First Presbyterian, whose home includes South County’s first barrier island church, celebrates 100 years

First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach’s steeple is visible for miles out to sea, a longtime landmark for boaters. A smaller tower from the original 1924 building (at right) marks the church’s Fellowship Hall. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related: First Presbyterian laments losing co-pastor to new job

By Janis Fontaine 

Near the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, a community church rose a century ago and it continues to welcome parishioners to this day. 

The congregation’s home includes the first church ever built on South County’s barrier island — a 1924 building that now serves as its Fellowship Hall — and it is one of only two churches south of Palm Beach on the island today.

With its steeple visible for miles out to sea, First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach — The Community Church by the Sea — is a landmark beloved by the city, its residents and the congregation.

The church was officially organized in 1925, meeting in people’s homes and being served by visiting ministers. Its first permanent pastor, the Rev. James McCormick, arrived just before Christmas 1926, and the congregation moved into its first forever-home in 1928. 

Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney acknowledged the 100th anniversary on Oct. 14 with a formal proclamation, calling the church “a cornerstone institution” and “a beacon of compassion, generosity, and service.” The proclamation commended the church “for its enduring legacy of service, faith, and leadership in our community.”

The people are the church

First Presbyterian currently has 864 members. Some are new, but others, like the church, have a history. 

Elder Jen Buce’s great-grandparents attended First Presbyterian when they wintered here, and her grandmother Margaret “Peg” Bowen was a deacon, an elder and a member for more than 50 years. Buce’s mother was a deacon, too.  

“I am very proud at the fact that I have followed in my grandmother’s footsteps. Being an elder has given me a bigger outlook of what it is to be a Presbyterian,” Buce said. “I think it’s to be a part of a community that still has good in their heart. Our intention as a congregation is to help the community, whether that is here just in Delray Beach, whether it is in Jamaica, whether it’s in Virginia, wherever we can be of help. That is what is important to me.” 

The church’s role in supporting local charities is a source of great pride. A variety of organizations that got their start in the church are now independent nonprofits serving the community. “My grandmother and grandfather were part of the founding members of the Achievement Center for Children & Families that started with like six kids in a classroom and is now over 700 children,” Buce said. 

The church continues to support the poor through Adopt-A-Family, the hungry through CROS Ministries and the Caring Kitchen, and the sick through the Caridad Center. 

“The church has definitely given me a purpose in life. Each year my faith has grown,” Buce said. “Walking into the church every Sunday, it’s the people that you’re surrounded by. They’re truly genuine.”

Members of the congregation pose for a photo in the late 1920s in front of what was the main entrance to the church. Photo provided

On Sunday Nov. 16, 2025, hundreds of members of the congregation posed at what now is considered the back entrance to the church compound. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

A church by the sea

The church sits on land that was previously part of a sour orange grove, south of what was once the Orange Grove Haulover — a location where boats were carried from one navigable place to another. 

In the early 1900s, Atlantic Avenue became the main street in what was originally the town of Linton. The land to the west of the Intracoastal Waterway incorporated as the town of Delray in 1911, and the barrier island to the east incorporated as the town of Delray Beach in 1923. The two towns then united to become the city of Delray Beach in 1927.

It was in 1924 that a tract of land on Bronson Street just south of Atlantic became the site of a Baptist church — First Presbyterian’s future home. It would be the only church built on the barrier island south of Palm Beach until the construction of St. Lucy Catholic Church in Highland Beach in 1972. 

The idea man behind the first church was F.J. Schrader, an architect, builder and financier. Inspired by a church in Florence, Italy, he built one in the Spanish Mission style — with twin campaniles, smooth stucco walls, arches, wide welcoming doors and dark woods. 

It was named Gibson Memorial Baptist Church after its founding minister, the Rev. Samuel Gibson. By 1928, the Baptist congregation had grown to 135 members. 

But the 1928 hurricane and the resulting real estate crash were crippling. The congregation couldn’t finish paying for the church and gave it back to Schrader. Five weeks after the hurricane struck, the local Presbyterians rented the church for $30 a month, later purchasing it for $19,000. 

The church went through minor changes over the years, but the real transformation to modern-day First Presbyterian came a half-century into its existence, when a new sanctuary was built on the west side of the original church. On Easter Sunday 1977, the first services were held in the new building on Gleason Street. 

Built in the Mediterranean Revival style, the sanctuary’s design complemented the existing Spanish Mission style. The new church faced west with new steps leading up to a red-roofed portico entry, with twin doors set into a wall of colored glass. The old church sanctuary to the east was converted to Fellowship Hall, complete with kitchen facilities.

A postcard from the era depicts the original 1924 church, Gibson Memorial Baptist Church, facing east. The Presbyterian church began renting the building in 1928 and later bought it. The building now serves as Fellowship Hall for First Presbyterian. Postcard provided by the Delray Beach Historical Society

Repairs and renovations 

Being a historic building so close to the ocean, Fellowship Hall took a beating from the hostile climate. By the late 1990s, it needed a heavy dose of TLC. The congregation decided collectively to restore rather than tear down and rebuild. A $2.5 million renovation drive in 1997 represented a monumental commitment to the original church. 

The building had no foundation and was unstable, but the architects found a way to build the new framework needed to stabilize the structure inside the original walls. At the same time, the kitchen was updated, and improvements were made campus-wide, including to the adjoining Memorial Garden. 

Fellowship Hall and the courtyard area were listed on the Register of Historic Places in Delray Beach in 1999 and the property as a State of Florida Historical Point of Interest in 2009.

In 2016, a new $3.5 million capital campaign was launched to expand the sanctuary and renovate the Christian Education Building. The renamed Center for Christian Studies was dedicated in January 2017. Construction and maintenance projects continued, from repainting the entire campus to fixing drainage issues. Another campaign would add the circular drive porte cochere entrance, making the church more accessible. 

This past January, the church launched its Renew & Rejoice capital campaign with a goal of $4 million for repairs and improvements. As of Nov. 10, more than $3.5 million had been raised.

Beacons inside and out

In the sanctuary, a two-story colored glass cross made of tens of thousands of pieces of glass showers the altar with light. Each panel tells a Bible story depicting the theme “The Life of Jesus and the Journey of Faith.” 

Buce says she feels close to her grandmother when she sees the light coming in. “Shortly after her death, I was sitting in the church and the way the sun hit the stained glass, there was a huge beam of light coming through. The first time I saw it, I had to get up and leave because it overwhelmed me, because I saw that as a sign of my grandmother. Now I look for her every Sunday,” she said. 

Outdoors, it is the steeple that is the church’s most recognizable architectural element. Added in 1977 at 135 feet tall — topped by a 15-foot cross — it was visible for miles out to sea.

Weather took its toll on that steeple. After two hurricanes in 2004, and the continuing saltwater corrosion of its brackets, the steeple was replaced in 2005 — only to have city inspectors say it was 4 feet taller and not acceptable, according to Nancy Fine, the church’s business administrator. 

Fine recounted that Reece Galyon, a part-time maintenance worker at the church, “went in front of the City Commission, and he argued that the cross needed to be 4 feet higher because it is a guide for the Coast Guard and for people — who may be having trouble on the ocean — as a landmark to help guide rescuers to their position.” 

Galyon told the commission that the higher the cross, the farther away it could be seen, Fine said. “And based on that argument, they approved us,” she said.

Elder Bill Bathurst says he’s seen the steeple while on the ocean and has taken comfort in it. 

“We were a little bit in trouble,” he said, “and I saw the church steeple, our church steeple. And I thought, well, if anything really bad happens, I know where I am.”

Local fishermen tell him they use the steeple to triangulate their favorite fishing spots, he says. 

In a complement to the steeple, the church’s carillon system rings out to the larger community every day at noon and 6 p.m. And every Sunday, it rings 10 minutes before each service, calling congregants to church.  

For many years, the church couldn’t afford a bell and the belfry was empty. But in 1948 bells were hung, and they rang until being taken down in 1988. In 2000 the remaining bell, which had been engraved with the names of the church leaders, was installed in the courtyard. It has been rung ever since on Sundays in remembrance of deceased congregants.

