A table of diners toasts to a beautiful evening along Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach during last year's Savor the Avenue. The event is March 26 this year. Photo provided

By Jan Norris

The biggest food and wine event for Boca Raton is gearing up for its 16th year. 

Boca Bacchanal, a favorite of oenophiles for the celeb-chef vintner dinners, and with partiers for the Bacchanalia under-the-tent event, planned to kick off with the Bacchus Beckons launch party Feb. 27 at Saks Fifth Avenue. The “reveal” of matchups for chefs and hosts are announced at this party, and the ticket reservations begin in earnest. 

The hot, or haute, tickets are for the vintner dinners April 6, $325 each for a five-course meal prepared by a celebrity chef, paired to a winery’s best offerings and set in a fabulous host home. 

The dinners offer the chance to meet the chefs and vintners and get to chat one-on-one about the foods and wines. Saks will donate a silent auction item to each dinner.

A Southern accent is predominant among the guest chefs, with big personality chef Philippe Haddad from Atlanta’s Cape Dutch; Jimmy Bannos of Heaven on Seven in Chicago, who focuses on Cajun cooking; Regina Charboneau, a Mississippi chef whose impressive résumé includes stints in Alaska’s bush, Paris and San Francisco and several cookbooks; and Josh Harmon of Junction Craft Kitchen in Dallas. 

Joining them are Italian chefs Vincenzo Betulia of Tulia Osteria in Naples, Fla., and Tony Mantuano of Chicago’s Spiaggia. He’s a Top Chef master and James Beard Award winner. Rounding out the field is chef Aaron Meneghelli of Carneros Resort and Spa in the Napa Valley. 

Bubbles & Brunch, a Champagne light brunch tied to the Bacchanal, is March 18 at the new Robb & Stuckey showroom. The $30 ticket gets you a Champagne cocktail and some light bites while you browse the showroom.

The finale of the event is April 7 at the Mizner Park Amphitheater, moved to evening hours, 7 to 11. With more than 30 restaurants and wineries showcasing foods and wines in a huge dine-around event, with live music and a high-tech auction, it’s a favorite among foodies and social types. Tickets are $100 and go quickly; buy at www.bocabacchanal.com. The Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum is the beneficiary of the events.

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Already tickets have sold out for most of the 15 restaurants participating in the 10th annual Savor the Avenue street-long dinner party in Delray Beach.

Held each spring, this year on March 26, the event draws more than 1,000 diners who sit at tables set in the middle of Atlantic Avenue downtown, stretching for blocks. 

Chefs from area restaurants prepare a fixed five-course menu, and diners reserve seats with the restaurants. A contest for best table décor and foods is part of the affair as chefs and decorators go all out.

It will be bittersweet for 32 East, a downtown Delray restaurant that changed the face of dining when it opened 32 years ago. This is its last year for Savor the Avenue; it will close in May.

The event is sponsored by Delray and Boca magazines, and the Delray DDA. A charity is chosen each year as the beneficiary; this year’s is the Not One Homeless Hungry Student Delray Beach initiative. 

For tickets to remaining seats, or to be put on a wait list, call 243-1077 or go to www.downtowndelraybeach.com/savortheavenue.

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Big art and small sharing plates (crab cakes, mussels in vodka sauce, hanger steak and the like) are the theme at Avant, downtown Delray’s newest addition to the dining and art scene. Local artists have modern works on display in the moody Soho-like indoor-out restaurant that took over SoLita’s space on Second Avenue. It's part craft cocktail bar, part gallery and part grill; find it easily by the giant Lego-like critter that stands sentinel in the courtyard. 

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For a few moments in the Olympic 500-meter speed skating event, FAU ’10 grad Brittany Bowe seemed close to a gold medal. She was on top by nine thousandths of a second with a 37.53 time in a race the TV announcers called flawless. 

But she was soon knocked off the lead and the podium. Nao Kodaira of Japan won in an Olympic-record time of 36.94 seconds. Bowe wound up fifth.

 Bowe, who turned 30 during the Olympics, also finished fourth in the 1,000-meter race and fifth in the 1,500. 

Regaining confidence after a concussion in 2016, Bowe told a Team USA reporter she was just happy to get to the games; placing near the top was icing on the cake after she did not finish close to the medals at the 2014 Sochi Games.

But a happy ending: Bowe finally medaled in South Korea, winning a bronze in the team pursuit with U.S. teammates Heather Bergsma and Mia Manganello — edging Canada by .45 seconds. 

It was the first U.S. women's Olympic medal in long track speed skating since 2002.

Japan defeated the Netherlands for the gold medal.

“There were times less than a year ago I didn’t even think I’d be able to lace the skates back up, so to be top five in the world in everything I’ve skated is a blessing,” Bowe said.

She is committed to skating in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. “I definitely plan on going another four years,” she said.

                                ***

Now get set for the local 2018 Senior Games.

There’s no skiing, and definitely no luge. 

But over-50 competitors can try for gold, silver and bronze in a dozen events ranging from powerlifting to archery and pickleball, golf, swimming, track and billiards at the 29th annual games set up by the Delray Beach Parks and Recreation Department.

The games run March 2-9 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at parks and YMCA gyms in Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Boca Raton.

Age divisions begin at 50 and go up in five-year increments till 90. Then it’s just a 90-plus age category — and glory to you.     The games are open to anyone, though Delray Beach residents pay lower entry fees. Pros need not apply — until 20 years after they last competed in their given sport. No ringers allowed, unless it’s a golf pro who doesn’t earn much except from teaching.

Lest you dismiss these golden years athletes, consider that at last year’s games, Yilmaz Eryasa, 89, won gold in the 50-meter dash with a respectable time of 8.97 seconds. That was faster than Tom Johnson, who in the 65-69 group won gold in 9.68 seconds. Eryasa won gold in long jump at 6 feet, 7.25 inches. 

Then there’s 76-year-old Roger Busch, who hurled a discus 136 feet, 10.5 inches for a gold, bettering kids of 54 who mustered 112 feet, 6 3/8 inches.

Gold medalists can progress to the Florida International Senior Games and State Championships in Clearwater in December. 

Spectators are encouraged; game watching is free.

To check out schedules or to enter, contact Parks and Recreation at 243-7000, ext. 5101, or visit www.mydelraybeach.com/departments/parks_and_recreation/delray_beach_senior_games.php

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Parks and Rec staff in Delray Beach have a busy month, with the games first, then the giant Easter Egg Hunt in Robert P. Miller Park on March 31.

There will be 10,000 plastic eggs stashed around the park. Some will have candy; others will have small prizes.

However, those don’t compare to the hunt at the Four Seasons Palm Beach, where the traditional egg hunt has yielded a much more lucrative prize. 

In past years, it has included Fabergé eggs. As we write, it’s in the planning stages this year, and no telling what the great egg prize will be. 

                                ***

Beverly Hills “real housewife” Lisa Vanderpump was at Total Wine & More in Boca Center with hubby Ken Todd in February. They were sampling out their wine, Vanderpump Rose, for guests in a grip-and-grin event.

Freelance writer Jan Norris wrote this column for Thom Smith, who will return next month.  Jan can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com. Smith can be reached at  thomsmith@ymail.com.

Palm Beach County's Hindus celebrate Holi, the arrival of spring, by throwing colored powder at one another and squirting colored water.  Photo provided

This is one of an occasional series on how various cultures celebrate the new year.

By Janis Fontaine

A bird. A bloom. A breeze without an arctic chill. 

The signs of spring are a reason to rejoice. In many cultures, the New Year begins not in the dead of winter but in the promise of green buds, longer days and sunshine. 

The people of Iran celebrate Nowruz, an ancient festival that coincides with the vernal equinox, the time when the sun shines directly on the equator and day and night are each 12 hours long. Officially, that’s when spring arrives, and many cultures recognize it for its messages of rebirth and renewal. Nowruz, meaning new day, is a happy time, pristine and full of hope. 

“Nowruz is a beautiful day,” said Ali Moghani, who lives in Boynton Beach. “It’s not political, and it doesn’t belong to any religion. It recognizes what every man has in common, whether a king or a working person. There’s something special about the equinox, when day and night are equal.”

By tracking the moon and the seasons, agricultural communities knew when to plant and harvest crops, and nomadic cultures knew when to pack up and move on. The rituals and activities of society revolved around the movement of the celestial bodies. It was a constant in a world of uncertainties.   

“Ancient Persians believed you had to wait until the moon reached a certain place before the festival could begin,” Moghani explained. He and his community will celebrate Nowruz on March 17 with a party even though the vernal equinox isn’t officially until 12:15 p.m. March 20 in Florida. 

Families gather around a table set in a traditional way with a special tablecloth and a colorful display of seven important items, all beginning with the letter S. Each is a symbol of renewal. “Everything has to be there,” Moghani said. “Two weeks before, we plant something so we’ll have green sprouting inside, and there are certain flowers and foods we must have.” 

Little meat is consumed. The green planting, called the sabzeh, represents rebirth and becomes the table’s centerpiece. Also on the table: samanu, a sweet pudding, which represents fertility; seeb, or apples, to represent beauty; seer (garlic) represents good health; sekeh (coins) represents prosperity; serekh (vinegar) represents patience; and sonbol, the hyacinth, represents all things spring.

Nowruz dates back at least 3,000 years to the pre-Islamic, Zoroastrian history of Iran.

