After a majority of Boynton Beach city commissioners pursued, full-throttle, a new police building along Congress Avenue, all five are now practically falling over themselves to postpone that effort. Plans for a move of the police station to the Renaissance Commons development on Congress Avenue — a controversial switch from east to west — have been put off indefinitely. Most likely, city commissioners will review plans in its budget process later this year, City Manager Kurt Bressner said. “I guess what we’ll do is wait and see what happens and as part of the budget discussion we will ask the commission whether they want to consider any manner of police facility,” he said. That will be after March 9 elections, when voters will choose a new mayor to replace term-limited Jerry Taylor and two new commissioners will replace Ron Weiland and Jose Rodriguez, who are running for mayor along with five others. The decision to postpone the move, made at a time of particular sensitivity to voter unrest, was just the latest twist in a complicated string of events. Commissioners last year put out a request for proposals for a new City Hall and police station. Then they brought up the idea of having voters settle the question of whether to build them. They then chose developer James Comparato’s Renaissance Commons location. Then they essentially dropped the City Hall project but finalized a referendum question on whether to build the police station, leaving it up in the air whether the Comparato project would happen. Then, with a 3-2 vote, they dropped the referendum and decided to go with Comparato’s deal, which, at $15 million, they said was a bargain. Now, they’ve thought better of it and postponed it. Weiland, who originally pushed for skipping the referendum and going straight to a deal with Comparato, now has changed his mind. “After a few weeks have gone by, I realized how much outcry was from the citizens to not move it — I’ve always been a voice for the people,” he said during the Feb. 16 meeting, to boos from residents who remembered his previous votes. Commissioner Marlene Ross, whose district the station would move into, said she was going to make the same recommendation — before Weiland stole her thunder. And Rodriguez, who has consistently panned the idea of moving either the City Hall or the police station from his eastern district, jumped into the mix, saying the whole project should be dropped for good. “At this point in time, I don’t want to waste any more taxpayer dollars on negotiating this contract,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
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Attention Walmart shoppers: In about a year, you’ll be able to shop at a new store at Federal Highway and Gulfstream Boulevard — to the chagrin of some residents. Residents from nearby Gulf Stream, particularly residents from the Place Au Soleil neighborhood across the street from the store site, urged commissioners to delay a vote and work to make the store more aesthetically pleasing. They also implored that the store not be 24 hours, a request that was rejected. Commissioners approved the plans, along with requests from Wal-Mart to build farther away from the road than city regulations require. There was no zoning change needed, since that location is already a commercial zone. Wal-Mart is planning to open the store in the spring of 2011, Community Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Lisa Bright said. “Construction would likely be close to eight to 12 months,” Planning Director Mike Rumpf said in an e-mail. The store will replace a property that includes an abandoned strip mall, nightclub and strip joint. The planning department imposed a litany of conditions on the 93,000-square-foot store’s design, mainly in an attempt to give it a more urban feel. They include awnings, more windows and other features to make it appear that there’s more than one storefront rather than one big box of a store. CRA officials in the city pointed to the 150 full-time and 50 part-time jobs that will be created, saying that employment opportunities along Federal are needed as part of the urban fabric the city is trying to create there. “I think it’s an excellent project — that’s what we’ve been talking about for three years,” Bright said. “It’s the brand-new prototype for Wal-Mart so we’re excited to have the new model.” The CRA will pay Wal-Mart $500 per full-time job — in addition to $2,500 per job from the state Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. The CRA’s $75,000 will be paid over five years, Bright said. Bob Ganger, head of the Gulf Stream Civic Association, said he was happy to have been included in talks with Wal-Mart representatives and city officials, but wished more changes would have been made to the design. And he remains concerned about crime. “I gave them a challenge and I said, ‘Make this the safest, the most beautiful and the most neighborhood-compatible in all of the state of Florida,’” Ganger said. He doesn’t feel that mission was accomplished, but said the design conditions that were imposed are at least something. Police Chief G. Matthew Immler said the Super Wal-Mart in the city had 989 calls for service last year. The main crimes were shoplifting, fraud and forgery, traffic accidents and auto burglaries. That compared to about 800 calls for service at the Boynton Mall, a difference Immler attributed to the Walmart’s extended hours and the presence of mall security. The round-the-clock schedule is what most displeases residents. Ganger said: “That’s the one outcome we’re not satisfied with.”
Lantana’s plan to build two docks to provide staging for the boat launch at Sportsman’s Park will cost about $224,000, part of $300,000 county funds earmarked for the project. Council approved the design presented by Kimley-Horn & Associates Feb. 22, which consists of a two-dock structure built with timber decking and concrete piles. “The goal of the project is to provide slips to reduce the congestion and to provide day slips to let boaters come and enjoy the shops and restaurants,” said Kevin Schanen of Kimley-Horn. The eastern pier is primarily for staging, and a breakwater underneath it is designed to quell waves, he said. The other provides four slips for boats to dock for the day. The timber decking raised concern from Councilmember Elizabeth Tennyson, who pointed out the hazards of splinters and maintenance costs – and well as replacement costs if the materials are washed away in the storm. A more expensive material is available that would extend the life of the docks, Town Manager Mike Bornstein pointed out. Mayor David Stewart noted that Council’s approval was only for the initial design, that Kimberly Horn would return many times as the project progresses and Council would have the opportunity to change materials used. Public comment on the dock noted the project could benefit from making the space for the entrance ramp wider to facilitate navigation into and out of the ramp. Environmental concerns raised included whether the pressure treated wood would leach into the Intracoastal Waterway. The county granted Lantana the funds for Sportsman’s Park from $300,000 that was unused from another project. The cost of the staging docks also includes a 24 percent contingency, according to Kimley-Horn.
The East Ocean Avenue bridge will rise higher and open less frequently when it’s been newly reconstructed, but some nearby neighbors worry that will mean more noise. Town Manager Mike Bornstein presented the new design of the county-owned bridge, on which construction will begin in summer 2011, to Council members last month. The bridge, which will cost the county about $30 million to rebuild, won’t reopen for about two years. The span “is still safe, but it has to be replaced,” Mayor David Stewart said, explaining that a rating of 30 represents the threshold of safety – and the Lantana bridge is rated 32. The bridge will rise from 13 feet to 21 feet, its noisy metal grating will be filled and its railings will be open to allow the beautiful views to show through, said Bornstein. The added height will mean the bridge will need to open 40 percent less to let boats through. The widened bridge deck creates a wide sidewalk with a concrete barrier separating pedestrians and traffic, he said. The bridge keeper’s cupola is six-sided to provide visibility with tin roof and portholes. And the design beneath the bridge incorporates far fewer pilings, creating a clearer view. There will be room for two boats to pass underneath the bridge at the same time. The town doesn’t intend to allow fishing from the bridge, hoping to provide a permanent structure underneath for anglers, Mayor Stewart said. “The county has incorporated many of our concerns” in the new design, Bornstein said, noting at the end of the meeting newly raised concerns that he planned to bring to the engineers’ attention. “I’m pleased with the bridge,” said Council member Elizabeth Tennyson, She praised the design elements that left intact views of the shimmering Intracoastal Waterway and lush shores. “Some bridges, when you drive across, you can’t see anything.” The structure also drew praise from other Council members, including Tom Deringer who said, “I think it’s a great bridge.”
