140% of the median income adjusted for household size, but in fact all the homes will be affordable to persons making less than 80% of the median income adjusted for household size. In addition, 50% of the homes must be sold to essential workers, which include teachers, nurses and municipal workers. It should be noted that the School District is providing 25 down payment assistance grants of $10,000 each and the CRA is also providing $50,000 for down payment assistance grants for City, CRA, and, in addition to the CWHIP grants, which average about $47,735 per unit.”

This property is situated in a relatively dense area. Properties located North of the subject RPD have a land-use category of General Commercial (GC) and High Density Residential and has a zoning designation High Intensity Commercial-1 and Medium- Density Multiple-Family Residential, 30 units to the acre; properties located to the south have a land-use category of Central Area Commercial (CAC) and Mixed Use Office-Residential, and zoning designation CAC and Downtown Arts Overlay District; properties located west have a land-use category of General Commercial and zoning designation of High Intensity Commercial-1; and properties located East of subject site have a land-use category of High Density Residential and a zoning designation of Medium-Density Multiple-Family Residential, 30 units to the acre.

Give A Man A Fish. . .

And he’ll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and he’ll want to go to the Second Annual City of Lake Worth Fishing Tournament.

Click on image to enlarge.

A Day At The Beach?

Click here to read Two men injured in parking-lot fight near Lake Worth Municipal Beach at the Palm Beach Post.

The Post article is not taking comments, but Tom’s Page thinks we need to talk about this.

Hometown Heroes

84 year old Clifford Taylor, a WWII navy veteran, accompanied by Harriet Dowry, both of the Lake Worth Lions Club, placed a wreath at the Pinecrest Cemetery Veterans Memorial as part of the Memorial Day 2010 services.

Photo and caption courtesy of Christopher Summa. Click here to visit the new record to see more photos and read about the services at Pinecrest Cemetery.

Keeping Abreast Of Things. . .

Deanna marched up to the statue outside the Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery and placed Barbie in this strategic position.  We were downtown this afternoon;  stopping at several local businesses to eat lunch, have drinks and enjoy ice cream.

After having our fill, we walked down to Bryant Park to find all of the construction fences have been removed and the entire park is finally open.

The walkway along the seawall in the south part of the park.

A dinghy beached near the horseshoe pits.

Using the exercise equipment.

The parking lot in the south end of the park appears only to need the stripes painted on the blacktop to be complete.

Deanna and Christopher on the swings.

The new seawall is a great place to catch the breeze off the waterway.

It’s wonderful to be able to use the whole park again and we look forward to the new play structure, landscaping and benches.

Memorial Day

We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. ~Francis A. Walker