The origin may be ancient, but the sentiment is timely: “The traditions say that we have to be good to the Earth, to value it and what comes from it. The main idea is to respect the Earth,” Moghani said. 

Moghani supports the Iranian Cultural Society of Palm Beach, which hosts a friendly gathering at Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach the first Sunday of the month. “Our mission is to keep the traditions strong.” 

Nowruz is also celebrated in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Albania, Turkey, Turkmenistan and parts of India, Russia and China. In some places it’s called Farmer’s Day. 

The colorful Holi 

 Nowruz isn’t the only spring festival that commemorates the start of a new year. 

Each year, hundreds of Hindus arrive at Loxahatchee Groves Park in western Palm Beach County dressed in white, where they will “greet each other with colors,” Leila Persaud explained.

By the time the revelry is over, everyone, once starkly white, will be colored by bright powder in teal and fuscia, red and yellow, green and gold. 

Holi is the Hindu spring festival, also called the “Festival of Colours,” and throwing brightly colored powder at each other or squirting each other with colored water is the highlight of the two-day event. 

“It’s a very important festival,” said Persaud, of Lake Worth. “It thanks God for the triumph of good over evil.”

Last year 400 people attended. The Palm Beach Hindu Mandir hosts the event.

 “It’s fun for the adults and the kids,” spiritual leader Vishnu Sharma said.     Traditionally, the date of the festival falls on the first full moon in the month of Phalguna in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar, which puts it between the end of February and the middle of March on the Gregorian calendar. Celebrating begins the night before with a party called Holika Dahan. Holi, which is the following day, is like New Year’s Day. 

Holi celebrates the end of winter, the arrival of spring, the victory of good over evil. It’s a time of rejoicing and singing, frolicking and feasting. But the day also has a serious side: Holi is important for clearing the slate for the new year. People pay off their debts and mend relationships, forgive past wrongs and ask for forgiveness. 

The festival is widely celebrated in India and Nepal, and its popularity is spreading through Europe and the United States like colored powder on the white cloth. 

 Holi food is all vegetarian, Persaud said. With donations from local businesses, the women of the mandir prepare saffron rice and beans, using time-honored Indian recipes and great skill. 

The most symbolic dish is sweet gujhiya, Indian sweet empanadas or dumplings, stuffed with a mixture of milk solids called khoya, sugar, dried fruit, green cardamom and nuts.

Holi doesn’t have any religious rituals to be performed. During Holi, people regardless of their sex, color, caste or creed join together to spread a message of love, unity and peace. There’s a ritual the night before, with a bonfire, but the Holi is all about having fun and enjoying friends and family.

Other celebrations that mark the beginning of spring  include Japan’s Shunbun no Hi, which is celebrated by visiting and cleaning loved ones’ graves and having family reunions. 

The Mayan celebration of the Return of the Sun Serpent also took place during the vernal equinox, and a festival still is held at El Castillo pyramid in the Chichen Itza archeological site during both the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The late afternoon sun casts a shadow that makes it look like a snake is moving down the pyramid. 

In Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the vernal equinox. Egypt was the first to celebrate Mom, beginning in 1956. The other countries followed.

At Stonehenge, the vernal equinox is an important time for New Age followers and Wiccans. At least 100 people show up each year to welcome spring in complete silence. 

Other celebrations

Año Nuevo Azteca, the Aztec New Year

When: Sunrise March 12 

Who celebrates: Some Nahua communities in Mexico

How they celebrate: Candles, fireworks, drumming and singing are all part of the festivities. 

Gudi Padwa, the Marathi Hindu New Year 

When: March 18, based on the lunisolar Hindu calendar. 

Where: India

Who celebrates: The Maharashtra Hindus. Similar celebrations are held by the Telugu, Konkani and Kannada Hindus.

How they celebrate: The day starts with a spring cleaning, followed by making colorful decorations on the floor and erecting colorful silk scarf-like cloth tied at the top of a long bamboo pole called gudi. Street processions, dancing and meals with traditional foods that always include both sweet and bitter flavors are part of the festival. 

Hari Raya Nyepi, the Bali Hindu New Year

When: March 17. Celebrated on the first day of the Saka lunar calendar or on the first new moon of March.

Where: Mainly celebrated in Bali, Indonesia

Who celebrates: Hindus celebrate, but others are respectful of the holiday. Non-Hindus observe the customs that prohibit work, and even the airport is closed for the day.

How: Nyepi, a national holiday since 1983, is a day of silence and self-reflection, fasting and meditation. The day before the new year, custom says the Lord of Hell sends out devils that must be cleared out before the new year begins. People make papier-mâché effigies that they parade through town before burning them, which is followed by a feast with music and dancing. 

If You Go

What: Holi, the Hindu New Year, a colorful celebration with food and music

When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 4

Where: Loxahatchee Groves Park, 13901 Southern Blvd.

Information: 632-1861 or www.pbhindumandir.org

Asian Trade, Food Fair and Cultural Show

A leftover from last month’s Chinese Festival, the show will have many elements of the Chinese New Year.

Included are more than 50 performers such as the professional lion dance team led by Chinese kung fu master Siu Hung Li. Asian groups will present art, modern and traditional dance, music, films, cuisine, literature, crafts, fashion and culture. Another highlight will be a performance by popular Bangladeshi model and TV star Sadia Islam Mou. 

There’s also a large food court, yoga demonstrations and henna tattoos, and the kids will enjoy the carnival rides and games. About 15,000 people are expected to attend. 

When: March 17-18

Where: South Florida Fairgrounds, 9067 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach 

Admission: $12. 

Info: 754-246-2801 or 385-3862 or www.asianfair.org

The Plate: A Puttanesca Flatbread

The Place: Temple Orange, Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan; 540-4923 or www.templeorangerestaurant.com.

The Price: $19

The Skinny: Many of us have had a pasta puttanesca — you know, pasta tossed in a hearty tomato sauce that’s loaded with capers, bits of anchovy and plenty of hot pepper. 

According to legend, prostitutes would prepare the dish to whet the appetites of sailors for something other than food.

This flatbread draws inspiration from the capers and tomato of its namesake. But it’s much lighter than the classic pasta dish, with a thin, crispy crust that’s topped with plenty of mozzarella, bits of fresh tomato and tender Key West shrimp. 

I also enjoyed the fried mozzarella, an innovative take on the dish, with tangy marinara and spicy pepperonata. 

— Scott Simmons

Florida Lore, by Caren Schnur Neile; History Press,

167 pp.; $21.95

By Steve Pike

Caren Schnur Neile can’t remember a time when she wasn’t telling stories.

“I was 7 years old when I wrote my first little book,’’ said Neile, whose latest book, Florida Lore, tells the tales of some of Florida’s most famous, infamous and off-the-beaten-path characters and places.

Among them: Ma Barker, the 1930s leader of the Barker-Karpis Gang, who was killed in a gun battle with the FBI in 1935 in Ocklawaha; Elizabeth Budd Graham (the Tallahassee Witch); Ponce Inlet fishing legend “Big Man’’ Jess Linzy; “Cracker Cowboy’’ Bone Mizell; and a young man named William Powell who grew up to become the great Seminole warrior Chief Osceola.

In the 167-page book, Neile writes with the eye (and pen) of a master storyteller — which she is. The Boca Raton resident holds a doctorate in comparative studies from Florida Atlantic University, where she has taught storytelling studies since 1991.

She is also the former chairwoman of the National Storytelling Network and co-hosts The Public Storyteller, a weekly segment on South Florida public radio WLRN.

None of the stories in Florida Lore is original. As Neile points out in the introduction, she focuses on retelling stories originally passed down orally as folktales, legends, myths and urban legends. Each of those is captured in the book — from James “Acrefoot’’ Johnson (The Barefoot Mailman) to the Florida Skunk Ape to pirate Jose Gaspar.

“Mostly I wanted to collect what people were saying in our communities and about our heroes, scoundrels and places,’’ Neile said. “Florida is so much more than concrete and strip malls. How can you not know the ghost stories of your environment? Or the famous criminals in your environment?’’

Indeed. In Florida Lore, Neile takes readers to places such as Desert Inn and Restaurant in Yeehaw Junction, and the Seminole Inn in Indiantown, a favorite spot of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Neile also tells the stories of some of Florida’s most colorful citizens whom readers might not know, including Grayce McCoy, the raucous real estate lady of Sebring; and Laura Upthegrove, the self-proclaimed “Queen of the Everglades’’ who was obsessed with the life (and crimes) of “Swamp Bandit’’ gangster John Ashley.

The stories, Neile said, “are the real Florida because that’s what people share.’’

And Florida Lore certainly is worth sharing. 

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach City Commission candidate Ryan Boylston sat on the board of the Downtown Development Agency when it paid thousands of taxpayer dollars to advertise in a newspaper that he co-owned.

The payments could be a breach of state ethics laws, according to a local attorney with a specialty in media and communications law.

Boylston was appointed in July 2011 to the DDA, which is charged with promoting downtown Delray Beach and taxes property owners in its 236-acre district.

The following year, 2012, he and others started The Pineapple newspaper, now known as Delray Newspaper.  

“It appears to be a clear violation of Florida’s ethics law,” said Martin Reeder, a West Palm Beach trial and appellate lawyer with more than 37 years of experience. “The law applies because he was appointed to the DDA board before he co-founded the newspaper.” 

Had the newspaper existed before his appointment and the DDA continued to advertise in it after Boylston joined the DDA board, that would be fine, Reeder said, because of an exception in the state ethics law.