First Presbyterian Church has many inspirational architectural elements, such as these stained-glass windows at the entrance. Photo provided

An active congregation

As a preservationist who grew up in Delray Beach and is a former city commissioner, Bathurst has an appreciation for First Presbyterian Church that began long before he was a member. 

But, as a member, he praises the music and says “most people come for the worship and the fellowship. I’ve been very involved in some churches that have very modern services, and I think they’re great.” Still, he appreciates First Presbyterian’s more traditional style. 

The secret sauce to any church is that “you have to get involved,” Bathurst added, and the church has many ministries. He’s part of the Renew & Rejoice committee working on the latest renovations, but he praises all the ministries, especially the Holly House ladies. 

Holly House paid to fix the church steeple, the organ and sound system, the carillon electronic bell system, and it built its own building. 

“I think Holly House is one of the most amazing things on the planet,” he said. “These ladies who make crafts and then sell them and that supports the church and it’s amazing the amount of money they raise.”  

The success of Holly House and the other ministries is due to the commitment of parishioners to the church, Buce says. “Families continue to bring their children. I think that’s one reason why we have been as strong as we’ve been for 100 years.” 

James Blood, 72, a nonactive elder, was one of those kids. He attended church in his mother’s belly, and he’s been a member since he was 12. His father, Norman Blood, in 1949 founded Blood’s Hammock Grove, a city landmark and popular citrus shop for more than a half century at Linton Boulevard and Old Germantown Road.  Norman Blood was the superintendent of Sunday school at the church and his name is one of those on the bell in the courtyard. 

James Blood remembers the original church before air conditioning. “It would get a little warm in there, but we had those little cardboard fans. And the church was designed so you could open the front doors and side doors and get a breeze.”

Social change

Blood also remembers the social change that took place as Delray Beach faced racial strife. He was just a toddler when, in 1956, a cross was burned on the beach as a message. Blacks were banned from the beach and from the public pool. A federal court ruled that blacks couldn’t be banned from the beach, which led black and white leaders to sit down together and work out a plan.

It would be 1970 before Delray Beach schools were integrated, and many divisions played out — not just in the city, but at First Presbyterian as well. 

“When integration was going on, the church split and that was sort of a disruptive time, but the people that stayed, they wanted to open it up to everybody and that’s what they did. Some people didn’t agree with that,” Blood said.  

His parents supported integration. “They thought anybody that wanted to come should come. It was pretty cut-and-dried for them. But some people felt strongly the other way, so they decided to take other options. I think that was probably a sort of a turning point for the church.” 

Blood credits the influx of wealth and wisdom from winter residents with helping the church financially and with its modern thinking. 

“As a child, I remember we had a lot of people come down from up north during the winter and they were a big part of the church. The locals were not as well off, and I think the winter residents were a big part of the financial success of the church.” 

Meet the pastors 

Only nine pastors, all men, have served First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach in its 100-year history. The Rev. Theodore Bush served the longest, more than 26 years.

The nine are:   

• Rev. James H. McCormick: Dec. 19, 1926, to Oct. 2, 1927; there were 66 charter members when he arrived. 

• Dr. Frank N. Nelson: Nov. 15, 1928, to Dec. 1, 1930 

• Rev. S. Willis McFadden: Feb. 15, 1933, to Aug. 24, 1941; he began his pastorate  with 91 members. 

• Dr. James G. Robinson: Oct. 18, 1942, to Jan. 21, 1957

• Rev. Robert G. Morey: Nov. 17, 1957, to Nov. 30, 1967

• Dr. Seth Morrow: Oct. 16, 1969, to June 30, 1983; he oversaw the building of the new sanctuary and of the original sanctuary’s becoming Fellowship Hall.

• Dr. Theodore A. Bush: March 25, 1984, to Jan. 1, 2011

• Dr. W. Douglas Hood: June 15, 2012, to present; church has 864 current members 

• Dr. Greg Rapier: Co-pastor Sept. 8, 2024, to Oct. 19, 2025

Source: First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach

Tech company turns tables on man who took it, many others to court

William Swaim at the Ocean Ridge Town Commission meeting in May 2025. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Related: Spanish River, Silver Palm parks are hubs for global communications

By John Pacenti

South Florida, one could argue, is mostly submerged land — filled in, replumbed, developed. A lot of people became rich by turning a mosquito-filled swamp into the metropolis of today. From Miami Beach to Riviera Beach and beyond, developments sit on properties that were once waterlogged.

Enter Delray Beach developer William Swaim. He has been a fixture for more than a decade in Palm Beach and Broward counties, buying up land long forgotten by its owners in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Swaim has pursued litigation against municipalities, property owners, international telecommunications companies and condominium complexes over submerged lands he owns in Boca Raton, Ocean Ridge and Broward County. He has sued property owners, saying they must pay him for the right to access the water or use their docks.

A battle in Boca

Now, Swaim is facing an order by a Palm Beach County judge to turn over his computer and cell phone to determine who has financially backed him. The name of William Boose III, a ghost from Palm Beach County’s “corruption county” days, has resurfaced in a response to Swaim’s lawsuit against a Brazilian telecommunication company.

A criminal contempt case was filed against Swaim on Sept. 30, ordering him to show cause why he didn’t turn over his phone, computer and access to his email in the case involving Globenet Cabos Submarinos America.

Swaim has pleaded not guilty and told the judge he couldn’t afford an attorney. One was appointed for a status check scheduled for Dec. 5.

Swaim has extracted settlements from many of the targets of his lawsuits — including telecommunications companies. But he appears to have met his match with Globenet Cabos Submarinos America. The company has an international footprint with cable landing stations across the Americas, including Brazil, Colombia and Bermuda; its headquarters location is generally cited as Fort Lauderdale.

Swaim filed suit against Globenet in 2018 for running its telecommunications under a sliver of submerged land in the middle of the Intracoastal in Boca Raton south of Palmetto Park Road, across from Silver Palm Park. The complaint starts, “This is a story of unbridled corporate greed, gross negligence, malfeasance, and arrogance.”

Just to the north is another 4-acre parcel off Northeast Eighth Avenue that Swaim put on the market for $43 million. That is the same parcel for which Boca Raton City Council members in June rejected a recommendation from a special magistrate and refused to allow Swaim to develop it.

Swaim sought from Globenet $250 million and named 100 “John Does” — who were later identified as big tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and Microsoft — that he said paid Globenet to use its fiber optic cables. 

Globenet — unlike some targets of Swaim lawsuits — didn’t settle. It is represented by powerhouse Florida law firm Greenberg Traurig and its bulldog attorney, Robert R. “Bobby” Kane III.

Kane sought sanctions against Swaim. On May 1, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John J. Parnofiello agreed, citing discovery violations for failing to turn over his phone and computer as ordered, setting the stage for the misdemeanor charge of indirect criminal contempt.

Years of litigation

Kane, through extensive discovery, was determined to identify Swaim’s financial backers. Boose is named in court documents as a third-party defendant. 

Boose was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to two years in prison in a pay-for-play scandal that led to the downfall of multiple elected officials in Palm Beach County. He was also the town attorney for Ocean Ridge in the mid-1970s.

Globenet says it has definitive proof that Boose was the financial backer of Swaim’s business venture into submerged lands — providing stake money to buy the property, investing millions of dollars.  Kane said that two single-purpose LLCs were used to mask ownership — a fact he said he learned through extensive discovery.

“On the part of Greenberg and Globenet, they are doing everything they can to deliberately drain me of all financial resources,” Swaim told The Coastal Star.  

“There is no endgame except the personal vengeance of Bobby Kane against me personally.”

After six years of protracted litigation, Parnofiello granted summary judgment in January for Globenet against Swaim’s South Spanish Trail LLC, which its attorneys say will set a precedent for future cases involving sovereign submerged lands in Florida.

Another Palm Beach County circuit judge, James Nutt, determined that Swaim’s sovereign submerged lands were actually held in trust for the people of Florida. “The properties are not subject to the plaintiff's private claims of ownership,” Nutt said.

Kane said he and his team have handled multiple cases involving Swaim.

In an August 2024 pleading in an associated case involving another telecommunications defendant, Kane described Swaim as a serial plaintiff who “purports to purchase tracts of land that are entirely submerged underwater and then makes unreasonable demands to the individuals and entities.”