But while one resident who lives right next to the bridge said the design perspective was nice, he said, “There is a need here to study noise mitigation to address how we can best meet the needs of the people living on the island.” Mitch Mirchandani said because the bridge is three feet higher, the road noises won’t be absorbed by existing shrubbery and will travel further. Gone will be the whirring sound of cars rolling across the grate and the rhythmic thud when they cross joints in the concrete. But nothing will stop the sound of rubber on the road, Mirchandani said. In fact, because the bridge will open less means there will be more car noises. Fewer bridge openings will mean less noise, however, Bornstein pointed out. But Mirchandani disagreed. “When you live near a bridge, the only time you get quiet is when the bridge is up.” The mayor asked Bornstein to send Mirchandanis concern to county engineers. The Town Manager will also refer requests including to make the bridge the same color. The logistics of closing the bridge for construction are immense, involving not only making new arrangements for garbage collection, fire and rescue services and water, but less obvious provisions such as finding a place for the traumahawk helicopter to land when needed. “Simple things that you take for granted will be cut off for two years for Hypoluxo Island,” Bornstein said.
Don’t believe everything you read about how nobody reads anymore. Those good old-fashioned book lovers are still out there, hungry for intelligent novels, literate histories, provocative biographies, and eager to share their delight — or disappoinment — in the latest feast. From South Palm Beach to Delray, book clubs are thriving on the coast. In South Palm Beach, the town’s book discussion group, which began as a seasonal club six years ago, now meets year-round. “The only dues are, you’ve got to speak up,” says Penny Davidson, the group’s discussion leader. “But not while somebody else is talking.” In February, they read Evening Class, by the Irish novelist Maeve Binchy. This month, it’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie. “At every meeting, somebody says, ‘I hated this book, but now I hear what you’ve got to say, I understand more why it was written,’ ” Davidson says. One book that’s proved a surprise bestseller and book club favorite this year is The Help, novelist Kathryn Stockett’s tale of black domestic workers and the white women who hire them in 1960s Mississippi. “The morning after I finished it, I came downstairs and it was like all my friends had moved away,” one fan said. But then she gathered with a dozen real friends at the Manalapan Library Book Club to discuss the book. “We’re very informal,” says discussion leader John Tegano. “You can have read the book or not. If you like the meeting you can come back.” Ocean Ridge readers also read The Help. “It’s the only book everybody’s liked,” says club leader John Wootton. The book club strives to find quality fiction, Wootton says, but it’s not above slumming once a while. Not long ago, they tackled Twilight, from Stephanie Meyer’s hugely successful vampire series. “We said, Let’s read this as a sociological phenomenon,” explains Wootton, “and it turned out to be fascinating. We all thought it was dreadfully written, but it got us talking to children and teenagers and asking ‘What do you see in this?’ ” Usually, the club favors more literary works, such as Olive Kitteridge, last year’s Pulitzer-prize winner, or John Steinbeck’s classic, The Grapes of Wrath. “The only things we try to stay away from are strong religious themes, and we don’t want to get into political discussions,” Wootton says. And then there’s … sex! After all, one reader’s sensuality is another’s smut. “Some ladies in our group didn’t finish one book or another because it was full of dirty words,” concedes Penny Davidson of South Palm Beach, “If I’ve chosen something that goes against the grain, they won’t vote for it — or they won’t come — but that’s life.” Ask the club leaders, and all concede that their groups are predominantly, if not overwhelmingly, female. In 2002, Susan Hurlburt started an informal book club with 10 women friends. “I just invited some friends I knew were literate, and I was basically the dictator. I picked the books,” she recalls. Seven years later, the club is still active, but without a dictator. Nowadays, they work from a list of genres — memoirs, prize-winners, plays, nonfiction — and the member who chooses the book hosts a meeting in her home. They are not currently accepting new members. “We’re 10 women with 10 different views of life,” says Hurlburt, “and we’ve only chosen one book that was a dog.” The book? Be Cool, by Elmore Leonard. “Yes, the book clubs tend to be invariably women,” says Steve Leveen, the founder of the Levenger book accessory stores and author of The Little Guide To Your Well-Read Life. “I got a little envious that women were having all these great meetings, so I started a book club for men only. The result is The Mules, a Delray Beach discussion group inspired by a couplet from poet Ogden Nash: In the land of the mules, there are no rules. While the women read Maeve Binchy or The Help, Leveen and his fellow Mules favor more manly fare, such as Ernest Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy. “I made the mistake once of inviting some women to our meeting,” Leveen says, “and frankly, the level of discussion was raised to such a high level it was intimidating and the men made me promise I wouldn’t do it again.”
AREA BOOK CLUBS
South Palm Beach Meets in town hall at 10:15 a.m. on he third Tuesday of each month. For information, call Penny Davidson at (561) 547-9374.
Manalapan Meets in the J. Turner Moore Library at 3 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. For information, call the library at (561) 588-7577.
Ocean Ridge Meets at town hall at 5:445 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. For information, call John Wootton at (561) 369-3369.
Delray Beach The Mules, a book discussion group for men only, meets monthly at the Boheme Bistro. For information, call Steve Leveen at (561) 716-0793.
We appreciate restaurants with scrumptious food, good service and a pleasing ambience. But if a dining spot comes with an ocean view, we’re really cooking! Fortunately for us, our islands are blessed with several such gems, where we can share good food and conversation while taking in beautiful ocean views. They range from elegant and pricey dining rooms to casual flip-flop friendly cafes. Check out these eight seashore treasures. A1A will lead the way.
The Seafood Bar at The Breakers Palm Beach You don’t have to be a guest at this historic five-star Flagler hotel to enjoy its many restaurants, including one of our favorites,The Seafood Bar. The bar itself is an aquarium, so you can watch the tropical fish swimming about as you toast the day with glass of wine. The ocean view here is spectacular and since the restaurant is enclosed, there’s no need to worry about the wind blowing your hair into your face while you’re munching on the calamari. The menu, inspired by the sea, includes fresh fish, clams, oysters, lobster, shrimp and yummy chowders. Vaulted, open, beamed ceilings, plantation shutters, and elegant furnishings help make this bar a cool spot for dining or drinks. Diners can dress casually, but no torn jeans, cut-offs or tank tops. Phone: (561) 655-66611. Address: 1 South County Road, Palm Beach.
Atlantic Bar & Grille at The Four Seasons Palm Beach While The Restaurant at the Four Seasons can always be counted on for fine dining and innovative cocktails, it’s the Atlantic Bar & Grille by the pool that offers diners the best sea view between 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. every day. This is a great place for munching stone crabs, jumbo shrimp and perhaps even a New England lobster roll. Burgers and salads are available, too. And if you’re a grown-up (well, at least if you’re drinking age) be sure to order an organic cucumber martini, the resort’s signature cocktail. And always save room for dessert at the Four Seasons. We’re especially fond of the strawberry shortcake. Phone: (561) 582-2800. Address: 2800 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach.