Boylston, whose term ended in June 2017, insists he did not violate state ethics laws because he did not directly approve spending in his newspaper as a board member. 

“I voted annually to approve the DDA budget,” he said. “But where the DDA spent the advertising money was up to staff. It should be in local publications.” 

He likened his vote to approving the DDA budget with a line item for office supplies and not knowing the names of the suppliers.

Reeder said that was no excuse. 

“The DDA is doing business with his newspaper,” Reeder said. “Not voting on the individual spending does not absolve him of the conflict.”

From January 2014 through June 2017, the DDA spent $22,710 in advertising in the newspaper Boylston co-owned.

For comparison, during the same time period the DDA spent $1,900 for ads in The Coastal Star.

Both local newspapers publish monthly.

Boylston’s opponent, incumbent Mitch Katz, was quick to criticize. 

“He has a track record of not following the rules,” Katz said. “It’s not good for the city and its voters.”

As an example, Katz said Boylston had a mural painted in December 2016 on a rear dumpster enclosure behind his offices at 135 E. Atlantic Ave. He did so without city approval, according to code enforcement reports, and was cited. He was not fined. 

Planning Director Tim Stillings said Boylston then went before boards of three city agencies soliciting support for the mural. Four months later, the city’s Site Plan Review and Appearance Board approved the mural because it determined it was not advertising for a business.  

Over the years, another Boylston company, Woo Creative, has forged business relationships with several city agencies and boards that receive tax dollars from their own taxing districts or from the city of Delray Beach, including the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative and the Old School Square board. 

 Woo has been paid thousands for branding, marketing and upgrading their websites in recent years, but that work may have to cease if Boylston is elected. 

In 2016-2017, the Marketing Cooperative paid Woo Creative $26,368.50.

“We use Woo Creative to develop our ads and marketing collateral,” said Executive Director Stephanie Immelman. “We would have to change this if Ryan was elected to City Commission.”

Boylston boasts on his campaign website that his company helped craft the Old School Square brand.

How much was Woo paid? 

“OSS does not publicly distribute vendor transaction history,” said Kim Jones, chief financial officer of the nonprofit organization. “With respect to the candidates currently running for office, if a candidate is successful, he/she will be subject to the ethics provisions of Palm Beach County and the state of Florida, which generally would preclude them from conducting business with OSS.” 

Attorney Reeder agreed. “If Boylston gets elected to the City Commission, his marketing firm should not do business with the city or its agencies,” he said.

Boylston earlier applauded the agencies for using local firms. 

“It’s great that the organizations are using local talent from small businesses,” he said, “unlike when [Delray Beach] went with an out-of-state firm to redesign its website.”

Boylston announced in October he would step down as publisher of Delray Newspaper to run for the City Commission. As of January, he said he had sold his shares to his newspaper partners.

Boylston was the only City Commission candidate found by The Coastal Star to have a business relationship with the city or its agencies. 

Researcher Michelle Quigley contributed to this story.

Meet the candidates
Feb. 7

Where: Arts Garage, 94 NE Second Ave.

Time: 7-9 p.m.

Sponsor: Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce

Feb. 27

Where: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave.

Time: 7-9 p.m. 

Sponsor: Delray Beach Green Candidate Forum

By Jane Smith

Developers of two massive projects want to bookend the downtown core in Delray Beach.

The eastern project, Atlantic Crossing, sits on 9.2 acres at the northeast corner of Federal Highway and East Atlantic Avenue. 

The $250 million project plans to add 82 luxury condos, 261 apartments, 83,462 square feet of office space, 39,394 square feet of restaurants and 37,642 square feet of shops. 

“The bottom line,” said Andrea Knibbs, the project’s publicist, “they are ready and eager to get started, and are being responsive to neighbors’ concerns as committed to during the approvals.” 

Edwards Cos. of Ohio is sole owner of the project after buying out real estate investor Carl DeSantis in 2016.  

At the western end, Hudson Holdings will appeal to the City Commission on Feb. 6 to grant a site plan for Midtown Delray. The mixed-use complex sits at the southwest corner of South Swinton and West Atlantic avenues.

“We have spent two years modifying the site plan by working with the Historic Preservation Trust members,” said Steve Michael, a principal of Hudson Holdings. “We modified as much as we could.”

Even so, the city’s Historic Preservation Board rejected the project’s site plan twice last year.  In December, the board members unanimously denied the site plan, saying it had not changed enough since they last reviewed it in June. 

The board members said the new parts of the project were incompatible with the one- and two-story historic structures. If approved, Midtown Delray would have 39,386 square feet of retail space, 11,117 square feet of restaurant space, 55,218 square feet of office space, 45 dwelling units and 39 residential inn units, a specific designation created for this property.

A four-story building is planned for Atlantic Avenue with a breezeway into the project. Shops and restaurants would be located on the first floor with offices on the top three floors.

The 6.4-acre Midtown Delray project sits within the Old School Square Historic Arts District. The historic designation put the project under the Historic Board for review.

Underground garage first phase

At Atlantic Crossing, Edwards is waiting for a site work permit for the land cleared between Federal Highway and Northeast Seventh Avenue, said Don DeVere, vice president of Edwards. The developer also is waiting for Florida Power & Light to move power lines. 

The underground garage work will be done first. That will take about a year, DeVere said.

This summer, work can begin on the two southern buildings, south of the two-way road that was added to settle the lawsuit filed by Edwards against the city. Edwards received a portion of Northeast Seventh that sits inside the project. 

The building facing Atlantic will be three stories tall with retail and restaurants on the ground floor and offices on the other floors, according to the site plan. 

A five-story apartment building will have shops on the first floor. Both buildings should be finished by the fourth quarter of 2019, DeVere said.

As promised, Atlantic Crossing will close Northeast Seventh at Northeast First Street at the start of construction, DeVere said. Oversized planters will be used so the closing still looks nice and allows pedestrians and bicyclists to pass through, as the neighbors wanted.

During the first phase, construction workers will park on the western side of the property, DeVere said. 

The owner of the nearby Colony Hotel worries whether she will have to redesign her parking lot when construction starts. “Sometimes, people park in the lot when we don’t have an attendant and guests don’t have a space to park,” said Hilary Roche, managing director and cousin of Jestena Boughton, the Colony’s owner. 

Mayor Cary Glickstein is concerned about traffic problems when construction starts.

“I’m unconvinced the developer understands and has properly planned for the logistical and construction challenges of an excavation area — for underground parking — of this size and so close to a major water body,” he said.  

“It is my hope that city staff will hold them to the requirements we established or halt construction until any self-induced traffic problems are remedied.” 

A couple poses outside the Seacrest Hotel, where the Delray Beach Marriott now stands, on Atlantic Avenue just west of Ocean Boulevard in the 1940s. Delray Beach Historical Society

By Jane Smith

Delray was once a farming mecca, shipping pineapples and gladiolus all over the country.

“Everything changed in the 1920s,” said Winnie Edwards, executive director of the Delray Beach Historical Society. 

Early pioneers had farmed the rich, muck soil. Soon, they would face increasing competition from other growers. That’s partly why Delray Beach turned to tourism to supplement its economy.

In 1925, the Chamber of Commerce plotted a marketing campaign, Write-a-Letter. Nearly everyone in Delray Beach participated, inviting out-of-state residents to come to Florida and eat lunch in Delray Beach, stay in its brand-new hotels and, of course, look over the city. 

The campaign featured a gimmick: a 12-foot-tall mailbox replica. It served as a photo prop for prominent leaders mailing their letters, according to the Historical Society archives. A photograph of the large mailbox is part of the “Sunny Greetings” exhibit on display at the Historical Society. Archivist Kate Teves developed the exhibit. She also functions as the resident historian of the Historical Society.

Pesticides and other practices helped to eradicate the mosquitoes that plagued early pioneers. When the real estate boom of the 1920s arrived, Delray Beach was ready to transform into a resort city, said Dorothy Patterson, who was the first archivist at the Historical Society.

Several hotels, such as the Alterep, the Seacrest and Casa Del Rey, were built on Atlantic Avenue for visitors, according to the book Delray Beach that Patterson wrote with Janet DeVries.

Guests at the Casa Del Rey enjoyed a top-floor restaurant with a retractable roof, the book said. The hotel survived the 1928 hurricane. When it was sold, the new owner changed the name to Hotel Bon-Air. 

The Colony in the late 1930s. Delray Beach Historical Society 

Farther east on Atlantic Avenue, the Alterep became the Colony Hotel in 1935 when purchased by George and Agnes Boughton. Their daughter, Jestena, manages the historic landmark, built in 1926. She recalls taking dancing lessons at the Bon-Air, a few blocks west on Atlantic. 

Tourists, especially artists and celebrities, helped the city to weather the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Hilary Roche, managing director of the Colony and Boughton’s cousin, is confident the Colony can weather the influx of hotels under construction or in the planning stages.

The Florida Mediterranean-style, twin-domed, 66-room hotel has changed little over the years. The Colony has its original, manually operated elevator and is listed in Historic Hotels of America. 

Its lobby walls hold historic photos as well as Highwaymen paintings and Clyde Butcher photographs. Guy Harvey fishing prints adorn the second-floor hallway.

“We have the only hotel [in Delray] with a historic designation,” Roche said. 