He goes on to say in the pleading that defendants (namely, dock owners and telecommunications companies) have long been utilizing those submerged lands via valid government permits or easements. Swaim then threatens to sue them “unless they pay his ransom.”

 Attorney Jack Goldberger, whose past clients include disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has been assigned to prosecute the contempt case along with Kane.

Globenet is just one of a long list of litigants that have been sued by Swaim.

Ocean Ridge dispute

Jeffrey and Amanda Eder own a home directly north of the Ocean Ridge Town Hall along the neighborhood known as McCormick Mile, named after a renowned publisher of the Chicago Tribune who owned land there at one time. The Intracoastal creates a little bay or lagoon for single-family homes and condominiums along the stretch.

In 2015, Swaim’s Waterfront ICW Properties bought the nearly 3.4 acres of submerged land that runs from the 50-unit Wellington Arms condominium complex to a mangrove island for $25,000, records show. He then started filing lawsuits — against property owners like the Eders, as well as the town of Ocean Ridge and the condominium.

Swaim’s company wanted to build a bridge out to the submerged land and construct a sea wall, which Ocean Ridge refused to allow. Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele eventually ruled in 2022 that he didn’t believe the developer really had any firm intention of filling in the land and building.

“He’s never actually built anything on any of these properties, but he’s got litigation on all of them, and he’s just essentially trying to extort money out of people,” Jeffrey Eder said.

Eder said Swaim’s LLC tried to get access through the environmentally sensitive mangroves behind his home. “He claimed he was planning to build a home for himself initially, and that morphed into any number of things,” Eder said. “We prevented him from plowing down an acre and a half of mangroves to build the driveway to a submerged piece of property.”

Eder said that settling with Swaim was out of the question. “We didn’t want to be the people who turned over the keys to the bulldozers that knocked down the rain forest,” he said.

Still, the litigation took its toll. “We went through three different judges before we finally got a judge that would actually hear our case,” he said. “It festered in the courts for years.” 

Waterfront ICW Properties sued the Eders and two other property owners again, this time claiming they were trespassing when they boated over the submerged parcel. If successful, Swaim would have prevented the Eders from accessing the Intracoastal from their home.

But the courts in September ruled against Swaim and his “heavy-handed demands.”

“Swaim’s methods of acquiring submerged lands and leveraging neighbors to purchase an easement have drawn the strong condemnation from several other Florida judges, one of whom found that Swaim’s conduct ‘shocked the conscience of the court’ and was ‘just plain and simply wrong,’” Palm Beach Senior Circuit Judge Richard Oftedal ruled on Sept. 4.

Ocean Ridge and Palm Beach County own the land behind Town Hall. Recently, the town received a $1 million grant to buy a private parcel with plans to possibly put a kayak trail around the mangroves. “There’s a lot of wildlife back there,” Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said back in January.

Villain or victim?

Boca Raton real estate broker Larry Mastropieri wondered earlier this year on his YouTube channel @DiscoverSouthFlorida if Swaim could be “the Lex Luthor of real estate,” referring to the Superman nemesis. 

He said clients buying on the water are wary of the developer.

“I’ve had questions, like ‘Hey, is Swaim messing around with the water rights right in front of this property? Do you know anything about it?’” Mastropieri recalled. “So is he like, you know, a super villain? Maybe. I’d say people probably perceive him that way.”

Swaim says he is no villain — a victim, maybe.

He never planned the litigation against Globenet, saying he learned about the telecommunications company boring underneath the Intracoastal after he purchased the property. Swaim said his LLCs have been buying deeds since 2015 and have amassed about 40.

Swaim’s strategy typically involves properties owned by out-of-state family members. “People, basically, they’ve inherited it, and they don’t know what to do with it. Sometimes they don’t even know they own it,” he said.

Eder said Swaim’s basic MO is to get the last surviving member of some 50-year-old defunct Florida corporation to sign a quitclaim deed to submerged property and then create an LLC around that piece of property.

“That’s his business model,” Eder said.

In Ocean Ridge, Swaim said it was discovered after he purchased the property that the state of Florida had leased it to the homeowners’ association at Wellington Arms to build docks. He sued the state and won a victory when a court ruled in 2019 that the Spanish Creek lagoon that runs along McCormick Mile was man-made and could be developed — but he later lost the war with Hafele’s decision on intent.

Private or public?

Open water is considered “sovereign land” belonging to the state of Florida, according to the state statutes. Property owners have “riparian rights” to use the water in a “reasonable” manner for swimming, boating, drinking, and allowing cattle to quench their thirst. Such water must have been navigable at the time of Florida’s statehood in 1845 or developed that way naturally.

Artificial bodies of water, however, may be privately owned and landowners do not have riparian rights. 

Swaim appeared at the Ocean Ridge Town Commission meeting in May to speak during public comments with “some concerns” regarding the town’s proposed sea wall ordinance. 

“The Intracoastal is a privately owned piece of property with an easement for the Army Corps of Engineers to operate a canal line for navigational purposes,” he said. 

Swaim comes across as an Encyclopedia Britannica on the Intracoastal. He said the Florida East Coast Canal Company operated as a tollway until Henry Flagler’s railroad put it out of business. The Army Corps really only has an easement to operate in a 125-foot navigational center channel, he said.

“That’s it. So the underlying owners can do whatever they want to do with their property,” he said. “Sell easements, sell density rights, sell dockage rights, whatever, as long as they don’t obstruct the navigation of the Intracoastal,” Swaim explained.

Competing accusations

Regarding the 4-acre Boca Raton parcel, a special magistrate for the city in May found Boca Raton had acted inappropriately in stopping Swaim from developing the property at 3000 NE Eighth Ave. But the City Council rejected the recommendation.

Kane, Globenet’s attorney, said Swaim targets neighboring property owners and companies illegitimately. 

“These are not bona fide property disputes; they constitute a deliberate scheme to devalue the assets of the affected parties and extract exorbitant payments through the threat of prolonged litigation,” he said.

Swaim says his current legal predicament, with him facing a misdemeanor criminal contempt, is the result of a personal vendetta by Kane to put him behind bars.

“I would look up civil conspiracy to arrest and intimidate, and it’s exactly what Greenberg and Bobby Kane and the rest of the attorneys for Globenet are doing,” he said

Kane, though, said his motivation is simple:

“The court’s rulings have squarely rejected Swaim’s attempts to take sovereign lands that belong to our children and future generations of Floridians,” he said. “Our work strengthens the constitutional framework of Florida’s Public Trust Doctrine, ensuring the protection of the state’s waterways for decades to come.”  

Workers prepare rental chairs and umbrellas on Delray Beach’s public beach. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

If the beloved child cartoon character Waldo were basking in the sun by the Delray Beach pavilion on this November Saturday, he might never be found — swallowed up in a sea of beach chairs and umbrellas, mixed in with people who don’t pay the rental fee and are spread out on blankets in between.

“Between the parking and the chairs, I have to spend 80 bucks to sit my butt down on a beach, on a public beach, and that’s the truth,” Butch Zumpf, who frequently visits from Chicago, said on a beautiful Nov. 8 day that reminds us all why we live in South Florida.

Once again, the issue of beach space was the talk of some circles in Delray Beach, and whether it’s a good idea to allow Oceanside Beach Service to place chairs on the sand before even renting them out.

Delray resident Jim Delrae — we kid you not, that is his real name — started posting on the issue in the Facebook group Delray Matters on Nov. 1 under the heading “Just Venting.” 

Delrae — a somewhat recent transplant from the Phoenix area — explained later, “They had monopolized everywhere that they left nowhere for anyone else to sit, because that was the only space there was, and they filled it up with their chairs instead.”

Well, The Coastal Star decided to investigate and ended up on the beach by the pavilion near Atlantic Avenue that Saturday, where we found plenty of people echoing Delrae.

To be fair, this is not exactly a new issue. Some could say it comes and goes like the king tides — which are particularly prevalent at this time of year. Erosion from Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto churning off the coast in late September and early October made it even tougher to find your own place on the beach without paying $60 a day for a chair and umbrella (or $15 per hour).

And there’s a bonus: sargassum — that stinky seaweed — is still making its authority known this fall.

Yet, even put-out beachgoers are in a good mood. 

