By Jane Smith
    
    Animals are banned from the beach in Ocean Ridge, according to Town Manager Jamie Titcomb.
    Even so, the town would consider a formal proposal from Boynton Beach to allow dogs on that city’s adjoining 960-foot-long beach.
    After the dog beach idea was floated in early August at a Boynton Beach City Commission meeting, Titcomb said he received a number of phone calls from Ocean Ridge residents. They were worried that Boynton Beach dogs were about to overrun them, he said.
    “Besides wanting it, no formal request has been made,” Titcomb said in late August. “We need to know what it might look like, the hours it will be open and how it will be enforced before we go about changing the ordinances. It will be a public process.”
    Boynton Beach Recreation and Parks Director Wally Majors said he might have misunderstood how the city wanted him to proceed with communications on the project. He’s been focused on the city’s proposed Town Square project and the end of summer camps. He called Town Square the most exciting thing he’s seen in his 32 years working for Boynton Beach. Programs at the city’s arts and civic centers will be moved to the renovated historic high school.
    “The confusion was on my part,” Majors said. He contacted nearby cities that have dog beaches to find out how they are set up. He is still waiting to hear from Boca Raton. Jupiter has a volunteer group that runs its dog beach.
    Majors wants to be a good neighbor to Ocean Ridge.
    Decades ago, Boynton Beach sold most of its oceanfront land to people who then formed the town of Ocean Ridge.
    Ocean Ridge police patrol the parking lots at Oceanfront Park and make sure the gates are locked at night, according to town Police Chief Hal Hutchins. As far as the beach goes, Ocean Ridge has a vehicle it uses to patrol its beach, the city stretch and the county beach.
    “There are strong emotions on both sides of the issue,” Titcomb said. “As passionate as dog owners are, there are people who are fearful of dogs.”
    Boynton Beach may want to allow dogs at its Oceanfront Park, but how will they keep them on the city’s beach? Titcomb asked.
    “We are willing to explore it, if Boynton Beach will give us a proposal to review,” Titcomb said.
    Majors agrees there are many issues to consider, including rules about cleanup, how to handle aggressive dogs and whether the dogs should be leashed or allowed to roam.
    And he wondered what would happen to sea turtle nests,  because some dogs like to dig.
    Both men own dogs. Majors has two, including a therapy dog that stays at his side throughout the workday.

By Steve Plunkett

    GULF STREAM — By many retirement standards, Gary Ward was young.
    But at age 41, after 21 years as a New York City policeman and 2½ years in the Army, he did retire. In 1988 he packed up his belongings and moved to Boynton Beach.
    His retirement didn’t last long.
    “Naturally he wanted to go to work again. He was too young to retire,” his wife, Barbara, said.
    So he drove up and down State Road A1A and was struck by the charm of Gulf Stream and its towering Australian pines. “He said to me, ‘I think that’s where I want to work. It’s very nice,’ ” Mrs. Ward recalled.
    Hired within a month, he rose through the ranks to become chief in 2000. But a bad stroke sidelined him last summer. Chief Ward died July 25 and was given a full military burial at Long Island National Cemetery on Aug. 1. He was 73.
    His wife said he “loved, loved, loved” working in Gulf Stream and had reported for duty until the day before his stroke.
    “He used to say it was like working in paradise,” Mrs. Ward said.
    Anthony Pugliese remembered driving a little too fast on A1A and unexpectedly meeting the new officer.
    “He pulled me over 27, 28 years ago pulling into my driveway,” Pugliese said.
    The developer got off with a warning, and the two chatted by phone several times a year ever since. “I couldn’t say enough nice things about him. It’s a big loss for the town,” Pugliese said.
    Christopher Yannuzzi, former police chief of Ocean Ridge, called Chief Ward “a mentor to me” on the Boynton Memorial Chapel’s website.
    “It was an honor to know him and call him friend,” Yannuzzi wrote.
    Before his police work, Chief Ward was assigned to the Army’s security agency in Thailand just before the Vietnam War. He was not allowed to speak about his duties there, even to his wife. “I never knew what he did — it was a secret kind of thing,” she said.
    Mrs. Ward described her husband as “pretty much of a loner” and a man “very close” to his children, Garrett Jr., who also lives in Boynton Beach, and Kristin Hubbard, who lives in Deerfield Beach with her husband, Brett, and children, Liliana, 3, and Jonathan, 16 months.
    As they grew older, the chief and his wife focused on family and each other. After work they would tune the TV set to PBS.
    “We were pretty much addicted to British television detective stories,” Mrs. Ward said.
    Along with his wife, children and grandchildren, Chief Ward is survived by brothers Paul in Boynton Beach; Kevin, Peter and Mark in New York; sister Lenore Coogan in New York, and many nephews and nieces.
    In addition to the burial in Farmingdale, N.Y., a wake was held at Boynton Memorial Chapel on July 28.

By Ron Hayes

    BRINY BREEZES — David David was a pioneer, a lifelong resident of Briny Breezes who knew the town as a child when it had only one telephone, a teenager who surfed its waves, and a man who remembered the changes he’d seen with both nostalgia and regret.
    “When I was a kid, you could go to the beach and come back with a big bag of shells,” he recalled in 2015. “And the west side of Old A1A was all freshwater ponds. Now it’s all condos."