 The Colony Hotel, built in 1926, remains a Delray destination. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related stories: Hospitality started early in historic Delray | Atlantic Avenue projects to change scale of city’s downtown

By Jane Smith

The Delray Beach mantra has long been that it is a city where you can live, work and play.

But with one major hotel under construction and three more planned in the coming years, that slogan might morph to: Visit for a day and stay for a holiday.

Located in the downtown core, just north and south of bustling Atlantic Avenue, the hotel boom could add 565 rooms in the coming years.

Aloft will have 122 rooms a couple of blocks south of Atlantic Avenue. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The five-story Aloft hotel under construction on South Federal Highway two blocks south of Atlantic will add 122 rooms next year alone.  

If all are built, it would mean a whopping 65 percent increase beyond the number of hotel rooms now available in the six traditional hotels — the Fairfield, the Colony, The Seagate, Hyatt Place, the Residence Inn and the Marriott on the beach — in the downtown corridor that stretches from Interstate 95 to the ocean.

An additional estimated 1,000 rooms are available in smaller hotels and motels, inns, time-share resorts and vacation homes and apartments throughout the eastern half of Delray Beach.

Can Delray Beach tourists and business travelers support all those rooms?

Absolutely, says Stephanie Immelman, executive director of the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative. “It will be a long time coming before the city reaches a tipping point of too many rooms,” she said. Her organization does destination marketing for the hotels during the off-season, slower months. 

Immelman said the city’s hotels do not need marketing help during the season, January through April, when occupancy rates are in the high 80 percentages. The average room rates during the season are between $250 and $300 a night, with some boutique, oceanside suites going for up to $1,300 a night. 

All hotels in Florida pay a bed tax to the county where they are located for tourism marketing services, beach renourishment projects and other activities designed to promote tourism. 

Delray Beach real estate broker Jim Knight agrees the city can support more hotels. He brokered the land sale to Samar Hospitality for the Aloft hotel.  

Menin Development is another believer, taking its Pineapple Grove hotel through the planning process. The Ray received City Commission approval in December for its artsy design, called Tropical Modernism. It features metal overlays and a rooftop wine bar on the four-story, 143-room hotel. 

Menin must resolve the width of its alley with the city’s Fire-Rescue Department prior to a Feb. 14 appearance before a city review board. 

“The exciting entertainment district along Atlantic Avenue attracts visitors from around the globe,” said Ashley Svarney, senior director of public relations for Discover the Palm Beaches, the county’s tourism marketing arm. 

Others, though, think the city doesn’t need more hotels. 

“Data from a consultant’s study suggests with the hotels underway and planned the market will be saturated, meaning we may see pricing drop if too many rooms are added,” said Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein, who will leave office in March. 

The Seagate Hotel & Spa general manager William Sander also is concerned about more hotels coming on line. With a corner parlor suite rate of $1,300 per night in season, his hotel doesn’t compete for the same customers as those west of the Intracoastal Waterway, Sander said.  

“The new hotel owners won’t like their return on investment,” Sander said, if they have to charge lower rates to fill their rooms.  

More hotels would add to beach parking woes, said Mike Walsh. His family owns the Residence Inn and Marriott on the barrier island. The Marriott sits at the old Seacrest Hotel site, the northwest corner of Ocean Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue. 

“We have a very nice town with a very nice beach,” he said.  

Guests staying at hotels west of the Intracoastal usually want to go to the beach. “That’s 500 to 700 people driving around trying to find a parking space. It adds to the traffic and congestion on the barrier island,” Walsh said. “The visitors end up parking on the yards, which is unacceptable to the residents.” 

While hoteliers enjoy another solid tourist season, plans to create a tourist improvement district and tax are on hold, said Immelman of the Marketing Cooperative. 

She wanted her organization not to rely on tax dollars from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. Two bills working their way through the state Legislature could curtail how CRAs spend their money. Marketing expenses would not be allowed. 

Also, a lawsuit filed last year against the city of Tampa over its “tourism marketing assessment” of $1.50 per night per room is working its way through the courts. Immelman wants to see that outcome. 

And the hoteliers and the mayor are not particularly excited about any new fees.   

“That would make us different than any other city in the county,” said Hilary Roche, managing director of the Colony. 

Glickstein does not want residents to pay yet another fee for marketing Delray Beach.   

“The Downtown Development Authority is responsible, in part, for promoting our downtown, which is where most of the hotels are located,” he said. “Property owners [hotels and other businesses] there already pay an additional tax to the agency.” 

Jan Grenell (left), Lauren Quinn and Erna Sullivan, pictured at Red Reef Park, say their Green Boca Now group is getting good cooperation from city officials about testing new ideas. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Hladky

Three women who met while walking and enjoying nature in Boca Raton’s parks watched with concern as city workers sprayed chemicals to kill weeds and pests.

Deciding they needed to take action, they banded together to launch Green Boca Now. Their mission is to persuade the city to go green in its parks by ending the use of nonorganic herbicides, pesticides and insecticides that they say are toxic to insects, trees, wildlife and pets. They pressed their case with the city’s Recreation Services Department, the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District, city advisory boards and have appeared twice before the City Council.

“Boca is going to make it happen. It is just good for everybody — the environment, wildlife, residents and coastal waters,” said Lauren Quinn, who formed Green Boca Now with Jan Grenell and Erna Sullivan. “We just need to stop spraying toxic chemicals period, because there are natural alternatives that are even better.”

Quinn is in constant motion, running two small businesses, volunteering daily with a program to trap, neuter, vaccinate and return stray cats, studying organic products and sharing the most promising ideas with the recreation services department. Bedtime, she says, comes at 3 a.m.

Green Boca Now has three immediate goals: End the use of the weed killer glyphosate, chemical insecticides, and the herbicide Garlon the city uses to kill invasive vines. Quinn is working to persuade city officials to allow volunteers to pull invasive vines out of the ground in city parks instead.

Park users “see the chemicals being sprayed and they go ballistic,” she said. 

It’s all but impossible for park users to avoid the chemicals, Quinn said. She has seen barefoot children and pregnant women walking through treated areas, and fears the impact on their health.

Grenell, a retired nurse, has long harbored concerns about glyphosate. She and her late husband were told it was safe and used it on a peanut farm they owned in Alabama.

A prized goat she raised from a kid licked the spigots on a machine used to spray glyphosate and died 16 hours later. In another incident, her month-old daughter stopped breathing, and Grenell almost failed to revive her. Still later, her husband developed a very aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease. 

Grenell can’t say glyphosate was responsible, but she has not used it or pesticides for years. 

“I thought it was time to speak up,” she said. “I really do believe the city will do the responsible thing.”

Sullivan sees city workers spraying in the parks, and is especially concerned for children — including her grandson, 7, who attends a water sports camp at Red Reef Park.

“They spray all around there,” she said. “Children walk through it. I have seen babies crawling in the sand and it is full of weed killer. Little babies put this stuff in their mouths.

“My heart is for the children,” Sullivan said. “My heart is with the parents who don’t know.”

Glyphosate, the world’s biggest-selling weed killer and key ingredient in Roundup, has been used by farmers and home gardeners for more than 40 years. Sales skyrocketed in the U.S. as it was used with crops that were genetically modified to be resistant to it, allowing farmers to use it to kill weeds after crops emerge from the ground. Europeans generally shun genetically modified crops, but glyphosate has been a top-selling weed killer there as well.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has evaluated glyphosate since the 1980s, and has repeatedly found, most recently last year, that it is safe to use. The European Food Safety Authority and European Chemicals Agency, which advised the 28 members of the European Union, also has ruled it safe. And a joint United Nations and World Health Organization panel reviewed the potential for glyphosate in food to cause cancer in people, and concluded it was “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans.”

But the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer fueled concerns about health risks when it said in 2015 that glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic.” In an indication of rising concerns in Europe, the European Union last year voted to extend authorization for glyphosate for only five years rather than the typical 15.

The IARC’s finding opened the floodgates to litigation. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed accusing agrichemical giant Monsanto of long knowing that glyphosate was hazardous to human health, and citing evidence linking it to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Monsanto has denied the allegations.

A number of cities, counties, states and countries have taken steps to either restrict or ban glyphosate. Eight out of 10 provinces in Canada, for example, have some form of restriction on the use of glyphosate. Last year, California added glyphosate to the list of chemicals known to cause cancer, and required companies selling it in the state to add warning labels to packaging.

The Recreation Services Department is working with Green Boca Now to explore options. 

Recreation Services Director Michael Kalvort told the City Council on Jan. 8 that his department started a pilot program last summer to evaluate organic and nonorganic products.

City employees, who are trained on best management practices for products, studied the effectiveness of Roundup, organic weed killer Avenger, and a mixture of soap, salt and vinegar advocated by Green Boca Now.

The test at Red Reef Park found that Roundup, which kills weeds and their roots, was the most effective, with Avenger coming in second and the home brew third. Roundup works if applied once a month, but Avenger has to be applied every week, he said. 

“What we are finding is the organic chemicals … have been less effective,” he said.

Organics cost more per application, and the increased number of applications boost the expense further, Kalvort said. Roundup costs the city $6,500 a year, while Avenger would cost about $39,000 a year.

He and his staff now plan to test the products on a larger area.

After the meeting, Quinn said she learned Avenger has started producing a much cheaper version. Stevens said city staff was working to confirm that, and would test it once it becomes available.

His department also is reaching out to a golf course and country club that use organic products, and will ask Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management to review its practices for removing invasive vegetation in city parks and preserves.