Zumpf, for instance, was part of an extended group of brothers, sisters, husbands and wives, wedged in between the chairs and umbrellas. They have condos here and have been visiting for 40 years.

Empty chairs take up space

JoAnne Bobus — part of the Chicago group — said she thought a good idea would be for Oceanside to put up beach chairs only when customers pay it to do so — similar to resorts everywhere. She said even on weekdays it’s tough to stake a claim.

“We still had a hard time on Friday to find a spot, but none of them [the chairs] were taken,” she said. “If they would just do it as needed, right? Somebody wants tables, OK, where would you like to go? I like that idea.”

“This little chunk was the best she could find — and that was at 10 in the morning,” said Jan Zumpf, spouse of Butch, talking about Bobus.

Rick Drnek, another member of the Chicago group, said, “Over the years, it’s morphed into something I don’t think it was intended to be.”

He then told the story of how an Oceanside worker asked him to move over on the sand because he was in the shade of the rental umbrella. “The guy’s sitting right behind us, renting, and he felt awkward and I felt awkward,” Drnek said.

There were a lot of ghosts on the beach that day, as well, taking up seemingly empty chairs and umbrellas. At one spot near the water, there was an arc of six chairs and three umbrellas waiting for customers to manifest.

While tourist season is roaring to its eventual peak, the beach space is an issue for Delray Beach residents, as most weekend visitors will pay for a chair and umbrella without complaint.

People who flocked to Delray Beach’s public beach on a recent Saturday morning rented the Oceanside Beach Service chairs placed out in advance.

Catering to tourists

Chet Gilbert, wearing a hat from The Boys Farmers Market — the Delray Beach iconic grocer — said if he has to, he will move a rental chair to get space. Spouse Marta Gilbert said, “We still love it here.”

Oceanside Beach Service’s upper management didn’t return a message to call back to comment on this story. Instead, The Coastal Star found its enthusiastic company ambassador, Andre Fladell, who called himself an operational consultant.

He said the service changed hands several times before a South Carolina operator took over in the 1990s, but ultimately abandoned it. “He wasn’t making money, and just left everything on the beach,” Fladell said. 

For a while, he said two drunks took over the abandoned chairs — one nicknamed Colt 45 because he opened beer cans with his teeth — and were charging tourists. Fladell said he approached his friend Michael Novatka, Oceanside’s owner, to come to Delray Beach and take over the operation in the 2000s.

Fladell said the current beach chair system operates under strict guidelines. Lifeguards determine chair placement to ensure emergency access and visibility. 

Putting out empty chairs is aimed at catering to tourists who are spending a lot of money for rooms at resorts in Delray Beach, he said. The Opal Grand Resort & Spa is diagonally across State Road A1A from the pavilion, which is undergoing renovations this tourist season and is off-limits to all.

“In season, people started complaining because their cousins, their uncles, their grandchildren would come down and say, ‘Can we have a chair?’ And ‘No’ was not the answer they were looking for,” Fladell explained.

City manager has discretion

The city provided The Coastal Star with two contracts for Oceanside. Novatka signed a contract in January 2014 for a total of 250 beach chairs, cabanas, umbrellas and clamshells. In the new contract, signed in February 2024, the number of chairs and accessories expanded to 400 — 50 at Atlantic Dunes Park near Linton Boulevard.

The current five-year contract is worth nearly $2.3 million to the city. It does have a carve-out: “The maximum allowable number of chairs may be lowered by the City of Delray Beach as needed due to erosion, diminished beach size, special events or other circumstances.”

City Manager Terrence Moore has, according to the contract, discretion as to the number of beach chairs allowed in these circumstances. 

Beachgoers said they saw no such change when the twin hurricanes led to significant erosion in October. They were followed by king tides that further eroded the space available to set up shop.

The premium space is around the pavilion. It’s within walking distance of restaurants and resorts. There was plenty of space, though, about a half mile north on the beach across from Thomas Street — albeit on a Monday, Nov. 24. 

That’s where resident Susan Eben set up her towel and tent on a postcard-blue-sky day. She has heard the concern down the beach but heeded it no mind.

“This is a slice of paradise. I try not to complain,” she said.

She’s a petite pescatarian with green eyes and perky ears. Her brown hair is highlighted with streaks of black and apricot. Something about her staggering gait is endearing. 

She’s a cute little cat with thyroid and neurological issues and she recently moved into our house.

Pippi had been the office cat for The Coastal Star for 11 years. She ruled the roost since she was a tiny kitten — shredding her stuffed mice across the floor and inspecting everyone’s carried-in lunch. 

Through the years and multiple serious health issues, she prevailed. 

The plan had always been for this particular foundling to live with our office manager, Kathleen, should we ever need to move the fluffy one from the office. Heartbreakingly, Kathleen died of brain cancer complications long before that could occur. 

Pippi has never really been the same. I believe she misses her breakfast companion, who regularly shared some cream cheese from her morning bagel.

Relocating our newspaper office recently left us with no choice but to move our special-needs office cat to a new home. 

Although we had gracious adoption offers from staff, my husband and I decided she needed a quiet place to live out her final years. So here she is — a cat that exemplifies the nature versus nurture conundrum. 

Having lived mostly alone throughout her life, she’s unlike any other feline I’ve taken in. I don’t know how she’s going to react to a Christmas tree, visiting children or large family dinners. But I suspect she’ll adjust to the holidays just fine. 

There’s no question that she’s an odd little cat, but also no doubt she’s a survivor.

I’m hopeful we can say the same for the humans in our area who will be struggling to find housing and feed themselves and their families this coming month. I think the least I can do is earmark the same amount I spend on pet care in a month (special food, vet bills and compounded medications aren’t cheap) to an organization helping to house and feed local families in need.

Some even help with food for family pets. This feels like a simple holiday pledge I can make and keep. If you’re a pet lover like I am, I hope you’ll do the same.

If you have questions about where to donate, contact your local library, police or firefighters. They’ll help guide you. 

— Mary Kate Leming, Executive Editor Emeritus

Patty Larkin holds her cat, Tres, in the lobby of her Boca Raton condo. She volunteers at HomeSafe for abuse victims and is organizing its Jan. 24 Classic Rock & Roll Party. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Kathleen Kernicky

For almost a decade, Patty Larkin has been a pivotal force behind the scenes at HomeSafe, a nonprofit organization in Palm Beach County that serves victims of child abuse and domestic violence. 

As a community volunteer and donor, Larkin helps plan and organize HomeSafe’s signature fundraising events, including the annual Classic Rock & Roll Party, and she serves as an ambassador at its charity golf tournament. (She and her husband also play in the tournament.) 

HomeSafe, founded in 1979, operates programs that serve more than 15,000 infants, children and families each year, including residential group care for abused children and an independent living program for young adults aging out of foster care. 

To Larkin, 68, of Boca Raton, HomeSafe is investing in the community by improving the future of children, teens and young adults. 

“They help children and families who are struggling and that benefits everybody,” Larkin said. “If we can help young people in our community who are struggling, it might help with some of the problems we see nationwide, including mental health issues. These are kids who have had a tough life.” 

Larkin was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Her family later moved to Colorado before they settled in Augusta, Georgia. Her parents “immersed themselves in the community,” instilling that value in her. After graduating from Augusta College with a psychology degree, she worked as a substitute teacher and traveled extensively during a 30-year career as a flight attendant at Delta Air Lines. 

She has lived in South Florida since 1980. At Delta, she met her husband, Peter Larkin, now a retired airline captain who is a volunteer and supporter at HomeSafe. Married for 34 years, they live near a son, daughter and grandson in Boca Raton, where they’re members of the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club. 

“About a decade ago, a friend of mine who was involved in HomeSafe brought me into it,” Larkin said. “These events are a lot of fun to plan and organize. They raise a lot of money. The main goal is to grow the amount to continue services for those who aren’t as fortunate. People like that when they support HomeSafe, it goes directly into the community. Everything stays locally.”

Earlier this year, Larkin and other supporters heard from a young woman named Kathrell, who was put in foster care at age 11. Four years later, she began treatment at HomeSafe. When she turned 18, HomeSafe provided her with affordable housing and life skills.