Michelle Bernstein’s at The Omphoy Palm Beach Palm Beach’s newest resort comes with a stunning restaurant named after its celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein (you may have seen her on the Food Network). Bernstein is known for her Latin and New World flair, but the menu focuses on seafood. Guests rave about the white gazpacho with almonds and grapes and Michy’s fried chicken. Dark woods, royal blues and plush chairs are in keeping with the rest of the hotel’s décor. The restaurant, located on the third floor, offers dramatic floor to ceiling views of the Atlantic. You can see out of the windows in late afternoon (the upstairs restaurant is only open for dinner) but at night the glass takes on a whole knew allure as a sea of blackness. For breakfast and lunch, diners can enjoy Bernstein’s culinary creations downstairs in the MP Terrace, which also has ocean views. Phone: (561) 540-6444. Address: 2842 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach.
Benny’s on the Beach Lake Worth You can have breakfast, lunch or dinner in your bathing suit here, if that’s what you want. Benny’s is, as its moniker says, “on the beach.” More precisely, it’s on the Lake Worth pier. Chow down on a stuffed croissant, juicy hamburger or maybe the Captain’s fried platter. Arrive early enough in the day and you can watch the sunrise. After eating, you can always burn off the calories by walking the beach, going for a swim, or strolling out on the 488-foot William O. Lockhart Municipal Pier. Phone: (561) 582-9001. Address: 10 S. Ocean Blvd., Lake Worth.
Tides Bar & Grille at Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn South Palm Beach The popular dish here is lobster ravioli, but there are many other choices, including surf and turf and mahi mahi. At the indoor Martini Bar, one of the favorite libations is the piña colada martini topped with toasted coconut. And outside beside the pool and tiki bar, there’s often an upbeat band keeping spirits bright. But even brighter than those spirits is the great view at the Tides, where guests say they feel like they’re on a cruise ship. That’s how close the ocean is! Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served inside or outside by the pool or even upstairs on the sun deck. If you can’t see the ocean here, you’re just not looking! Phone: (561) 582-5631. Address: 3550 S. Ocean Blvd., South Palm Beach.
Dune Deck Lantana You never know who you’ll run into at the Dune Deck. It’s next door to the Ritz-Carlton and attracts some of its guests, like the Who’s frontman, Roger Daltrey, who was in the area for a Super Bowl halftime performance. Mostly, though, it’s everyday folks, tourists and natives who come to this place for the good food and the great ocean view. It’s like being in the Greek Isles or the French Riviera. From most tables, you’re almost eye level with the lifeguard, whose stand is just yards away. Fish sandwiches and burgers are always good here, but one of the house specialties is a giant Greek salad with grilled pita bread. Casual dress is just fine. Note, however, this is a cash-only place: no credit cards. Phone: (561) 582-0472. Address: 100 N. Ocean Blvd., Lantana
Temple Orange at The Ritz-Carlton Manalapan For great food and pretty ocean views from inside or out, Temple Orange is a good choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The Italian/Mediterranean influenced menu includes a yummy seafood minestrone, seafood risotto with scallops and shrimp, and seared Florida snapper. Desserts are standouts, from the vanilla crème brule with mango salsa and almond biscotti, to Temple Orange tart. Order a raspberry mojito for starters. This is a bright and cheery citrus-inspired restaurant, with candles flickering at night and sun streaming in during the day. At night, guests gather around a fire pit outside to toast the day and watch the stars. Phone: (561) 533-6000. Address: 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan.
The Upper Deck at Boston’s Delray Beach Boston’s and it’s neighbors Caffé Luna Rosa and Surf Sliders are all fun beach-side spots to dine, but for the best ocean view you have to go to The Upper Deck at Boston’s. A spacious veranda provides lots of tables for diners to eat, take in the breeze and watch the waves roll in. They can also see surfers riding the waves at the south end of the beach, sailboats cruising by, and beach-goers swimming and sunbathing on the sandy shores below. More formal in décor than Boston’s first floor, inside tables are covered with white clothes and high-top tables permit the same great ocean views you get outside. The menu features lots of seafood, but you can get Boston’s famous New England style lobster salad, Ipswich steamers, fried clams, live Maine lobsters, sandwiches, burgers and salads, too. A sleek bar comes with all the libations you’d expect at this Delray Beach hotspot. Phone: (561) 278-3364. Address: 40 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach.
Mary Thurwachter writes about Florida B&Bs and other small inns at www.InnsideFlorida.com.
South Palm Beach Mayor Martin Millar isn’t sure whether to believe his own town clerk and said he has asked the Palm Beach County State Attorney to investigate whether a Town Council candidate filed for office after the deadline. It’s the latest issue to bubble to the top of a simmering dispute over a defeated proposal to erect a 10-story luxury hotel in a town of condominiums. Pjeter Paloka, one of the owners who want to expand the two-story Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn, claims that prospective candidate Clare Semer didn’t emerge from Town Clerk Janet Whipple’s office until 50 minutes after the noon Feb. 9 deadline for filing. “Anyone who abides by the law should be offended by this blatant violation of state law,” Paloka said. Whipple said Semer qualified with time to spare. “She was in my office at 20 minutes to 12 and she had her paperwork, check and everything,” Whipple said. The rest of the time was spent with Whipple explaining campaign contribution and expense record-keeping and deadlines. At 12:19 p.m. on the final filing day, Paloka said he demanded copies of Semer’s qualification papers but Whipple was behind closed doors with Semer. “If I had really done something wrong and found out about it later, I would have said, ‘I’m sorry, you didn’t qualify,’ ” Whipple said. Semer said she arrived at Town Hall at about 11:30 a.m. and her qualifying papers are time-stamped 11:40 a.m. “I’m shocked about all this, although why should I be?” she said. Meanwhile, Millar interrupted Semer’s meeting with Whipple twice with a phone call and then appeared in person to demand a list of the qualified candidates. Both state and county elections officials have refused to get involved in the disagreement. So Millar went to the State Attorney’s Office. “We need a full investigation,” he said at the Feb. 23Town Council meeting. “If it stinks, it stinks. It’s not for me or anyone else here to say who is right and who is wrong.” Semer, an alternate on the planning board, said she backs the town comprehensive plan’s building height limit of six stories. The Paloka family wants nine stories and a parking garage. The proposal was defeated in September but two of the council members who opposed it, Charles McCrosson and Joseph Flagello, are not seeking re-election. Six candidates are on the March 9 ballot for the two positions. Paloka said he did not know Semer’s position on the hotel until after she had filed. “That just detracts from the real issue. It’s a red herring,” he said. Read more…
Kathy Skipper holds a child at Little Children of Jesus Handicapped Home just outside Port-au-Prince. The home was untouched in
the quake and all the children are OK.