They asked that organic pesticides be placed on the agenda of the biannual meeting of parks and recreation directors in the county to find out what other cities are doing. They also will test new products as they come onto the market.

Green Boca Now informed the council and department about a steam machine that is being used elsewhere to kill weeds without using chemicals.

“We’d love to give it a try,” Kalvort said.

Council members indicated support for the efforts to find alternatives to the city’s current practices.

“Keep it up,” Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers said.

Allowing volunteers to pull up invasive vines would save money and free city employees to do other work, Quinn said.

“Green Boca Now has contacted dozens of integrated pest management programs throughout the country and all of them said they absolutely need volunteers when the parks go natural,” Quinn said. “They love their volunteers.”

She is hopeful the city will give her the green light.

“Use of volunteers on a trial basis, in a limited area, is being strongly considered,” Recreation Services Superintendent Greg Stevens said in an email. “The liability and process for using volunteers for this type of work is being researched and discussed, but a final determination has not been made at this time.”

At Green Boca Now’s suggestion, the department will reach out to the Broken Sound Club in western Boca Raton, hailed by Mayor Susan Haynie and council member Andrea O’Rourke as exemplary for its environmental initiatives.

The club started out modestly, replacing Styrofoam cups with biodegradables, said Shannon Easter, director of golf maintenance and environmental sustainability.

Today, the club recycles 95.6 percent of everything on its property and makes its own compost, so it does not need to use fungicides and fertilizer.

They use organic pesticides, and about 90 percent of the insecticides and herbicides they apply are organic. Weeds are mostly controlled by pulling them out of the ground by hand, he said.

Their award-winning initiatives include 22 beehives, 15 bat houses to control insects, 13 acres of butterfly gardens and 20 acres of wildflowers. They are adding solar power for parking lots and windmills for restroom power. They buy organic products from Mirimichi Green, a company co-owned by singer and actor Justin Timberlake.

“If you don’t start, you won’t get anything done,” Easter said.

Quinn and Grenell have nothing but praise for Stevens and others in the recreation services department, saying they communicate frequently.

“We were received openly,” Grenell said. “He (Stevens) is very open and receptive.”

“We are all working together for the common goal,” Quinn said. 

Stevens described the relationship between his department and Green Boca now as “positive.”

“The Green Boca Now committee has done a great deal of research and has provided Recreation Services staff with a wealth of product and contact information,” he said in the email.

Quinn said she is “very grateful” to the City Council and city staff for their willingness to listen.

“It is time to change,” she said. “Let’s be one of the most innovative cities.”

Contact Green Boca Now at info@greenbocanow.org.

A Trump organization helicopter is part of the increased airport traffic. File photo/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

President Donald Trump’s repeated visits to South Florida have been characterized as disruptive to many local travelers and as detrimental to a few local businesses. 

For the Boca Raton Airport and some surrounding restaurants and hotels, however, the frequent flights to Palm Beach by Air Force One have a silver lining. 

Revenues at Boca Raton Airport, based in part on the amount of fuel sold by two aviation companies, skyrocketed in 2017 as business jets that usually would land at Palm Beach International Airport went south while the president visited Mar-a-Lago rather than go through additional security screenings. 

“Our fuel-flow revenues last year were $130,000 over budget,” said Airport Authority Executive Director Clara Bennett. Helping to drive up that number was a weeklong presidential visit between Christmas and New Year’s Day that pushed fuel sales at the airport to record levels. 

Jet fuel delivered in December, according to airport statistics, climbed more than 57 percent, rising to about 886,000 gallons, compared with 562,156 gallons in December 2016. 

At the same time, airport fuel revenue jumped from about $49,000 in December 2016 to about $93,300 during the same time last year. 

The airport receives 5 percent of the cost of fuel delivered to the two contracted fixed-base operators — or FBOs — that lease space on the airport grounds and provide aviation services, including fueling. 

Bennett said the combination of planes coming to Boca Raton during the presidential visit and regular heavy traffic during the holiday week resulted in an usually high number of air-traffic operations. 

“It was like a perfect storm,” she said. “It was high season and there were temporary flight restrictions for an extended time.”

However, a few challenges arose with so many jets visiting the small general aviation airport. 

“There were a couple of times when the [operators] were running out of space for overnight parking,” Bennett said.

The airport has enough parking for about 100 planes.

In some cases flight crews dropped off passengers and flew to the state’s west coast, where they found parking and waited until they were called back, according to Bennett. 

Because of temporary flight restrictions within a 10-mile radius of Mar-a-Lago, general aviation aircraft are unable to land at the Palm Beach County Park Airport in Lantana, the county airport in Palm Beach Gardens or at Palm Beach International Airport without additional security screenings in either Orlando or Hollywood. 

Scott Kohut, Boca Raton Airport’s deputy director, said that while many passengers left to go to Palm Beach or other nearby locations, some flight crews — sometimes two or three people — stayed locally. That, he said, was good for area businesses. 

“There were a lot of people flying in and parking for an extended time,” he said. 

Kohut said that at least one local restaurant owner has told him of an increase in business when flight restrictions are in place. 

In addition to heavy traffic during the holiday week, the airport saw increases in flight operations year-over-year during the Thanksgiving weekend and last month’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day extended holiday weekend.

Bennett said in addition to the direct benefits to local businesses, there is an indirect benefit of people who may not have been to the area getting to know a little bit about it. 

“It’s certainly a way to promote Boca Raton,” she said. 

In January, the Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital established an epilepsy monitoring unit, which is designed to evaluate, diagnose and treat seizures in adults.  

“The ability to continuously monitor each patient in the EMU allows our team to refine diagnoses and respond in real time to a patient’s needs as a seizure occurs,” said Dr. Pooja Patel, the unit’s director. 

“Based on the evaluation, the best treatment options can be determined with the goal of reducing a patient’s seizure burden and improving quality of life.”

      ***                          

In December, Delray Medical Center named Sheri Testani as chief nursing officer. Testani brings more than 20 years of nursing experience to Delray Medical Center. Previously, she worked as chief nursing officer at Detroit Receiving Hospital and University Health Center, where she oversaw patient care services at its trauma and burn center.

Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

By Rich Pollack

When voters in Highland Beach go to the polls March 13 to choose a vice mayor and a town commissioner, they also will vote on whether to allow the town to spend up to $2.1 million on proposed new streetscape improvements.

Before they vote, however, residents will have a chance to learn more about the proposal, which three town commissioners support. The plan has raised concerns among some residents and with the other two members of the commission.

A community streetscape information meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in the town’s public library, where residents will hear additional details about the proposed streetscape to have them better informed before they go to polls.

Residents will not vote directly on the project but will decide whether to allow the town to spend up to $2.1 million “to fund streetscape improvements consisting of replacing a 3-mile walk path along State Road A1A and upgrading signage, landscaping, lighting and similar accessories,” according to ballot language. 

The referendum is necessary because Highland Beach’s charter requires voter approval for any project over $350,000.

The $2.1 million amount was calculated based on recommendations from an ad hoc citizens streetscape committee and estimates from a consulting firm and town staff. 

In an informational pamphlet distributed to residents, town staff explained that commissioners do not anticipate having to raise taxes to fund the project. 

“The plan is to self-fund the project with existing reserve funds and replenish the account over the next 10 years with proceeds from the Palm Beach County infrastructure surtax program,” according to the flier. “The amount is derived from an opinion of probable cost based on selections by the citizens streetscape committee, with the final cost and features ultimately determined during the project’s design phase.” 

Among elements the committee recommended be included in the project are the replacement of the town’s 3-mile asphalt walking path with an aggregate, or shell, concrete path as well as upgrades to welcome signs at the north and south ends of town. 

The plan also includes upgrading some street signage, relocating trash cans and upgrading some landscaping at certain points along the path. 

While there is agreement among the town’s elected officials on the need for a new walking path, there is a split on the commission over not only whether enough information about the project is now available to voters, but also about the scope of the project. 

In what amounts to a debate on whether the town should ask for the money or present a better plan first, Commissioners Rhoda Zelniker and Elyse Riesa say voters would be better able to make an informed choice about funding the project if they had more details.

Riesa suggested the town could have issued a request for information and asked landscape design firms to submit broad-brush proposals that would give more details about the project’s design. Those could have been done at a minimal cost, she said.

Without that information, Riesa said, it’s difficult to determine the true cost of the project and the $2.1 million estimate might be too low.

“There’s too many unanswered questions and the numbers may not be accurate,” she said. 

Zelniker and Riesa also think the ballot language should have included drainage and crosswalk lighting into the plan. Zelniker said she would like to have seen the town ask three landscape architects for designs. 

“To me, this is just replacing the sidewalk,” she said. 

Mayor Carl Feldman, however, counters that it would have been unwise to spend money on design without voter approval to fund the project. 

“We can’t do anything until the referendum passes and the money is allocated,” he said. “What happens if the residents vote no? Then we would have spent taxpayer money on a project that’s going nowhere.”

Once funding is available, Feldman said, the town will not only hire a company to do the design work on the project but also seek resident input what on could be included. Plans would then be submitted to the town’s planning board for approval.

Town officials estimate the design fee will be about $275,000, according to a report presented to the commission.

Feldman said the crosswalk lighting issue is being discussed separately from the streetscape project, while drainage in the area is being discussed with the Florida Department of Transportation, which is already conducting a drainage project in the area. 