Now 24, Kathrell graduated in 2024 from Florida Atlantic University. She has since found a job and moved into her own apartment. “I am most proud that I didn’t let my past determine my future,” she said.

Larkin said: “We see the progress that they make at HomeSafe. We hear them talk about their plans and how the program helps them reach their goals. And that’s rewarding.” 

Larkin is looking forward to HomeSafe’s next Classic Rock & Roll fundraiser on Jan. 24 starting at 6 p.m.

The event will be held at the grand ballroom at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood and feature rock artist Mike DelGuidice.

“We’ll get a table and hopefully get some new people who will want to support this wonderful organization,” said Larkin.

The charity golf tournament is May 4 at the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club.

Larkin believes in the adage that it’s better to give than receive. “If more people thought about that, things would be a lot better for everyone,” she said.

For details about the party, visit helphomesafe.org/theclassic2026. 

NOMINATE SOMEONE TO BE A COASTAL STAR 

Send a note to news@thecoastalstar.com or call 561-337-1553.

By John Pacenti

Ocean Ridge officials gathered Nov. 3 for a pivotal workshop setting the town’s course for capital projects and resiliency efforts, while tackling fiscal strategy in the face of legislative uncertainty.

Town Manager Michelle Heiser laid out the agenda, marking the start of the new fiscal year as the “appropriate time to say, ‘Hey, what’s going on and where are we going?’”

Commissioners in September passed a $14.8 million operating budget, a 9.6% increase over the fiscal year 2025 budget. It includes $4.36 million to address the aging water pipe system in the southern part of town and other capital improvements.

Heiser updated commissioners on the Harbour Drive North drainage initiative, telling them the Army Corps of Engineers has approved the town’s permit. “So that’s a big thumbs up,” Heiser said.

Finalizing easements and responding to feedback from the South Florida Water Management District are the next hurdles, with a resolution planned for December to address water accumulating on the street.

On the town sea wall project along Hudson Avenue, Heiser advised patience while awaiting a critical state grant. “If somebody’s going to give us half a million dollars to go towards it, we want that money, absolutely right,” she said. The project is ranked No. 12 for state funding in the current fiscal year, with a decision anticipated by spring, she said.

Officials outlined progress on other key initiatives as well. The Phase 2 modernization of water pipes in front of Town Hall is over 30% designed, and the permitting has been submitted, with late spring, early summer looking like when shovels will be in the ground.

Phase 4, from Ocean Avenue to Thompson Street, is also at 30% design. The project has been expedited because of long-standing issues with water pressure, which compromised fire protection capabilities there.

Resiliency was a repeated theme.

The workshop covered plans for tidal and retaining walls behind homes on Hudson Avenue — seen as crucial for managing persistent tidal issues. “At this point, we’re relying on a berm, and the berm continues to break, and we have to go back in and ask them to refill it. So it’s something to consider in the future,” Heiser said.

She also said the town should get back to property acquisition as part of its resiliency plan. 

Commissioner Ainar Aijala Jr. said he is working on budget projections to determine whether future property tax collections would be sufficient to fund the capital expenses or if other revenue sources needed to be considered, such as a bond measure. “Should we be worried? Should we be concerned?” he said.

Officials discussed additional revenue sources, from municipal service taxing units for neighborhood stormwater projects to franchise and utility fees. “That’s user-fee-based, meaning the only ones that are paying for that area are the people that live there,” Heiser said.

State legislation’s impact on municipal budgets and tax structures loomed in the background. “Often, we’re just sitting and waiting, just waiting for them, because we can do exercises and math all day long, but it could be going nowhere until they actually pass something,” Heiser remarked.

Heiser also outlined maintenance priorities. “Repaving. We’ve had that in the list on your capital (improvements) in the past, and we just skipped that in the last couple of years. So, I’d like to get back to that,” she said.

The bidding process has also started for Town Hall and Police Department hardening. It includes re-roofing and replacing any windows or doors that need hurricane resistance to mitigate future damage claims, Heiser said.

By Jane Musgrave

For three days in November, Mark Feinstein sat in a Palm Beach County courtroom, hoping a fellow Ocean Ridge resident would be held accountable for falsely accusing him of engaging in a bizarre sexual act.

The former president of the Turtle Beach condominium association got his wish when the jury, after roughly an hour of deliberation, agreed that 38-year-old Sean Currie libeled Feinstein in September 2022 when he posted the accusation on the town’s Facebook page.  

The jury ordered Currie to pay Feinstein $135,000 to compensate the 66-year-old attorney for the damage the inflammatory, obscene and unfounded allegation did to his reputation.

“They gave me back my name,” a jubilant Feinstein said a day after the jury reached its verdict. “It’s not about the money. It’s never been about the money. It’s about giving me back my name.”

Attorney Matthew Haynes, who represented Feinstein, agreed. “He held Mark’s name and legacy hostage and the jury set it free,” he said.

Neither Currie nor his attorney returned emails for comment about whether they would appeal. During the trial, they argued that Currie had a First Amendment right to express his views about Feinstein. Currie signed the post and, in sworn statements, readily admitted he wrote it.

Currie testified that he chose the term carefully, knowing it was both obscure and disgusting, which meant it would get a lot of attention. He laughed at his word choice, but insisted that he wasn’t trying to hurt Feinstein.

“I made my statements to hopefully bring awareness to the issues that were going on in my town,” Currie testified. 

The issue was beach access. At the time, Currie was living with his parents on Tropical Drive, which borders the yellow 26-unit oceanfront condominium a half-mile south of Woolbright Road.

Inflamed after Turtle Beach in 2021 erected “No Trespassing” signs on its stretch of the beach, Currie and his neighbors began their campaign against the condominium association.

Currie ripped down a sign, leading to his arrest on a charge of criminal mischief. While the charge was dropped after he agreed to reimburse the association $300 for the sign, the feud escalated.

Tropical Drive resident Bryan Joffe paid $40,000 for two strips of land — one leading to the beach and another that borders the condominium’s back entrance and has long been used by Turtle Beach for garbage pickup. 

Joffe turned the land over to Sunrise Beach LLC, a company formed by fellow Tropical Drive residents, including Currie and his mother.

In 2023, the corporation sued Turtle Beach, demanding that the condo association get off its land. The association countersued, claiming it had used the property for years for garbage pickup and essentially had “squatters rights.”

The suit was settled last summer for undisclosed terms. The only concrete evidence of the settlement came in May when a wooden gate was erected to give Tropical Drive residents exclusive access to the path that leads to the beach.

Feinstein said he bore the brunt of the battle because he was president of the condominium association’s board.

When the feud was raging, Currie regularly assailed Feinstein, hurling anti-semitic epithets at him, often punctuated with an obscenity, Feinstein said. Currie didn’t deny Feinstein’s claims, insisting his actions were justified.

“Because he is a horrible person and he’s Jewish, so, therefore, it’s an apt derogatory slur,” Currie said during a deposition in the libel case. “I wouldn’t call him the slur for an Italian or a Black person, because he’s not Italian or Black.”

Currie took a similar stance during the trial. “I think most of the time I use the worst possible language when referring to him,” said Currie, who now lives in California.

While he said he regularly uses racial and ethnic slurs if someone’s behavior justifies it, he insisted he’s not a bigot.

“If they’re a woman, I call them (words) appropriate to a woman. If they’re a man who is a particular way, I use that word,” Currie testified. “I use the appropriate words based on the context which they are in. That is not bigotry.”

Feinstein said he took no joy in suing Currie. Had Currie asked the town to hide the obscene post, or written another one explaining that his allegation was untrue, Feinstein said he would have dropped the lawsuit.

But, he said, Currie refused.

“He wouldn’t give me an apology, but the jury did,” Feinstein said. “They gave me the apology.”

Haynes said he hopes the jury verdict teaches a valuable lesson to Currie and others who use social media to launch baseless attacks on political foes.

“The verdict reaffirms that this behavior is not acceptable in Ocean Ridge — a beautiful community — or anywhere in Palm Beach County,” Haynes said. 

Ocean Ridge Commissioners Carolyn Cassidy and David Hutchins retained their seats when they filed for reelection and no one filed to oppose them. The qualifying deadline was Nov. 14.