By Kathy Skipper
Haiti is on my mind. Like a newfound love, it is the prism that colors everything I see. Like the old and familiar, it is a comfort and a treasure. Day and night, I think of Haiti. It’s been like this since I traveled there in December and then saw the country shockingly rocked to its knees on Jan. 12. You are not supposed to get this attached, I think. Don’t let yourself become obsessed by this. But it is too late. I have fallen in love with the Haitian people. When I traveled there as an employee of Food For The Poor, it was with 20 others looking to see the situation in Haiti firsthand, and to serve the poor. Some of us were staff; others, from around the country, took time out during the busiest season of the year to feed the hungry and visit the sick. They came from Texas and New York, from Michigan and from Georgia. My husband, a journalist who has traveled to Haiti many times, told me what to expect: the streets, the smells, the very air of destitution. My co-workers counseled me on food, water, on the outpouring of love we would receive from the Haitian people. I listened carefully, and tried to prepare myself. Despite all that, nothing truly readied me for what we saw after a two-hour flight from South Florida. I felt like a time-traveler. The infamous poverty was everywhere. Yet so was the hope and love. As we fed lunch to children at a home for the handicapped, they were all over us, head to toe, touching our hair, and blessing us with their smiles. We witnessed market day in Gressier, a town where we could not distinguish the mud pens from the houses. Children begged for food. Even though we learned many of the people soon would be moved to Food For The Poor houses, the bottle of water I was drinking choked me. In Cite Soleil, the worst slum in the Western Hemisphere, we washed the feet of the poor and gave them new shoes, while they sang hymns to us in Creole. They prayed for us. When I left, I made two commitments: to work harder for the poor, and to return as soon as possible. Then the news of the earthquake came, and our hearts broke. With each call came more news of devastation. Most of downtown Port-au-Prince was destroyed. The Hotel Montana, where we stayed in December, had fallen. We would learn that one of our staff members would be rescued after 17 hours in the rubble, and that six members of our January mission trip with Lynn University were lost. We also learned that we were able to serve hot meals, that aid was getting in and that most of our houses had withstood the test of the quake. I still can’t wait to return to Haiti and to the people who refuse to let love and hope die. They persevere. And so will we.
Kathy Skipper works for Food For The Poor.
Food For The Poor is the largest international relief and development organization in the United States. The interdenominational Christian agency feeds millions of poor people in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as providing emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. More than 96 percent of all donations go directly to programs that help the poor. On the Web at www.foodforthepoor.org. ;
Brimming with vitality and bounding with energy, Gina and Garrett Benders’ charming Mediterranean-style, two-story home on Andrews Avenue will be one of the stops of the March 11 Delray Beach Home Tour. The tour will include seven homes in the beach area of Delray Beach and benefits the Achievement Centers for Children & Families. “We have a full house,” Gina Bender said of her six-bedroom, seven-bath waterfront home with more than 9,000 total square feet. The Benders have three children: Draper, 17, Quillen, 15 and Olivia, 14. Also part of the family are a cat, Zazu, and 3 dogs: Molly, a springer spaniel, Milkshake, a West Highland white, and Layla, a pit bull. “We are just missing a goat and a chicken,” she adds.
The home was a collaborative effort between Garrett, a real estate developer, and Gina, a designer and antiques dealer. They relocated from Atlanta and moved into their new home in 2005. Randy Stofft of Randall E. Stofft Architects was the architect and Curtis House of Louis Anthony & Associates, designed the interiors. Set up perfectly for this family, the house is divided into rooms in the main part of the house (the dogs move pillows around and settle into the comfy sofas and chairs in the living room) as well as offices for Gina and Garrett. The big kitchen opens to the family room, where the children enjoy hanging out, even though they have a family room, just outside their cluster of bedroom suites upstairs. The guest room, also on the second floor and overlooking the water, is often taken over by friends of the children, which is just fine with Gina as that makes it easier to keep track of her teens. The master suite is privately located in the north of the house on the second floor — and includes a gym, large bathroom and closets, and a sun-filled bedroom with French doors that open to a balcony offering water views. For Gina, relocating gave her the opportunity to create the “new old” home of her dreams, using ideas from Addison Mizner’s architecture and pictures of old Palm Beach homes that she collected from books and magazines.
Architectural features include a tower staircase topped with a dome and adorned by a hand-painted mural, highly decorated Moorish columns, wrought-iron railings and grillwork, French doors, archways, deep brown natural woodwork, tea-stained stucco, stone floors as well as plank floors, decorative ceiling treatments, and tiles of all types, colors and sizes that Gina enjoyed finding. Thank goodness, Gina said, that some wares from her Atlanta shops didn’t sell. Those pieces worked perfectly in her home’s decor, an eclectic mix of Indian and Spanish antiques, with rich woods and jewel-toned fabrics. Outside, the grounds are a tropical paradise. Enclosed in a courtyard are patios, a summer kitchen, pool, spa and fountains. Along the waterfront of their home is a dock. “I loved creating this house,” Gina said. “It came together beautifully and the location is perfect. It’s great for entertaining, and, since it’s close to the beach, our house is where the kids’ friends come. Actually, they are doing more entertaining than Garrett and I.”
The tour, which benefits the Achievement Centers for Children & Families, is on Thursday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Homes are located between the Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway, from Vista Del Mar to Pelican Lane. The Achievement Centers for Children & Families in Delray Beach, a social services agency serving 700 children and 150 adults, aims to help families achieve self-sufficiency, as well as providing the children of these families with the educational resources to help them succeed in school. The tour, in its eighth year, is the centers’ signature fundraiser. Ticket price is $100 and includes parking with continuous trolley service between the homes and a “Taste of Delray” catered luncheon. Reservations are required. Confirmed guests will receive a map of the homes one week before the event. For information call (561) 266-0003.
About gardening, Cooks says, "Create beauty and restore order. This in return will inspire others to create beauty and restore order in their own lives.''