Because the project is on state right of way, FDOT would have to give final approval to plans before any work could be done.

Feldman said the town plans to make informational presentations this month to various groups, including homeowners associations and condo associations, to help voters to become more informed about the ballot question. 

Highland Beach meet the candidates forum

The forum will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Highland Beach Public Library, 3618 S. Ocean Blvd.

It will be hosted by the League of Women Voters.

Voters will hear from two candidates for vice mayor and four candidates for one commission seat. 

Information about the ballot question regarding setting aside money for streetscape improvements will also be presented.

For additional information, call the Town Clerk’s office, 278-4548. 

By Sallie James

An ambitious “transit-oriented” development that would place as many as 2,500 rental units near Interstate 95 and the airport stalled last month after city officials and angry neighbors posed a slew of questions about roads, traffic and density.

After hours of discussion, Boca Raton City Council members Jan. 23 voted to postpone action indefinitely on proposed land development regulations for Midtown, citing unresolved concerns.

The plan won’t move forward until at least two rounds of public input, likely starting in February.

“The residents in this community care about our future, our legacy,” said council member Andrea O’Rourke. “The way I see it, it looks like a hodgepodge and I don’t want a hodgepodge.”

Resident Tim Day implored the council to reject the proposed land development regulations, saying Midtown as planned would destroy the character of the city by adding so many rentals.

“I believe this plan is the linchpin in converting the suburban bedroom community known as Boca Raton into urban sprawl and all of the attendant problems — the overcrowded schools, the massive traffic jams, the burden on services and the overall diminution of the quality of life,” Day said.

Midtown, proposed by Crocker Partners to be built between I-95 and the Town Center at Boca Raton, is envisioned as a “live, work, play” transit-oriented development where people will live and walk or take shuttles to their jobs in the area, shopping and restaurants.

Several council members wondered if infrastructure for the project should be completed first, or if the developer should be allowed to proceed on a section-by-section basis. Who would pay for the infrastructure and how rights of way would be obtained were also questions that went unanswered.

Council members repeatedly said they needed more specific plans for the sprawling project in order to move forward.

“I have been saying all along a plan has to come first to have a vision. You plan something first,” O’Rourke said. She insisted the developer should present a master plan for the project, saying it would serve as the basis for local zoning ordinances. “We are trying to put the cart before the horse. We need the plan first. The master plan is the guide for our land use, for our future zoning.”

O’Rourke said she received more than 60 emails from residents concerned about Midtown’s potential effect on the area. Many concerns focused on gridlock on nearby Military Trail, a lack of adequate right of way, access roads and turn lanes.

“This is a conversation we need to have rather than talk about the details,” O’Rourke said. “We don’t know how any of this is going to happen other than we want to put 2,500 residential units there. We don’t have a picture of anything else.” 

Council member Scott Singer wondered what the developer would offer if the city scrapped a requirement that construction wait until a proposed Tri-Rail station be built in the area. He didn’t get a clear answer.

“If the train station is no longer a requirement, what are the offsetting changes?” Singer asked.

Clara Bennett, executive director of the Boca Raton Airport Authority, voiced concerns about adding so much residential density near the airport, which continues to get busier. The airport has 150 to 200 flights a day, with some planes flying as low as 250 feet on approach, Bennett said.

She requested consideration of a navigation easement because of Midtown’s proximity to the airport.

Mayor Susan Haynie said the request was premature because the city doesn’t know yet where the Midtown buildings will be situated or how tall they will be. Crocker Partners would like permission for a maximum height of 145 feet.

Haynie said the number of proposed rentals may need to be pared down, but disagreed with arguments that the project was not presented in adequate detail.

“I do believe what you’ve shown us here tonight is a good representation of a cohesive, visionary development that will encourage walkability … so I think we have the vision. The comprehensive plan has set the vision for planned mobile,” Haynie said.

Crocker managing partner Angelo Bianco also disputed claims that the city didn’t have enough detail to proceed.

“We are going to be working with staff and you to come up with master plans that work well and site plans that will work well, but it will be evolving over the next 10 years,” Bianco said. Features like setbacks, sidewalks, trees, bike lanes and multimodal reserve lanes would all be addressed, he said.

O’Rourke said the scope of the project requires extra scrutiny.

“The developers were looking to come in and get the zoning changed and get vested rights to build,” O’Rourke said after the meeting. “I felt we had to do planning. This is a major part of our city. It will impact the downtown, it will impact the beach. 

“How do we address redeveloping this area? How are we going to look at traffic and pedestrian safety and the road improvements? We can’t just go and approve units without having an overall plan. All of these things were not looked at.” 

By Steve Plunkett

If you play golf, you’ve probably played — or wish you had — on a course designed by one of the 15 architects who want to draw up Boca Raton’s newest 27 holes.

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman are the most recognizable names on the list, which also includes the design firms of past PGA Tour champions Tom Lehman, Mark McCumber and Nick Price. Noted course architects Arthur Hills, Rees Jones and Robert Trent Jones Jr. also want to be considered. Richard Mandell, former Norman associate Matthew Dusenberry, former Nicklaus designer Troy Vincent, Jan Bel Jan, Kipp Schultes and Andy Staples fill out the group.

The Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District plans to buy the golf course surrounding the Boca Teeca condominiums in the north part of the city at the end of February. The Boca Raton City Council gave its thumbs-up to the project Jan. 23, approving an interlocal agreement under which the city will lend the district $19 million for the purchase backed by municipal bonds.

The district will purchase nine holes of the course, all east of Northwest Second Avenue, for $5 million. The bond money will pay for the 18 holes west of the road. Currently called Ocean Breeze, the course will be renamed Boca National.

Arthur Koski, the district’s executive director, has promised the acquisition will create “a public golf course with a private course atmosphere.” 

District commissioners planned to interview the 15 potential course architects over three evenings, on Jan. 29, Feb. 2 and Feb. 12, scheduling a half-hour each for presentation and questions. They invited the public to attend, but said public comments would have to wait until they choose the winning proposal at a later date.

The golf course proposals — all 1,567 pages — are posted on the district’s website, www.mybocaparks.org. Caution: Most files are large, up to 1.1 gigabytes, and may have to be downloaded first to view.

Boca Raton is selling its 188-acre golf course west of the city to GL Homes for $65 million. Under the interlocal agreement, the Beach & Park District will hire any golf course workers who would otherwise lose their jobs because of that sale. 

By Sallie James

Just months after celebrating its 50th anniversary, Boca Raton Regional Hospital is celebrating the largest philanthropic gift the health care facility has received in one day of giving.

The $35 million in gifts is a combination of donations from three benefactors who have supported the hospital for many years: Stanley and Marilyn Barry donated $10 million; Christine E. Lynn $15 million, and Richard and Barbara Schmidt and the Schmidt Family Foundation gave $10 million.

The gifts will provide the seed money for the hospital’s $260 million capital project, which will include a 278,000-square-foot addition with a seven-story patient tower, an expanded and renovated surgical suite, enhanced and expanded surgical and medical intensive care units, a cardiovascular intensive care and step-down unit, expanded private rooms, a remodeled patient lobby and a new parking garage.

“These donors are among our most cherished community partners and intimate members of the Boca Raton Regional family, who lead through their commitment of time and expertise as well as philanthropy,” said Jerry Fedele, president and CEO of the hospital. “They set the pace for others to ensure outstanding, best-in-class health care in Boca Raton. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.”

Fedele thinks the hospital’s close connection to its community and residents is why such generosity comes from local people.

“Because we are so community-oriented, the philanthropy comes primarily from the Boca Raton community,” Fedele said in an interview last year. “I’ve been in health care more than 30 years and I have never seen a feeling of community ownership anywhere in the country like we have here.”

The $35 million in gifts was announced in January during a reception at the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute.

Mark Larkin, president of the hospital’s fundraising foundation, said the generous gifts will enable the hospital to grow as needed to serve a booming patient population.

“We have been growing considerably and so we are ready to take the next step and have our facilities catch up to the number of people we care for,” Larkin said. “We have seen a marked growth in the quality and the number of programs we offer. We started now a full academic teaching facility and so all of those things have led to more and more people coming and turning to us for care.”

U.S. News & World Report named the hospital the top-ranked medical facility in Palm Beach County for 2016-2017, and Becker’s Hospital Review called it one of “150 top places to work in health care” in 2017. 

By Steve Plunkett

Boaters will have more spaces to park trailers under the latest plan for new launch sites at Rutherford Park.

City consultant Applied Technology and Management Inc. says the park can provide parking for 67 boat trailers as well as seven vehicles without trailers. Its plan also calls for three boat wash-down areas.

“I’ve been a big advocate … of having an ice machine at Silver Palm Park.  … Do you have any experience with providing any of those?” Mayor Susan Haynie asked at a January City Council workshop.

 Coastal engineer Mike Jenkins of ATM said the ice machine could go outside a restroom building he proposed for the trailer lot.

The extra boat spaces would take over the northern half of Rutherford’s parking lots. They would complement two double boat launches Boca Raton proposed for city residents only in a central area of Rutherford Park. A 450-foot channel would lead from the boat launches to the Intracoastal Waterway’s main channel.

Because a truck towing a boat needs room to maneuver, Jenkins added a turnaround area at the north end of the lot. The plan also includes restoring the park’s boardwalk and 0.6 mile of its canoe trail, which has been overgrown with mangrove roots for years.