It will be Cassidy’s second term. She was first elected in March 2023 in a bitter race, becoming the top vote getter among three candidates.

Cassidy has made the most of her first term, spearheading the effort for the town to hire a lobbyist to seek state appropriations for its many projects. She received the Gold Certificate of Excellence from the Florida League of Cities.

The commission chose Hutchins, a retired airline pilot, in November 2023 to join the commission after two commissioners announced they would resign because of changes in the state’s financial disclosure requirements. He took office in January 2024.

Hutchins then finished third out of four candidates for three open seats in the town’s March 2024 election. That showing won him a two-year unexpired term on the commission instead of a full three-year term. 

Hutchins previously sat on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

Mayor Geoff Pugh at the Nov. 3 commission meeting — before the filing deadline — said he hoped that the current makeup of the panel could remain intact. 

“This is one of the best commissions we’ve had in a very, very long time. ... It’s been a pleasure,” Pugh said.

— John Pacenti

By John Pacenti

Manalapan commissioners will take legal action to ensure their concerns about beach erosion and Palm Beach County’s sand transfer plant at the Boynton Inlet are addressed, voting to hire a seasoned environmental attorney to represent it before state regulators.

At the Nov. 4 commission meeting, elected leaders voiced frustration over the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to extend the county’s permit for operating the sand transfer plant — an operation town leaders say has profound impacts on the community’s coastline. 

The sand transfer plant takes sand from Manalapan that accumulates on the north side of the inlet and pumps it southward to Ocean Ridge and points beyond. The town learned of the state’s intent to grant the extension in late October and was given only a brief window to formally oppose the decision.

Efforts to collaborate with the county have largely been unsuccessful, leaving the town without meaningful policies affecting its fragile beaches, which have basically disappeared in front of some homes. 

The commission agreed to retain John Fumero, former general counsel for the South Florida Water Management District, to lead the town’s challenge.

“He is truly the local go-to person in terms of these kinds of administrative permits, water issues, the beach erosion issues that we’re grappling with,” said Town Attorney Keith Davis.

“The goal here is to get our foot in the door, get that seat at the table, get everyone’s attention, finally, and be able to have those conversations,” he said. Past legal challenges by the town have been unsuccessful.

Discussions during the meeting highlighted concerns with the sand transfer plant’s contract, including what officials described as a lack of scientific justification for operational figures from the county and an absence of transparency about the sand transfer plant’s impacts on local beaches.

“How much sand is being taken? There has to be a real calculation, and really, they don’t do enough. It’s really a laissez-faire situation,” said Town Manager Eric Marmer. “When you dig deeper, it’s like, ‘Where do you get these numbers from?’” 

Marmer said it’s befuddling that the FDEP permit declares the plant — built in 1937 — has no impact on the beach.

An engineer and beach erosion expert hired by the town to look at its erosion issue said in July that the transfer plant — which pumps sand south across the inlet because the inlet blocks the natural southward flow of the sand — plays only a small part in erosion and that sea walls in town are the main culprit.

Marmer said he has been skeptical about the sand transfer plant’s greatly affecting Manalapan’s coastline until recently.

“I went down there and I could literally see the avulsion created by the sand transfer plant on our beach,” he said.

He said the plant has been a thorn in the town’s side since nearly the town’s founding in 1931.

“Manalapan residents in the ’30s and the ’40s were concerned about this, and it’s well documented,” he said. 

Kamila Diaz joins Lantana Ocean Rescue chief Marc Fichtner as he receives an award from the Town Council for helping to rescue her after a shark had severed the leash to her surfboard. Photos provided

By Patrick Sherry

A Lantana lifeguard walked away with an award instead of a shark bite after helping rescue a surfer.

The Lantana Town Council, at its Nov. 10 meeting, presented Marc Fichtner with the award for his actions that helped save a surfer while a shark was in the water. 

Kamila Diaz was surfing at the Lantana Municipal Beach on Oct. 8 when a 5- to 6-foot shark severed the leash to her surfboard. Luckily, Fichtner, who is chief of the Lantana Ocean Rescue Division, was out doing rough water training and noticed Diaz in distress. He jumped into action and returned her to land safely. 

Fichtner helped Diaz return to shore at the Lantana Municipal Beach after she met him halfway.

“Not many people go into the water where there are sharks knowingly,” said Eddie Crockett, the town’s director of public services. “This is what he did without even thinking about it.”

Diaz has been surfing in Lantana for almost three years in all conditions. She said that what happened was very unexpected.

“I’m glad that I knew how to handle the situation at first and managed to somewhat swim back, and then Marc helped me and the rest of the lifeguards with everything else,” Diaz said. “I’m just really grateful that the worst was avoided, and I’m still alive.” 

Fichtner thanked the council for the award and praised Diaz for her bravery, which led to her meeting him halfway in the water. He mentioned how his team trains for these situations often, but they are very rare. 

“I’m really honored,” said Fichtner. “We always, as lifeguards, talk about two things: there’s a plane crash in front of the tower or a shark attack. Maybe you see one in your career of 20, 30 years. I’m glad that my training kicked in, my partner’s training kicked in, and we’re able to do what we do.” 

Fichtner also said his team has received the U.S. Lifesaving Association Advanced Agency Certification. The certification recognizes and encourages high training standards for lifeguard agencies. 

By Brian Biggane

The first South Palm Beach mayoral race in recent memory is shaping up after citizen activist and Town Hall project critic Rafael Pineiro filed his papers on the first day of eligibility in early November for the March 10 election.

In addition, two other residents — Fran Attardi and Adrian Burcet — whom Pineiro said he encouraged to run filed to compete against three Town Council incumbents whose seats are also up for election. That raises the possibility of a new majority on the five-member council, one that would likely alter the direction of the Town Hall project, which has dominated local politics for several years.

Incumbent Mayor Bonnie Fischer, who was elected to the Town Council in 2011 and has held the mayoral seat since defeating the former incumbent in 2015, has run unopposed in her last three elections.

“People know me,” Fischer said. “My record stands for what I’ve done. I’m proud of how I’ve handled myself and always looked toward what’s best for the town.”

Vice Mayor Monte Berendes and Council members Elvadianne Culbertson and Sandra Beckett, the latter two having been appointed to their current council seats, also qualified to run in March. 

The top two vote getters of the five council candidates will win regular four-year terms and the third-place finisher a two-year unexpired term.

‘Whole premise is wrong’

Pineiro has been a constant opponent this year of the Town Hall project. He collected signatures for a petition earlier this year aimed at convincing the council to retrofit the current structure rather than move forward with plans to tear it down and build a new, larger $6.5 million one.

“I had given up, sent a letter to Bonnie congratulating her on achieving what she wanted, but then I found that whole premise is wrong,” Pineiro said. 

Even though renovating the building might be more than half the cost of the Town Hall’s current value, Pineiro says the existing structure is good enough and going the renovation route will save the town several million dollars.

But Fischer and Berendes said studies done years ago stipulated the cost of a retrofit is far more than 50% of the value and a new building is a must.

The assessed value of the building this year was $3.3 million, meaning a retrofit is a must if the renovation is to cost more than $1.65 million. That means the whole building would have to be updated to meet current Florida Building Code standards, including the costly task of raising the building’s ground level. Even Pineiro’s most conservative renovation figure for his plan is $1.7 million.

“It’s nice that Rafael is taking an interest,” Berendes said, “but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Pineiro said his plan would raise the building by three feet, then use a process called dry flood-proofing — by which a structure can be made watertight below the expected flood level — to assure the building could last for many years to come. However, he said the dry flood-proofing would add another $1 million to his estimated cost. 

Sidewalk an issue as well

He said a greater area of concern for residents is fixing the sidewalk that runs along the west side of State Road A1A, which he said has deteriorated to the point where one or more residents are falling every month. The council has discussed the issue multiple times in recent months, but consistently points to the fact the sidewalk is the responsibility of the Florida Department of Transportation.

“I’m sure that if you asked our residents which is more important, the Town Hall or the sidewalk, most would say the sidewalk,” said Pineiro, who claimed other municipalities have used their own money to fix a bad sidewalk and then been compensated by the state.

Council race

Among the council incumbents up for election, Berendes is the longest-serving — it will be four years in March — having won his seat in 2022. He was elevated to vice mayor in June 2024. 