Barbara Cook of Ocean Ridge considers gardening her true calling and describes herself “a farmer at heart.” “I’ve done may things in my adult life, and the garden is where I am the happiest. I’m not tired when I’m in the garden, and I’m never blue. It’s something that I love to do — and have to do.” A good thing she never got tired or blue, because her garden took time (21 years), study (she’s now a certified master gardener), and a lot of hard work (more than 12 hours a week in her own garden, plus volunteer gardening). Because her acre of garden is a Florida hammock, machinery could not be used to clear the grounds, she explains. “I did it with rake and hoe and bare hands. It wasn’t so terribly hard, but it was time-consuming.” Slowly over the years, she methodically coaxed her jungle into a garden and got “it all cleaned up.” Now, she gladly shares her garden and, if asked, offers advice. “I’d hate to think about putting in all that time and effort and not share it,” she said. Here are some of her tips:
• When planning a garden, don’t try to do it all at once. That would be too overwhelming, so take your garden section by section. “I’d take a section to the bare dirt and I’d check the sun and the shade elements. I would think about what I’d want to see, and visit the nursery and tell them my situation. The people in the nurseries were fabulous. They trained me.” • Don’t be too concerned with your failures. “There are plenty of plants and holes in the ground where the dead plants came from. Killing plants is to be expected.” • Just get started. “Even if you have a small, intimate setting, it can be beautiful with containers and a choice of plants. With the right little table and chairs, you can have a beautiful getaway of a garden right there.” • A garden has personality and one must honor it. Hers, she said, is uplifting and inspirational. “I love beauty. When I had to define the rest of my life, I realized it was to create beauty and restore order. In turn, my garden inspires others to create beauty and restore order and this is my mission and I will do it forever.” Her garden will be one of six private gardens on the Delray Beach Secret Garden Tour and Luncheon, on March 20. — Christine Davis
10 Questions Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you? A. The boot heel of Kennett, Mo., on the Arkansas-Tennessee border, cotton and watermelon country. The Southern influence kept me grounded in home and family values. Q. How and when did you become a gardener? A.Twenty years ago, my husband, Stan, and I were at the wonderful Bok Towers in Lake Wales. He said, “Find me a Bok Towers.” After much searching, we had to settle on a Florida hammock in Ocean Ridge. It was a jungle. It took five years to clear the ground and find out what would grow in the dense shade and little sun. I started studying and reading every book I could, and picking the brains of every nursery owner. Finally, after 15 years of creating my dream garden, I took a course at the Florida County Extension to become a master gardener. Then, the real learning began. In the meantime, the gardens have been on numerous large group tours, including one bringing in 615 people. Q. Have you had other careers or hobbies? What were the highlights? A. My husband and children were my career for the first 20 years. All along, I was involved in gourmet cooking and entertaining clients, decorating, taking college courses in English lit, the stock market, cooking with favorite chefs who came to the area. A favorite was Jacques Pepin. The most valuable hobby was taking the horticultural course to become a master gardener. Q. Tell us about your garden. A. My gardens are in five themes, each flowing gracefully into each other. I start a tour by showing the guests a huge bass chime hanging in a century-old strangler fig. When rung, it announces that visitors are coming in to visit the gardens. There is an orchestra of chimes that entertain us daily. There is no grass anywhere, only paths that lead to each theme with a “discovery” around every bend. There is “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” flowing into “Birdhouse Lane,” with 16 houses on posts. On that lane are sculptures of a life-sized mamma and baby zebra, a prehistoric leopard, a lion and a bear. The sculptures were done for us by artists. Five exotic 6-foot birds of limestone are seductively slipped into the greenery. I include some plants familiar to most, then push the appreciation and education of species they probably aren’t familiar with, i.e. Vil Mariniana, or by the common name, “Octopussy,” a huge, intriguing agave. People are welcome at any time to come and stroll through. Q. What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge? A. The ocean across the street is a magnate for tranquility, the setting of the property, and, of course, the people are wonderful. Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions? A. Being from a family of 10 children, I had many brothers and sisters to tap ideas from, but I was especially attracted to three aunts who left the home front to become very successful women when it was unpopular for women to breach the roll of housewife: One was a writer who regaled me with history and tales of our ancestor, Stonewall Jackson, one aunt became a principal of the high school of our town, and one became a nurse. When one of us contracted a childhood disease, all 10 of us did. So, we had the benefit of a private nurse. Q. Who or what makes you laugh? A. I love comic strips. I think there is a genius in an artist who can convey in three frames a whole humorous story that takes an author a book to do in 300 pages. People with a genuine sense of humor thrill me. Q. What book are you reading now? A. An Irish novel by Maeve Binchy called Tara Road. Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax? A. Smooth jazz and New Age jazz. I feel artistic with Enya or Andrea Bocelli. Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you? A. Now, that is a fantasy, but I would choose Elizabeth Taylor. She would portray me much spicier than I am. I would like to see how she would handle getting grimy in the garden, cooking and attending volunteer meetings and weed-pulling parties. I’m sure she would walk off the set and my movie would be trashed.
If You Go Delray Beach Secret Garden Tour and Luncheon When: Saturday, March 20 What: 6 private gardens Transportation: Trolley takes you around; meet at 8:35 a.m. at the Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W. Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, in the rear parking lot. Cost: $47 if you RSVP before March 15, and later than that, $52. Continental breakfast and luncheon are included. RSVP: (561) 276-1715, Carolyn Zimmerman All proceeds go to the Lightup Delray Beach Holiday Decorating Contest and the Easter Bonnet Stroll. Make checks payable to Carolyn Zimmerman, send check to 212 SW Second Ave., Delray Beach, FL 33444 The lunch will be in Carolyn Zimmerman's garden and the breakfast will be in Ann Koplas' garden. Barbara Cook's garden is on the route.
On the day his world fell apart, Kivland Lubin turned to the only place where he feels at peace. His work.
At Harbour’s Edge, a retirement living facility nestled along the Intracoastal in Delray Beach, more than 80 employees are Haitian. So when a powerful earthquake rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, it rocked the lives of those here, too. Many workers lost family members, including Lubin, whose six relatives are still missing in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince. He believes they all are dead. And though he felt weak and helpless in those first few days after the earthquake, it was the people at Harbour’s Edge who gave him strength. “When I came here, I felt better,” Lubin, 49, of Boca Raton, said. “I feel like I’m with my family.” So Lubin and the rest of the Haitian staff did what they would do with their own families — they prayed. A prayer service was quickly organized with Harbour’s Edge Executive Director Theresa Bertram nearby. She brought in grief counselors and offered counseling to those who told their stories that day. Bertram still recalls the sadness that poured from their voices over and over again. Employee Jean Delva had been in Port-au-Prince for a funeral and left just hours before the earthquake hit. In Haiti, he spent time with his sister and he bought his uncle a cell phone. When he returned to Florida he tried calling it. Still, no one answers. “I don’t know where my family is,” Delva, 35, of Delray Beach said. “My house collapsed.” Another man, Jocelyn Viau, mourns the loss of his entire town, Leogane, about 30 miles outside the capital. Like hundreds of thousands of others, Viau’s family is sleeping on the street and, with the rainy season fast approaching, many are fearful that one bad rain could trigger mudslides and more death. “This is very hard,” Viau, 36, of Delray Beach, said. “My heart is over there.” These stories touched the executive director so much that Harbour’s Edge started an employee assistance fund just for the Haitian employees. The money can be used to pay for cell phone calls to Haiti or to help them eventually travel there. So far, $4,000 has been raised. “Our commitment is to be there with them, so they don’t feel alone,” Bertram said. But the people of Harbour’s Edge want to be there for the people of Haiti, too. Which is why the residents raised more than $12,000 for the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter. The local Red Cross alone has received more than $600,000 in donations, all of which have gone directly to Haiti, according to Larry Casey, CEO of the local chapter. Lubin, Viau and Delva sat nearby as Casey was presented the check. He spoke of Haiti and the people suffering there, including their families. “A lot of lives will be touched by this,” Casey said of the donation, adding, “I know how it tears at you, not being able to be there.” But the men said they are thankful to be here. At Harbour’s Edge. Where work feels like home and the people are like family. Where they always feel at peace.