“This used to be a jewel, and it’s no longer there,” Jenkins said.

The 2,000-foot boardwalk would cross the canoe trail in five locations, he said, and have spurs leading to the waterfront. A drawback to both Rutherford and neighboring Lake Wyman Park is the plant life blocking views of the Intracoastal, Jenkins said.

“The parks have extensive frontage on the water, but if you go to the parks, you’d likely not notice that. There is no access to that water currently,” he said.

Jenkins said the canoe trail would be a “major” feature. 

“That is something worth going to kayak for a day,” he said. “It would be a true enhancement.”

Gone from the plan is a paved walkway around a large spoil island at the south end of Lake Wyman that neighbors in Golden Harbour protested. Instead, the island will be ringed by an unpaved path and have a pavilion at the east edge, closest to the Intracoastal.

That suited outspoken Golden Harbour critic Steve Reiss, whose home backs up to Lake Wyman Park. 

“I just want to say thank you. You guys have been listening to our community,” he said.

There will also be a new pavilion at the north end of Rutherford Park’s boardwalk, a third pavilion and two shade structures. Jenkins said the old canoe livery building was still usable.

Jennifer Bistyga, the city’s coastal program manager, said work on the boat launches and canoe trail would begin in late 2019 or early 2020.

ATM will next reach out to the boating community to gauge its concerns. Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers said every city resident who has a launch permit at Silver Palm Park should be contacted.

Silver Palm, which is jointly owned by Boca Raton and Palm Beach County, frequently fills up on weekends and holidays. It has one double-launch ramp; any county resident can buy a permit.

The ramps at Rutherford will be less steep, Jenkins said. 

By Brian Biggane

The city of Boca Raton is putting up nearly $1.5 million to ensure that the 12th annual PGA Champions Tour event Feb. 9-11 at Broken Sound Club won’t also be the last.

Formerly known as the Allianz Championship, the first full-field event of the 2018 Champions Tour season will be called the Boca Raton Championship, while ProLink Sports, the company that runs the tournament for the 50-and-older Champions Tour, works to find a new title sponsor for 2018.

“It’s too important for the community to lose it,” said Mayor Susan Haynie, a driving force behind the decision for the city of Boca Raton and the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District to put up $500,000 each in addition to the city’s standard contribution of $469,000.

“The concern was that if we didn’t have it this year it would go somewhere else,” she said.

Allianz, a financial services company based in Germany, had been the controversial sponsor of the event since it came to Broken Sound in 2007. Pickets turned out every year to protest the company’s alleged ties to Nazi Germany dating to World War II, and while it’s unknown if that was a factor, Allianz decided to walk away when its contract expired after the 2017 event. 

Tournament organizers, who briefly called it the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Championship in deference to its largest charity benefactor, have been searching for a new title sponsor since.

“They were working with some potential sponsors,” Haynie said. “But they ran out of time last spring, and that’s when they came to me and said they were looking for the city to contribute. It’s with the caveat that it’s just for one year.”

Tournament director Eddie Carbone, who works for ProLink and formerly served in a similar capacity for the PGA Tour event at Doral for 10 years, expressed confidence that the void will be filled in short order.

“We have a few companies, both on the local and national levels, that will be here for this year’s tournament and see it up close,” Carbone said. “We’ve got the players, the city, the community all rallying to make sure it’s a really strong event.”

Added Haynie, “You have all these CEOs up in the frigid North and they see all the office buildings around the course and they say, hey, maybe my headquarters should be there.” 

Haynie said she plans to attend the tournament and serve as the city’s ambassador in any way possible.

An estimated 50,000 turned out for last year’s tournament, and Haynie said the hope is to draw 60,000 this year. General admission is $20. The event is free for those older than 70 or younger than 17.

As part of the Boca Raton deal, the Golf Channel will air 24 commercial spots celebrating the city during its three days of coverage.

Carbone said the field for last year’s tournament was the strongest in the 36-year history of the Champions Tour and this one should be as good if not better. 

Boca Raton resident Bernhard Langer, the Tour’s dominant player for the past decade, will be on hand along with fan favorite John Daly, Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and defending champion Scott McCarron.

Sallyport, a private company that chiefly provides support for the military, will be a presenting sponsor and will provide free admission to all veterans with ID.

Golf legend Annika Sorenstam will give a free clinic on Women’s Day on Feb. 5. A practice round will be conducted Feb. 6, with pro-ams set for Feb. 7 and Feb. 8. Admission will be free until the 54-hole, stroke-play event begins Feb. 9. 

By Christine Davis

A Lynn University College of Business and Management class taught by Professor Matteo Peroni created a campaign to boost awareness and fundraising efforts for the 50th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Delray Beach to be held March 17. The students presented their ideas at the Boca Raton office of the public relations firm TransMedia Group and talked about how to implement them with the firm’s client and event organizer, the nonprofit Code 3 Events, Inc. The students’ ideas consisted of raffles for vacations to Ireland, a group fitness event, a pet fashion contest, a beauty contest and a parade founder Maury Powers look-alike contest. This year, the “St. PETricks Day” pet fashion contest was selected to be implemented. To take part, bring your pet dressed up in St. Patrick’s Day attire to Old School Square on March 16. Registration starts at 6:30 p.m. The fee to enter your pet will be $20. Costume categories are: Kiss Me I’m Irish, Lucky Leprechaun and Samrockin Pooch. Winning pets will be featured on the Dezzy’s Second Chance Rescue Float at the parade. For information visit www.stpatrickmarch.com. ;

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Victory Media, Military Times and Military Advanced Education & Transition have all named Palm Beach State College to their 2018 lists of schools that best provide veterans, service members and their families with the higher education and support they need to pursue civilian careers. 

Victory Media designated the college a “2018 Gold Top 10 Military Friendly School,” placing it seventh among large public postsecondary institutions in the U.S.

The college ranks eighth nationwide among two-year institutions on the 2018 Military Times Best Colleges list, and it earned the designation of “Top School” in Military Advanced Education and Transition’s 2018 Guide to Colleges & Universities. 

“The college is unique,” said Matthew Watkins, its Veterans Affairs coordinator, “with a total of three veterans resource centers, 16 VA student work-study positions, three student veterans clubs, three veterans-specific academic advisers, and two VA benefits certifying officials. All of our staff members are veterans or come from a military family, and we all feel there is no greater calling than serving those who have served us.”

For information, call 868-3380 or visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/VeteransServices.

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 The Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce announced its 2017 business award winners during a gala in January at Benvenuto restaurant. Delonyx Cortez of the YMCA of Boynton Beach won the young professional of the year award; Habitat For Humanity was named the nonprofit of the year; the health care initiative of the year award went to the Boynton Beach Healthcare Center; Miller Land Planning won the business of the year award; the women’s business of the year award went to Roses Realty Services; John Campanola, New York Life, received the new member of the year award; and Judy Saxton of Practical Billing received the Harvey Oyer Jr. award for community involvement and corporate citizenship.

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The Boca Chamber will host its 12th annual Diamond Award Luncheon on Feb. 23 at the Boca Raton Resort and Club’s Mizner Center, 501 E. Camino Real. The Chamber will recognize a professional woman in Boca Raton and South County who contributes to the vibrancy of the community, Barbara Cambia, executive director of the Hannifan Center for Career Connections at Lynn University. 

Cambia serves as chair of the Chamber’s tourism committee and helped launch the first Boca Restaurant Month in September. Under her leadership at Lynn, internship participation has increased by more than 250 percent and freshman engagement by more than 100 percent. She has partnered with the Chamber to create Future Leaders of Tomorrow, a three-week student leadership program. 

In addition, the Chamber will honor its 2018 Pearl Award recipient, Skylar Mandell, a graduate of its Young Entrepreneurs Academy and founder of the Florida Sea Turtle Co., which sells bracelets, accessories and clothing at nearly 20 Florida retail locations. Also, her company donates 10 percent of its profits to sea turtle conservation organizations. 

For information or to attend, contact Chasity Navarro at 395-4433, ext. 233, or email her at  cnavarro@bocachamber.com.

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The Sears department store owned by Seritage Growth Properties at Town Center in Boca Raton is one of 39 nationwide that will close by early April. In a statement, Seritage said that it plans to redevelop the site of the Sears store.

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MCA Delray Preserve Owner LLC sold the 188-unit apartment complex Delray Preserve, at 2001 N. Federal Highway in Delray Beach, to IMP Delray LLC for $60.35 million, according to property records and news reports. 

MCA Delray Preserve Owner is an affiliate of Orlando-based Zom Living. IMP Delray is an affiliate of a Boston-based partnership between GID and CalPERS. Zom paid $11 million for the development site in 2015, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. 

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ESG Kullen paid $7.5 million for 93 residences at the 275-unit Murano, 15005 Michelangelo Blvd., Delray Beach, to USO Norge Murano LLC, an affiliate of Norwegian investment firm Obligo, in December. According to news articles, the New York-based firm plans to renovate and sell them off individually for about $200,000 each starting in June 2019. 

MidCap Financial Services provided an $8.4 million loan to cover purchase and renovations. The Obligo affiliate paid $8.8 million for the units in 2009.

Elena Christodoulou (center), sales chief for The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, with Alex Murillo and Marie Mangouta. Photo provided

Penn-Florida Cos. recently announced the new sales team for The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Boca Raton. The team is led by Douglas Elliman Development Marketing’s Elena Christodoulou as vice president of sales. Christodoulou has procured $1.2 billion in sales for luxury pre-construction residences and has been recognized as a leader in luxury real estate sales throughout the world. Joining her as regional sales directors are Marie Mangouta and Alex Murillo. 