Culbertson, who previously served on the council from 2016 to 2021, was appointed to her seat by the council in April 2024, while Beckett was appointed in December 2024. 

Culbertson replaced the retired Robert Gottlieb, chosen by the council from among three applicants. Beckett later was the only applicant for the seat she received.

First-time candidate Attardi is a native of New Jersey and has been a South Palm Beach resident for three years. She runs a pet concierge business known as Francy Paws. She spent many years in New Jersey as the owner of Jersey Sporting News, a publication covering high school sports across the state.

Burcet is currently employed as a FedEx operations administrator and has been a South Palm Beach resident for eight years. 

Correction: The printed version and a previous online version incorrectly identified Adrian Burcet's employment. He is an operstions administrator for FedEx.

Town Hall plans stay the same — After architects gave one last go at coming up with ideas to shrink the size of South Palm Beach’s new Town Hall, council members voted unanimously to keep with the earlier plan.

The Town Council, seemingly alarmed that the planned construction is coming in at about 11,000 square feet compared to 7,000 square feet for the current building, sent CPZ Architects representative Joe Barry back to the drawing board at its October meeting to see if he could come up with a design somewhat smaller.

Barry returned in November with a proposal that would trim approximately 900 square feet off the design and save about $430,000, but would make the entry lobby smaller, eliminate one of the community rooms on the second floor and either make the proposed cafe smaller or eliminate it.

Council members mostly shook their heads while Barry went through the changes and Vice Mayor Monte Berendes was the first to give them a thumbs down. 

“I was one of the proponents of making it smaller and I’m not sure it’s worth it,” Berendes said. 

Town manager spending limit increases — A request from Town Manager Jamie Titcomb to increase his discretionary spending limit upward from $5,000 was approved at the council’s Nov. 10 meeting, with the council giving him a new $25,000 limit.

Titcomb assured the council he would not be going on a “spending spree,” but that the move would simply “limit the expenditures I have to bring to you before they get approved, which often translates into a delay in getting repairs and critical work done.”

Dune restoration underway — Sara Gutekunst, the coastal coordinator for the town of Palm Beach, informed the council that the beach restoration project involving the two municipalities was underway. Sand was being trucked from Phipps Ocean Park in Palm Beach and the project was expected to take about six weeks, or almost until Christmas.

Town clerk on maternity leave — The council on Nov. 10 approved three months of paid maternity leave for Town Clerk Yude Davenport, who gave birth on Nov. 17. The leave for Davenport, who has served in her position for nearly 20 years, is until the end of February.                                                 

— Brian Biggane

Linda Loch didn’t find another space for her salon and plans to retire at the end of April. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

Another roadside landmark along State Road A1A is slated to soon disappear.

The Briny Hair Salon, the Briny Breezes Town Hall’s next-door neighbor, has lost its lease and must vacate by April 30. 

Linda Loch, who has operated the beauty salon for 34 years, said she wasn’t told why, “just that they want to put somebody else in here where they can get four times the amount of rent.”

“There is no reason they have to kick me out,” she said.

Briny Breezes Inc., the co-op that manages the mobile home community, originally sent Loch a “Notice of Non-Renewal of Lease” on Oct. 31, demanding that she leave the premises by Dec. 31 with an option to request a 30-day extension.

Loch instead asked to stay until the end of April, and the co-op agreed.

Michael Gallacher, general manager of the co-op, noted that Briny Breezes Inc. is a for-profit corporation, and said Loch’s rent has been “very low” for “many years” and most of her customers live in neighboring Gulf Stream.

In September, Gallacher said, “Ms. Loch advised that she was meeting with a gentleman who wished to operate a separate business out of half the shop. We made clear that this was not acceptable.

“After reviewing the situation, we made a business decision to seek proposals from tenants who can provide meaningful benefits to Briny shareholders while paying market rent that contributes appropriately to sustaining the park’s expenses,” he said.

At first Loch’s customers were “really upset,” she said.

Customer and friend Diana Grainger, who owns the South Ocean Beach Shop in Delray Beach at A1A and Atlantic Avenue, had choice words: “deplorable” and “absolutely, positively unjust.”

Loch, too, was not happy.

“I think it’s terrible to do that to me. I actually think it could be age discrimination,” she said. “I am 78, but I’m capable still of working, And I want to work ’cause I think it’s healthy for me.”

Before the termination notice arrived, Loch spent $8,000 on new carpet and paint to make everything look fresh and new, she said. For the first half of November she scoured vacant commercial space for a place to relocate her business but wasn’t impressed by what she found.

“I wouldn’t take any of my customers there,” she said.

Rising rents have forced shops and restaurants for years to leave Delray Beach’s popular Atlantic Avenue. And the imminent departure of Loch’s salon brings to mind the 2023 closing on A1A of the Seaside Deli and Market at 4635 N. Ocean in a landlord-tenant dispute. It has since reopened under new ownership.

Loch’s rent this year was $1,612.98 a month for the salon at 4800 N. Ocean Blvd. By comparison, the town pays the co-op $1,792 per month for its side of the building, more than twice the space, at 4802 N. Ocean.

The Town Council signed a five-year extension of its lease starting in October 2024, allowing for rent increases each year of $50 per month.

When first grappling with the lease notice, Loch fretted about what her next steps would be.

“This has been my life,” she said. “For 34 years I’ve been here. And I have a wonderful clientele in the season.”

But after winning the April 30 lease extension, she said she has come to accept her circumstances and is ready to retire. “It’s OK,” Loch said. “I’m at peace with it now.” 

Gulf Stream’s Core District construction project will likely continue into April.

Originally scheduled to end before Christmas and later modified to finish up Feb. 28, the work will now extend to April 17, according to a proposal by contractor Roadway Associates LLC.

Town commissioners on Nov. 14 approved paying Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers up to $215,272 for the extra time they will be coordinating and supervising the project. The amount included having two inspectors in town full-time in November and December to monitor the construction.

The engineers are also looking into ways to make the curve from Sea Road to Gulfstream Road more drivable. Residents were finding it hard to negotiate the roadway with new raised curbs on both sides of the street.

Commissioners also approved spending up to $80,000 to get a third-party contractor to install a water bypass line mostly along Oleander Way, which has had numerous boil-water orders for weeks as Roadway Associates tried to install a new water line. The commission expects to charge that amount back to Roadway.

“This project has just been horrendous,” Commissioner Joan Orthwein said. “These were the original water lines, so they had to be replaced.”

— Steve Plunkett

Shoppers crowd the Southern Handcraft Society, Delray Beach chapter’s 32nd annual art and craft show. The three-day event ended Nov. 22. BELOW: Alida Bowden organizes a few of the displays. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

The Delray Beach City Commission rejected a proposal to reinstate a supermajority voting rule for removing the city manager, after a heated public hearing that drew dozens of residents passionate about local governance.

The proposed change would have had city voters in March reconsider a 2014 vote that got rid of the four-vote supermajority requirement for the five-member City Commission to fire the city manager. Supporters — such as Vice Mayor Rob Long — argued the higher bar would prevent political caprice and ensure more stable municipal leadership.

Voters got rid of the supermajority after the city couldn’t get rid of City Manager Louie Chapman Jr., who had lied to the commission about a $60,000 trash bin purchase. Three commissioners voted to fire Chapman, but because of the supermajority requirement, he remained in the position, eventually resigning and receiving $73,000 in severance.

Long, who initiated the discussion, said the decision should rest with voters. “We’re not making the final call,” Long said. “We’re simply asking if residents should have a chance to decide.”

Mayor Tom Carney expressed skepticism, noting that City Manager Terrence Moore has been in the position for five years. “So I don’t think that the commission makes a decision to remove a city manager on an arbitrary or willy-nilly basis,” he said. “I think the simple majority has worked.”

Commissioner Juli Casale strongly opposed reimplementing the supermajority, citing potential undemocratic consequences. “What’s so bad about the simple concept of majority rule?” she asked.

Moore said he does not support the change. “I simply rely on my professional background and training to offer responsiveness, attentiveness, leadership, guidance, performance, and outcomes,” Moore said.

“I simply rely on my background and experience to offer meaningful contributions that will hopefully offer a lasting impact,” Moore said.