Curls of sawdust flutter through the air. Machines whirl and buzz, slicing through conversations. In the din of this two-story 1,800-square-foot shop, crafters are transforming wood into works of art. When the dust settles, intricate bowls and boxes, realistic looking birds, detailed birdhouses and other remarkable objects emerge.
The Chislers, an inspired group of Briny Breezes woodworkers, are preparing for their annual show, set for March 17 at the community center (the 150 to 200 items for sale can be previewed from 4 to 5 p.m., March 16.) This year, the 12-year-old event, held from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will be open to the public. “It gives our neighbors a chance to see what we do with woodcraft,” said Linc Musto, who specializes in carving decoys and shore birds. Lunch and a raffle with a twist are also on tap. The $1 raffle tickets allow would-be winners to designate their ticket for the item of their choice. Fun and ingenuity are cornerstones of this 200-member group, which formed in 1958. There are few hard and fast rules here — but admittance to the club does come with strings: prospective members must attend two consecutive 45-minute meetings — and clean up the shop four times between meetings. Cleanup, which includes sweeping, putting things outside for recycling and emptying shop vacs, takes about 20 minutes each time, says Musto, who quips: “We are always looking for new members because we don’t like to clean.” Membership is limited to residents of Briny and there’s a $25 initiation fee and dues are $5 a year, but when members turn 80, dues are free. Membership has perks: Not only can members use the equipment whenever they want, (the shop rivals Home Depot), they can borrow it for three days for home projects — a real boon since Briny residences have little storage space. It’s also a place to learn, make friends, and be creative — members make everything from picture frames to chairs. “These people don’t want to sit in front of a TV. They have to be doing something and this is a perfect outlet for them,” explains Musto, who says woodworking relieves his stress. “We take a big piece of wood, cut it into pieces and then put it back into a big piece again,” quipped Ernie Propp, as he pieced together a walnut/ambrosia maple wood bowl. “I spend three to four hours a day here. It’s a good group of people.”
In another workspace, Paul Stewart was industriously building birdhouses. He’s made about 100 and is aiming for 200 — some for the Chislers show, others for shows in North Carolina. “It’s my first year in the club,” says Stewart. “I’m here about 20 hours a week. The guys are fun and you learn a lot of stuff.” Members also pitch in to build or repair ramps for handicapped Briny Breezes residents. The group’s leader, Don Eschler, also the go-to guy when equipment breaks, infuses a southwestern style in his projects, which are often made of hundreds of pieces of wood. “This (12-inch) bowl has 355 pieces of wood in it,” he says. Says member Curt Mosher: “There’s a lot of satisfaction in seeing what you can make.” Eschler agrees. “The people here come up with classy, quality items.”
If you go: Briny Breezes woodcrafters show When: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., March 17 Where: Briny Breezes Community Center, 5000 N. Ocean Blvd. Lunch offered: 11:30 to 1 p.m. Raffle: 1 p.m. Preview: 4 to 5 p.m., March 16 . Read more…
Although the weather feels like anything but spring, sea turtles are already arriving along the coast for the year’s nesting trek. Sea turtle nesting season officially began March 1 and lasts until Oct. 31, but the first reports of a leatherback crawling onto shore happened Feb. 11 in Miami-Dade County, according to Paul Davis, environmental manager for Palm Beach County’s Environmental Resource Management Department. Most sea turtle species — leatherbacks, green sea turtles, hawksbill and Kemp’s ridley turtles are endangered, with one, loggerheads, listed as threatened. That makes each year’s egg-laying event critical to keeping the animals going. Many fragile hatchlings continue to be led astray by distracting beach lighting, which lures them toward the mainland instead of the sea. Going off course means losing some of the precious energy the tiny turtles will need when they hit the water, where they spend hours swimming into open waters, safe from predators close to shore. “This is the time to turn the lights off,” Davis said. “Check your property. Take a walk along the beach at night. If you can see lights, then the turtles can see lights.” A county study completed last year showed 40 percent of properties along the county’s 45-mile coast were violating the county’s sea turtle lighting ordinance in some way. The county only polices 6 miles of the coast, including cities that have agreed to let the county do so, leaving other coastal municipalities to handle lighting issues on their own. “Our goal is not that there not be any lights out there. There are ways that you can illuminate your property by redirecting the lights, placing lights at lower elevation, and changing out the bulb type and the fixture type,” he said. Anyone who needs advice about lighting issues can simply ask the county for a recommendation about their property. In Ocean Ridge, Town Manager Ken Schenck said residents have already received a reminder about lighting via the town newsletter and Web site. “Most of the residents are aware of it,” he said. “Sometimes, vacationers are down here and aren’t aware of it.” Beachgoers should steer clear of sea turtle nests, Davis said. It’s unlawful for anyone but permit holders to touch nests, signs or stakes around sea turtle nests. If you see a turtle laying her eggs, leave her alone. It could take up to three hours for her to lay more than 100 eggs the size of pingpong balls. When you leave the beach, take toys and lounge chairs with you and make sure sailboats and other vessels or watercraft are out of sea turtles’ way to keep the creatures from running into them or becoming entangled. People who want to build sand castles or dig in the sand shouldn’t do so on the sandy part of the beach, where they could disturb the turtles. “If you want to build a sand castle,” he said, “do it on the wet part of the beach.”
If you see a dead sea turtle or a sea turtle in distress, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission toll free, 1-888-404-3922
For questions or advice about beach lighting, call the Department of Environmental Resources Management, 561-233-2400.
Michael and Lisa Tiernan of Delray Beach and Charles and Sheryl Ranson of Tallahassee are delighted to announce the engagement of their children, Elizabeth Whitaker Tiernan and Alexander Hunter Ranson. Whitney is a graduate of Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, N.J., and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C. Alex is a graduate of Lawrence Free State High School, Lawrence, Kan., and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C. The couple resides in New York City where she is a director of merchandise planning at Polo Ralph Lauren, and he is employed by Credit Suisse, working in the area of leveraged finance capital markets. Whitney is the granddaughter of Douglas Warner Shook (deceased) and Elizabeth Shook Howell and H. Scott Howell of Alexander City, Ala., and John William Tiernan (deceased) and Lynda Tiernan Stokes of Gulf Stream. Alex is the grandson of the Rev. Arthur Jones Ranson, Jr. and Lillian Rigby Ranson (both deceased) of Apopka and Harold Alfred Scott (deceased) and Letitia Scott Sanders (deceased) and V. Troy Sanders of Long Beach, N.Y. The wedding will take place at the First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach in late April. After a wedding trip to the Caribbean the couple will reside in New York City.