Demolition of the former SunTrust and Citibank buildings is underway to clear the way for the next phases of Via Mizner, an urban resort in the heart of downtown Boca Raton. With the first phase, 101 Via Mizner Luxury Apartments, already complete and leasing, demolition is the next major milestone in the construction of the next two towers: Mandarin Oriental, Boca Raton, the city’s first five-star hotel in over a decade, and The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Boca Raton, a collection of 92 private homes. Now at contract, demolition marks the last chance for buyers to secure pre-construction pricing.    

The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Boca Raton, will feature garden suites and an exclusive penthouse collection. Residents will have preferred access to the amenities and service of the Mandarin Oriental.

The Sales Gallery is located at 10 E. Boca Raton Road and is open daily. To schedule a presentation call 922-8335 or visit www.moresidencesbocaraton.com.

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Premier Estate Properties broker/agent Ron Lennen was elected president of Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors and named a trustee for its charitable foundation. 

The D’Angelo Liguori team listed a six-bedroom, 14,949-square-foot Sanctuary Point estate at 4121 Ibis Point Circle, Boca Raton, in December for $18.95 million. Expected to be completed mid-2019, it is being developed by Addison Development Group and designed by Smith & Moore Architects. It will have views of the Intracoastal Waterway and be on a canal with 345 feet of water frontage, able to accommodate two 100-foot yachts. 

And in January, Premier Estate Properties opened its sixth office at 125 Worth Ave., Palm Beach, represented by Jim McCann & Associates.

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Jeffrey Ray, broker of Jeffrey Ray LLC, listed an ocean-to-Intracoastal 2-acre property with 270 feet on the ocean, at 1340 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, which is being offered for sale for $43.9 million.

Dave and Margaret Lumia, who bought the property in 2008, built a five-bedroom Mediterranean-style home with 24,054 square feet, as well as a four-bedroom guesthouse with 5,306 square feet, replacing the previous 1960s split-level home of former Xerox CEO Charles Peter McColough.

 Stuart Lepera of Leperadise was the builder and completed the estate in 2015. Amenities include posh interior materials, tennis courts, a heated infinity-edge pool, two-story rock waterfall, oceanfront three-story tower, loggia with fire pit, and lakefront dock with water and electricity. 

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Fashion designer Tomas Maier and Andrew Preston sold their oceanfront Gulf Stream home at 3377 N. Ocean Blvd. for $9.5 million in January to The East Bluff Trust, with David J. McCabe as trustee, according to property records. They paid $7.3 million for the home in 2006. Built in 1980, the two-story house features a pool and 100 feet of ocean frontage. Douglas Elliman’s Nicholas Malinosky and Randy Ely represented the sellers. Broker Jeremy Olsher, of Mizner Residential Realty LLC, brought the buyer. The home hit the market in November for $10.95 million. 

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For those who want to walk (vicariously) in the steps of a supermodel, here’s your chance. Russian supermodel Sasha Pivovarova, the new face of Christian Dior for its Spring/Summer 2018 collection, is leasing out her Mid-Century-Modern-style home at 1416 Lands End Road on Hypoluxo Island for $70,000 a year.

 Pivovarova and her husband, Igor Vishnyakov, an artist, bought their four-bedroom, four-bath house, with 3,800 total square feet, in 2015 as a getaway. Now, though, they aren’t making use of it since their daughter, Mia, 6, has started school, explains Sotheby’s International Realty agent Patricia Towle, who is handling the lease. They’ve made many upgrades, and the house, with custom furniture designed by Todd Hase, can be leased furnished or unfurnished. “What they especially love about the house is the huge banyan tree in the front yard,” says Towle. “It’s probably the largest on the island and there’s a nesting hawk in the tree. The tree is so large that there’s a room inside of it.” For more information, call Towle at 568-9565. 

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On Feb. 8 at Boca Real Estate Investment Club’s 24th anniversary meeting, club founder and President David Dweck will speak about South Florida’s real estate market. This meeting will be at the DoubleTree Hilton, 100 Fairway Drive, Deerfield Beach. Registration begins at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation starts at 7. The cost is $20 for nonmembers. For more info, call 391-7325 or visit www.bocarealestateclub.com.

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The International Festivals & Events Association, which recognizes the world’s best event producers, announced the winners of its annual Pinnacle Awards during a trade show in Tucson, Ariz., and the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative, along with the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, each received a Gold Award.

The cooperative won for Best Newspaper Insert for the 100-foot Christmas tree, and the chamber won for Best Promotional Video for its scavenger hunt. 

“To compete against such talented organizations from all over the world makes winning a real honor,” said Jarrod White, event manager of the cooperative.

Added Kim Bentkover, membership director at the Chamber, “We are honored to be recognized with this award from the IFEA, as we put a lot of creative energy, humor, quirkiness and makeup on to create our promotional video for the Seek in the City scavenger-hunt event.”

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The South Florida Garlic Fest, created and produced by the nonprofit organization Delray Beach Arts, will be Feb. 9-11 at John Prince Park, 4759 S. Congress Ave., Lake Worth. 

The food and entertainment event will feature more than 100 garlic-laced menu items, a children’s amusement area with rides, and more than 200 artist and craft vendors. A fundraising source for local nonprofit organizations, the event reached a milestone in 2017, donating more than $610,000.  

Event hours on Feb. 9 are 5 to 11 p.m.; Feb. 10 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Feb. 11 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The cost is $10 before 6 p.m. and $20 after 6 p.m. Children 12 and younger are admitted free.

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The Palm Beach Poetry Festival’s 2018 Ekphrastic Poetry Contest is inspired by the “Looking Glass” exhibition, on display through Feb. 24 at the Cornell Museum at Old School Square in Delray Beach. To enter the contest, writers need to submit up to 30 lines of original poetry inspired by one of eight designated images featured in the exhibition. 

These are: Five Squares by Chul Hyun-Ahn, Portrait of Joan Agajanian Quinn by Andrew Logan, One Day You’ll Be Mine by Graeme Messer, Muse by Jeremy Penn, Dog /Mirror by Liliana Porter, Outer Reflection by Lilibeth Rasmussen, Façade by Elle Schorr and Invisible Quilt by Peter Symons. 

The winning poet will receive a $100 prize, and four runners-up will receive $25 each. The deadline to submit is March 1, and all submissions will be accepted at https://palmbeachpoetryfestival.submittable.com/submit/ 102926/2018-palm-beach-poetry-festival-looking-glass-poetry-contest. 

For information and to view the images from the exhibition, visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/news/looking-glass-ekphrastic-poetry-contest/

The best 30 lines inspired by this objet d’art could win the $100 prize in a Poetry Festival contest. Photo provided

Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

By Steve Plunkett

Little more than a month into 2018, the political waters in Boca Raton are already roiling.

As the new year dawned, it appeared City Council incumbent Robert Weinroth would face political newcomer Monica Mayotte in the March 13 election. But Weinroth withdrew from his Seat D race and filed Jan. 11 to run for County Commission instead.

His departure drew three more candidates into the contest, including former Deputy Mayor Michael Mullaugh, who withdrew only days after qualifying. That left on the ballot Mayotte, a former chair of the city’s Green Living Advisory Board; Armand Grossman, who mounted a short-lived candidacy for Seat C in 2015; and Paul Preste, a physician who made a surprise $78 million offer to buy the city’s western golf course too late to be considered.

Also on the ballot will be Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, first elected to the council’s Seat C in 2015, and Kim Do, an accountant and tax lawyer new to politics.

In the Nov. 6 race to succeed County Commissioner Steven Abrams, Weinroth will face Mayor Susan Haynie, who opened a campaign account in October and has filed a letter of resignation from the council effective Nov. 20. 

Council member Scott Singer is running to take over the last year of Haynie’s term in March 2019, as are real estate agent Bernard Korn and developer/lobbyist Glenn Gromann.

Grossman, a retired educator, quit the 2015 council campaign after a mass mailing and website raised questions about a real estate course he ran. The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation investigated him in 2000. The matter was closed after he paid $1,500 in fines and restitution.

Preste, an internist who practices in Fort Lauderdale, said in 2016 he and his partners would build a 1,000-unit adult living facility on the municipal golf course. But under city rules, his all-cash offer could not be considered.  In November, Boca Raton decided to sell the course to GL Homes for $65 million. 

Meet the candidates

When: Feb. 8

Where: 6500 Building, 6500 Congress Ave.

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Sponsor: Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations

Manalapan travel agent Annie Davis, owner of Palm Beach Travel, has strong personal ties to the British Virgin Islands. She recently coordinated a benefit auction to promote the rebuilding of that area, which suffered overwhelming damage in last fall’s hurricane season. Sponsors included  the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board, Etihad Airways, Eau Palm Beach, Prime Catch, The Moorings and Delray Plastic Surgery. They partnered with Automobili Lamborghini America to provide auction items and services that raised more than $40,000. ABOVE: (l-r) Tucker Thompson, sailing broadcaster; Sheroma Jacobs, BVI Tourist Board; Colin Aldridge, owner of Jost Van Dyke Scuba on Virgin Gorda and survivor of Hurricane Irma; Davis, and Giovanni Pellerito, Automobili Lamborghini America national manager. Coastal Star photo