Supporters argued that the city’s previous move away from the supermajority rule led to instability, with a revolving door in the manager’s office. Delray Beach is on its fourth city manager since 2015, with one resigning for family reasons, one fired on a 5-0 vote and another fired on a 3-2 vote.

“Every time there’s movement in that office, particularly in the director’s offices, it’s reset, reset, reset, reset, and we wonder why things don’t get done,” resident Reggie Cox said.

Angela Hill, another resident, echoed these sentiments: “I would love to see it on the ballot,” she told commissioners. “The supermajority gives sustainability and stability.”

Delray Beach wasn’t the only municipality to wrestle with the supermajority question.

Boynton Beach’s charter review committee had recommended a referendum that would require a supermajority to hire or fire the city manager and the city attorney. The Boynton Beach City Commission voted to table that referendum at its Nov. 4 meeting, which means it won’t be placed on that city’s March 10 election ballot. 

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream voters will choose next March among the five incumbents on the Town Commission and a political but not unknown newcomer.

Michael Glennon, who has taken an active role as a resident in commission discussions the past three years and now sits on the appointed Architectural Review and Planning Board, filed his qualifying papers to campaign, as did office holders Scott Morgan, Tom Stanley, Robert Canfield, Michael Greene and Joan Orthwein.

The top five vote-getters March 10 will take seats on the dais after the election. It is the first contested commission race in Gulf Stream since 2017.

Glennon, as the parent of a Gulf Stream School student and a resident in the Core District, spoke at the Town Commission’s January 2023 meeting supporting the school’s request to raise the limit on the number of children who could attend. In January 2024 he again backed the school in its purchase of a pre-K campus in Delray Beach.

He was appointed to the town’s ad hoc committee exploring ways to avoid massing in new home design in March 2024, became an alternate member of the ARPB in April 2025 and was elevated to full board member the next month.

This will be the first appearance on a ballot for Canfield and Greene. Canfield, who has lived in Place Au Soleil for 10 years, was appointed to the Town Commission in January 2024 after time on the ARPB.

Greene similarly was appointed to the commission in February 2024 and served on the architectural board. He lives on the west side of North Ocean Boulevard.

Morgan, currently the mayor, first took a seat on the dais following the 2014 election after being the ARPB chairman. Stanley, the vice mayor, was appointed to the commission in 2012 after an ARPB stint.

Orthwein celebrated her 30th year as a commissioner this year. She too spent time on the ARPB. 

After the election, the new commission will name the mayor and vice mayor. 

By Patrick Sherry 

Lantana’s traditional seagull and sailboat logo, which can be seen throughout the town, might be changing. 

The town is considering an entire rebrand with the help of a local marketing agency, which would create a new identity for Lantana through redesigning longtime logos and visual images. 

Representatives from 2TON, a creative and marketing agency in West Palm Beach, presented their plans to create that identity to the community at a Town Hall meeting on Nov. 3. 

Back in April, the Town Council supported plans to rebrand the town. Subsequently, a rebranding committee was formed. The committee selected 2TON, which is getting $18,000 to head the project. 

At the Town Hall meeting, Ryan Boylston, founder of 2TON and a former Delray Beach city commissioner, emphasized that his company’s mission is to establish uniformity and cohesiveness. He explained how Lantana’s current branding is not consistent, which could hurt the view people have of the town. 

“It’s not just a logo, your brand is your identity,” Boylston said. “We’ve seen cities over the years that haven’t done a really good job of communicating what their brand is, and then the world decides to brand their city for them.” 

Lantana currently uses its municipal seal as its main logo, which has a seagull and a sailboat in the water. Some departments and town buildings use variations of the seal with different colors and fonts, or incorporate other visual elements. 

During the presentation, Boylston showed examples of those inconsistencies and how they show up in other areas, such as town signage.

To fix this, 2TON would create a logo family and brand guidelines that would direct town officials on what colors, fonts and logos they should use to maintain consistency across the board. 

The company would also create a unique town tagline — a short, memorable phrase or motto to help reinforce the town’s new brand identity. 

To ensure 2TON had the community’s interests in mind, residents had the opportunity to give their feedback on what they think the redesigns should include. Attendees participated in a brainstorming session to decide what best represents the town. 

They came up with words and elements that are central to Lantana’s identity — “coastal,” “peaceful,” and “laid back” were some of the most common.

Not only that, those at the meeting also voted on options for potential taglines that 2TON created. The top choices included “Old Florida, Today” and “Relax, you’re in Lantana.” 

Other feedback was given about what 2TON should look into as potential logo design elements. Some residents supported incorporating Lantana flowers and maintaining some aspects of the town seal. 

Boylston explained that his team will use this feedback to create an identity that aligns with the town’s vision, so that it’s also one that can always be used in the future. 

“I want to make sure that my team has all the input necessary to put together the best brand possible” for the town and the residents of Lantana, Boylston said. 

To gain more comments from residents, officials posted a community survey on the town’s website, www.lantana.org. 

The survey asks similar questions, such as words that best describe Lantana, what visual elements best represent the town, and what should be reflected in the logo. Residents can also upload their own ideas or sketches for a logo concept.

The survey closes on Dec. 11.

After the project is completed, the final rebrand will need to be approved by the Town Council.

From there, 2TON expects there would be a 12- to 24-month rollout period to implement the changes.

By Patrick Sherry

Owners of a nearly $8 million Hypoluxo Island property next to the Ocean Avenue bridge will be building a security wall taller than typically allowed, one that they say will protect their family. 

The Lantana Town Council approved a variance for the wall — at 101 N. Atlantic Drive — that will reach 11 feet high as the property slopes down to the Intracoastal Waterway. The town’s Planning Commission recommended approval of the application last month after hearing the owners’ concerns about people trespassing on their property by going under or through the side of the bridge. 

Ana Davie, owner of the property since 2017, told the council that she and her husband consider the house their forever home, but they want more security.

“In those seven years, we’ve had to call the Police Department a couple of times, we’ve had items stolen off our dock, and I’ve had people walking on the dock,” she said.

A neighbor came to the Nov. 10 council meeting to support the application.

“I feel this is a great way for the Davie family to be able to protect and have greater security for their family there,” Michelle Donahue said. 

However, there was opposition, with another neighbor telling the council she opposes the wall because she doesn’t want the owners to raise the ground level, which would increase the wall height. 

“An impression will be created that we live in a walled-in compound and, at worst, attract the attention of burglars,” said neighbor Ilona Balfour. “We know that houses being built now need to abide by new rules, elevation, and so forth. That doesn’t mean that the whole lot should become a mountain.”

Town ordinances allow a maximum height of six feet for walls. While this application requested a variance of 11 feet, in reality, that portion will be level with the 6-foot-high portion of the wall. It only becomes longer as the ground level falls to its lowest point, near the sea wall.

Elmar Benavente, principal designer for Be Design and the architect working on the project, added that workers won’t raise any part of the property’s ground level and will add landscaping.

The wall “will not go higher, but maintain those six feet all the way to the property line,” said Benavente. “They have agreed to landscape — they have agreed to maintain the trees and to keep it beautiful, so it doesn’t [detract] from anyone’s view.” 

Staff recommended approval, citing safety concerns. The council subsequently passed a motion to approve it 5-0. 

Lantana Town Council incumbents Mark Zeitler and Chris Castle secured new three-year terms on Nov. 21 after being the only candidates to qualify for what was to be next year’s municipal election. 

Zeitler and Castle both successfully filed to retain their respective seats, which will last until March 2029. With no contested seat, the town won’t hold an election previously scheduled for March 10. 

Jacqueline “Jackie” Morel originally filed to run for Zeitler’s seat, but town ordinances require candidates to submit nominating petitions to be placed on the ballot, equal to 1% of the total voter registration in the town. Morel didn’t get enough petitions to qualify. 

Voters first elected Zeitler in 2020. Zeitler, who has been a Lantana resident for more than 60 years and is a former air conditioner contractor, will now serve his third consecutive term on the Town Council.

Castle has been on the council since 2023 and is currently the town’s vice mayor pro tem. He is also a member of the Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce and a technician for the city of Boynton Beach. 

— Patrick Sherry