Read more…
A Manalapan home purchased last year for $22.4 million has sold for about half its previous sale price: $12 million. The eight-bedroom, 15-bathroom estate at 1370 S. Ocean Blvd was sold to Illinois-based MGM Design LLC. Bunny Hiatt and Jack Elkins of Engel & Volkers in Manalapan represented the buyer. According to Hiatt, “Timing and market conditions played greatly to our clients favor in acquiring the property, even at the asking price… it was a tremendous value for the area.” The 31,000-square-foot house is on three acres of ocean-to-Intracoastal Waterway land. It has 305 feet of ocean and lake frontage, a tennis court, and a dock. It has an appraised market value of $20.2 million according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office and had been listed by the seller, Germantown-Seneca Joint Venture, at $17.9 million. Carol Hickman of Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the owner. The property has seen its share of sales transactions: The home was purchased by the late National Enquirer founder and publisher Generoso Pope, Jr. and his wife philanthropist Lois Pope in the 1970s. In 1995, Delray Beach developer Frank McKinney bought it for $15 million, renovated it and sold it the next year to Daniel Gittleman for $27.5 million. In 2004, McKinney reacquired the estate for $19 million and then sold it again for $22.4 million to Peter and Tamara Lowes. The Lowes sold the house in June 2009 to Germantown-Seneca for an amount almost equal to exiting Bank of America liens on the property, according to Palm Beach County tax records.
Listening in as the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet spoke at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, it didn’t take me long to decide on nuances to share that might be different from others in the crush of media. Among the most striking was the juxtaposition of the man and the kids. Students comprised the majority of the 3,000 at the FAU Center Feb. 24. Elsewhere on campus, another 2,500 students and faculty watched a simulcast in the auditorium. What a good thing, I thought as I watched them pay rapt attention, that they are getting to hear this wonderful human being. The 74-year-old exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader is the personification of humility spawned of wisdom. “Some people regard me as all-knowing,” he said. “But I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow.” Most pleasantly surprising was the sage’s humor. No stuffed robe he. That became apparent a few minutes into his hour-long talk-and-question session as he removed his shoes to adopt a lotus position in the oversized chair. This was not the occasion to discuss Tibet’s occupation by China that has made him an exile. His message was about how compassion leads to peace and begins in each individual. “We need peaceful resolution,” he said, “in order to carry out real dialogue.” I was aware that as a result of meetings of major world religious leaders, the Dalai Lama was close with two of my recently deceased heroes: Chiara Lubich, who became known as the “Blessed Lady” of the worldwide Catholic lay movement the Focolare, and Imam W.D. Mohammed, who was eulogized as “America’s Imam.” I wished I could have asked him about the loss of his friends. I also lamented who could replace such spiritual giants among humanity including him, who many call “His Holiness.” Initial cloudy thoughts quickly gave way to sunshine musings about the kids who shared such a rare space with him. It was a joy to see the students’ pensive faces as His Holiness the Dalai Lama planted good seeds for what comes next. Not to make any comparisons, but who, when he was in college, predicted the presidency of Mrs. Obama’s son? The message of the sage of Tibet, and the students’ respect for it, served as yet another reminder that for humanity, the best is yet to come.
C.B. Hanif is a writer, editor and media and inter-religious affairs consultant. Find him at www.interfaith21.com.
Years ago, I attended the Palm Beach County Fair and, on impulse, adopted a dwarf silver-coated bunny who’d received a second-place ribbon. I was a reporter for the Sun-Sentinel, fated to finish second in many journalism contests. Being a byline bridesmaid, I felt an instant affinity for this bridesmaid bunny, whom I named Huny Buny (misspelled on purpose). Although I had grown up with dogs and cats, I was clueless on how to care for a rabbit. Quickly, I learned that baseboards and phone cords are no match for her need to chew, chew, chew. Huny Buny was sweet and smart — she learned on her own how to use a litter box — but she was lonely. She loved quietly hopping behind my cat Samantha and lightly nipping her rear to send her skyward in what can only be described as Bunny Humor 101. Realizing I was a lousy bunny owner, I was fortunate to place Huny Buny with a savvy rabbit expert in Lake Worth. She was looking for a buddy for her male bunny, who was neutered. Huny Buny adapted easily to her new home, probably relieved to be rid of my rookie bunny mistakes. I make this confession in an effort to prevent the same adopt-a-bunny impulse in readers as the celebration of Easter approaches. In fact, if Megan Chaney or Luisa Sheer had their wish, people in Palm Beach County would heed the motto: “Make mine chocolate” — as in bunny-shaped candy — instead of dashing out and adopting baby bunnies for themselves or their children. “Sure, bunnies are cute when they are babies and it is easy to fall in love with them,” says Sheer, of Ocean Ridge. “But they do grow up and they are a lot of work. You need to be willing to make a commitment to care for them as you would do for a dog or a cat, because bunnies live, on average, 10 years.” Sheer declares her family includes seven rabbits — all rescues — who display a wide range of personalities. “I call them my seven little dwarfs because one is happy, one is sad, one is grouchy and so on,” she says. “Never in my life would I think I would be taking care of a bunny, let alone seven. I love them and know the work involved to keep them happy and healthy.” Part of her bunny savvy is due to her connection to Chaney, of Lake Worth, who is the founder of Luv-A-Bun Rabbit Rescue, a nonprofit group that rescues abandoned and neglected rabbits who are fostered, provided medical care, socialized and spayed or neutered before being adopted. “Our goal is to educate people about rabbits as pets and to find quality, indoor permanent homes for our fostered rabbits,” says Chaney, the proud owner of three rescued rabbits named Sparkle, Sprinkles and Hero. “We’re pretty strict on who gets to adopt. If someone tells me, ‘Oh, my child wants a bunny,’ I respond, ‘Do you want a bunny? — because you will be the caretaker.’ ” She shares some bunny facts: • Yes, bunnies can learn to hop on a leash and harness, but don’t expect them to heel nicely like your well-mannered mutt. • Use recycled newspaper pellets, not clay litter used for cats because clay litter is bad for a rabbit digestive system if ingested. • Place some hay on top of the litter box because rabbits “like to eat while they poop and poop while they eat.” • Take your pet rabbit for annual wellness exams with a veterinarian trained to treat exotic animals. • Spay or neuter your rabbit. Females are capable of becoming pregnant again within an hour of giving birth. • Timothy hay ranks as the most important food for a pet rabbit, followed by romaine lettuce and store-bought rabbit pellets. • Bunnies aren’t noisy like barking beagles, but they can quietly chew a baseboard in less than a minute if not properly supervised.
Chaney hopes to pass on her knowledge to pet lovers in Palm Beach County. Currently, rescued rabbits are cared for in foster homes, but the goal is to raise money for a rabbit shelter in the county. Look for a fund-raising bunny calendar to come out for 2011. “Around Easter time, we concentrate more on education than adoption,” says Chaney. “Bunnies can make wonderful pets and we’re here to help answer any questions you might have about their care or personalities. I tell people that however much time you put into your bunny is how much you get out of your bunny.”
Hop over here to learn more
Want to adopt a bunny or
volunteer in rabbit rescue? Visit the Web site of Luv-A-Bun Rabbit
Rescue (www.loveabun.net), a nonprofit group based in Palm Beach
County.
This group posts rabbit videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/luvabun.
To learn more, contact founder Megan
Chaney at 561-596-8175 or info@luvabun.net.
Arden Moore, an animal behavior consultant, editor, author and professional speaker, happily shares her home with two dogs, two cats and one overworked vacuum cleaner. Tune in to her “Oh Behave!” show on Pet Life Radio.com and contact her at arden@ardenmoore.com.
For years, city planners in Boynton Beach have been trying to cultivate an urban feel to Federal Highway, with attractive buildings close to the roadways to make life more pleasant for walkers and to draw new residents to the east. Now, here comes along a business that has a reputation of being about as un-urban as you can get: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The big-box staple of small-town, rural life wants to build a store at the city’s southern entryway: the intersection of Federal Highway and Gulfstream Boulevard. The city’s planning board recently recommended approval. The topic goes to city commissioners on Feb. 16. The 93,000-square-foot store, which is actually a little below the average Walmart size, would take the place of an abandoned strip mall and the old, crime-plagued Aphrodite’s strip joint and Club Ovation nightclub, all longstanding blotches on the city’s landscape. Still, you can predict the response of residents in the town of Gulf Stream across the street: outrage. They say the city is pushing forward without making sure the appearance is acceptable and that disturbance to nearby neighborhoods is minimized. “They seem to be rushing to a decision without several things finalized,” said Ned McDonald, who lives in the Place Au Soleil neighborhood nearby. “We as residents are terribly concerned by the appearance,” said Bob Ganger, who leads the Gulf Stream Civic Association. And traffic. And crime, he said. City planners say that because the property is already zoned as Walmart needs it — commercial — there’s little that can be done to prevent the store from coming in. So far, they’ve only tried to contain it, making the discount giant add architectural features to make it more compatible with what planners have in mind for the area. The features include more windows to make it look like there’s a second floor, awnings and features to make it look like there’s more than one storefront. The planning board’s approval recommendation is contingent on those changes being made. In the process, the board agreed with city planners that the Walmart could be farther away from the road than city regulations call for, saying it won’t impose a great hardship on surrounding properties. Even as his department recommended approval for the Walmart, Planning Director Mike Rumpf expressed some misgivings. “My first choice would have been the project previously approved for this site,” Rumpf said, referring to plans for the Heritage Club, a combination of residences and shops, which fell through. Walmart officials are telling the city that it is becoming more accustomed to adapting to urban environments. Community redevelopment officials in the city point out that the store is almost two miles from the heart of the city’s downtown near Boynton Beach Boulevard and say it will provide important services for eastern residents. And they tout the roughly 300 jobs that Wal-Mart says will be created by the 24-hour store. The company could get $1.5 million from the Community Development Agency for coming — $5,000 per job. “It doesn’t hurt the downtown, it helps bolster the downtown,” Assistant CRA Director Vivian Brooks said. “It’s going to draw more traffic to our area.” That’s part of the worry, Ganger said. Part of that traffic will be delivery trucks. “Trucks are noisy and as they accelerate they spray a lot diesel smoke,” he said. Residents at Place au Soleil, the Gulf Stream community just to the east of the site, are going to pay for their own landscaping plan to present to city commissioners, McDonald said. Gulf Stream Town Manager Bill Thrasher said he wished the city had consulted with town officials before the planning board meeting. He said he hopes delivery trucks go in and out on Old Dixie, and not Federal. “At that meeting, we weren’t afforded the opportunity to get into that part of the discussion,” he said. He said the nearly three dozen design conditions are a “nice thing,” while adding, “No matter what you do to it, it’s going to end up looking like a big box.” Residents quote from a report, easily found with Google, in which a group called Wake-Up Wal-Mart concludes that Walmart stores had 400 percent more reported police incidents than nearby Target stores. Brooks said the reaction is to be expected. But she said the days of shopping at mom-and-pops are long gone and the city is just accepting that reality. “There’s always a knee-jerk reaction to a big-box store and I understand that,” she said. “Trust me, when it’s open, they’re going to shop there.”
The Lantana council approved Town Manager Mike Bornstein’s annual evaluation and accepted Bornstein’s proposal to reduce his salary of $102,000 to $97,000 and to extend his contract through 2012. Council approved it despite sentiment voiced by several members that Bornstein was worth his salary — and that they would only support the proposal because he asked them to. Bornstein, who also drew praise from residents attending the meeting, said later that over the last couple of years he has often read about bankrupt companies laying off the rank-and-file, but he never reads about leadership making sacrifices themselves. The town manager said he believed it was the right thing to do. — Margie Plunkett
As the world watches Haiti’s collapse just a few hundred miles from South Florida, are preparing for some of Haiti to end up right here, along Palm Beach County’s shores. The Jan. 12 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands in the poor, desolate country prompted Palm Beach County Emergency Management Center Director Charles Tear to meet with city representatives recently; assuring them the EOC is ready should a mass exodus head our way. The county has a mass migration plan, updated just two years ago. Details of the plan cannot be revealed, Tear said. However, “We maintain a state of readiness. We have reviewed our plans. Our job on a regular basis is to monitor everything.” The coastal towns are often where Haitians come ashore, risking their lives on rickety boats and rough waters to journey to America for better lives. In May 2009, a boat capsized 15 miles off the coast of Boynton Beach, killing more than 10 people, mostly Haitian, including a pregnant woman and a 1-year-old girl. Because Haitians were so desperate to leave their country even before the earthquake, many expect more Haitians to flee in the weeks to come. The earthquake toppled the capital city of Port-au-Prince and destroyed outlying villages, leaving more than 1 million people hungry and homeless. Tear said he doesn’t expect a mass migration right now and the U.S. Coast Guard has also been told to stand down, said Ed Greenfield, public affairs officer for the U.S. Coast Guard Lake Worth. Right now, it would be difficult for earthquake victims to leave because the Coast Guard is patrolling Haitian waters. Local law enforcement also regularly patrols the beaches. Manalapan Police Chief Clay Walker said of his department: “We’re on the lookout for anybody. Who knows where this will lead further down the road.” Walker said that typically rough sea conditions in winter months would make it difficult for Haitians to reach South Florida beaches safely. Regardless of the rough seas, Delray Beach Mayor Woodie McDuffie said he expects to see an influx of Haitians to the area. “I don’t think it’s if, I think it’s how many,” McDuffie said. “The country was in such dire straits before this that I can’t even imagine what it’s like now.” Many Haitians have relatives here in Palm Beach County, where the Haitian population is said to be as many as 50,000, including a large Haitian community in Delray Beach. McDuffie expects it to increase in the next several months, so much so that he’s even thinking about temporary housing. “I want to make sure we’ve got someplace to take care of them,” he said. But if Haitians do come ashore, most likely won’t make it very far. Undocumented Haitians living in the United States on or before Jan. 12 are now eligible for temporary protected status, which is granted to nations in the midst of an armed conflict or natural disaster. If a Haitian qualifies for TPS, he can stay in the country legally for 18 months. But Haitians who arrive in the states after Jan. 12 will be taken into custody and sent right back to Haiti. Those in Haiti are already being warned not to leave. Matt Chandler, deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said his agency’s “focus remains on discouraging Haitians from attempting the journey overseas.”