    Mr. David died July 26 at Bethesda Memorial Hospital. He was 66 and had suffered from diabetes.
    The only son of Hugh David, who served as the town’s mayor for 34 years, David David wore his redundant name with pride and a smile.
    “It gave me a sense of humor,” he would tell you. “I was never teased about it, and I’d never change it.”
    David Hugh David was born on June 20, 1951, in St. Louis, but he did not stay long.
    When a fire destroyed their Missouri home in the late 1940s, Hugh and Marilyn David brought their young family to Florida in a 28-foot trailer and found the fledgling trailer park. In 1953, they became permanent residents. David David was 2.
    He was still a boy when Edith Louise Behm’s parents bought a trailer in the late 1950s. The two children grew up together, and in 1970 Edith Behm became a permanent resident. Over the years the two children became friends, then romantic partners, and on May 23, 2015, they became husband and wife. Edith Behm is a retired art and music program planner for Palm Beach County schools.
    “He was kind and gentle and sweet,” she said, “and he always put others ahead of himself.”
    During his teenage years, Mr. David was an award-winning surfer.
    “David had a very smooth style and helped the Cripple Creek Surf Club win some contests held locally,” remembers Tom Warnke, historian of the Florida Surfing Museum in Lake Park. “He was a team rider for Charlie Keller’s Boynton Beach Surf Shop a block east of U.S. 1 on Ocean Avenue. That was when shortboards were invented and David was always a step ahead of the rest of the local crew, graduating from boards that were 9-feet-6-inches, to 8-feet, then 7-feet-6-inches, then 7-feet-2-inches, and finally about 6-foot-10.”
    Except for seven years’ service in the U.S. Army, where he served as a sergeant in the 4th Infantry Division’s signal corps, Briny Breezes was his home. He worked in construction and cared for his mother.
    After being diagnosed with diabetes, he was advised by doctors at the VA hospital to wear hats to protect against melanoma, and the hats soon became a trademark.
    His father, Hugh David, died in 1997 at 75, and Marilyn David in 2016 at 93. David David was the last of his family still residing in the town.
    Rita Taylor, who came to Briny Breezes in 1967 and served as its clerk for 35 years, knew the family well.
    “I’m so sorry to hear of David’s passing,” she said. “He was a ‘Briny child,’ and I can’t imagine the town without a David living here. They are all truly missed.”
    In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sisters and their husbands: Judy and Tim Wood of Boynton Beach, Diane and Ken Potter of Atlantis, and Denise and David Berg of San Diego.
    Mr. David is to be buried at sea off Briny Breezes, as were his parents. A memorial service will be held in the town’s clubhouse after the winter residents return.
    His wife requests that donations in his memory be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, the American Diabetes Association, Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League or the Republican Party.

Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein (l-r) joins Kevin Knopf of Lifespace Communities and Dr. Leonard Sutton, president of the Harbour’s Edge resident council, to celebrate the completion of the senior living community’s $20 million renovation to add amenities. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

    Harbour’s Edge, a senior living community at 401 E. Linton Blvd., Delray Beach, recently completed the $20 million renovation of its new Lifelong Learning Center, a renovated theater, new spa and fitness center, a second dining venue and a remodeled restaurant with a new exhibition kitchen and wine bar. Also, it named a new executive director, James Horsman, a hotelier with more than 30 years of luxury hotel and resort experience at properties that include The Ritz-Carlton Hotel company and Destination Hotels.
                                

    Garlic Fest may have moved to Lake Worth, but Delray Beach artist Rebecca Loveless still comes out smelling like a rose. She won the first place SUNsational Award for the best commemorative poster during the Florida Festivals & Events Association’s 23rd annual convention and trade show in Orlando last month.
    Other local winners in the $250,000-plus budget category were iHeart Media, first place for best radio spot; and Real Time Marketing Group of Delray Beach, third place for best website, www.sflgarlicfest.com.
    Garlic Fest was founded to establish a fundraising source for local nonprofit organizations. The festival donated more than $610,000 this year.
    The Florida Festivals & Events Association is a not-for-profit group that supports and promotes more than 3,500 festivals, events and fairs in Florida.
                                
    In August, Alexander P. Lee, 20, of Delray Beach, became a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. The son of Delray Beach residents Terry and Dorothy Lee, he is a junior at Florida Atlantic University majoring in mechanical engineering.

    Kaufman Lynn Construction, which has its corporate office in Boca Raton with other offices in Florida, North Carolina and Texas, announced two new hires and two promotions.
    Tom Thrasher was named vice president of operations in Kaufman Lynn’s South Florida headquarters. Previously, Thrasher held positions with Batson-Cook Construction, W.G. Yates and Sons and Archer-Western/Walsh Construction. Thrasher’s experience included building dam projects, call centers and data centers for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Texas.
    Jeff Blong joined Kaufman Lynn as vice president of preconstruction in its South Florida headquarters. He has worked on commercial projects that include performing arts centers, airports, churches and athletic facilities. He has held positions with Manhattan Construction Co., Hunt Construction Group and Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
    Derek Wolfhope and Dan Root have both been promoted to vice presidents of operations. Wolfhope has been at Kaufman Lynn for 10 years. Notable projects he’s contributed to include the Art Square in Hallandale, Claude Pepper Community Center, Signature at Doral, South of Atlantic in Delray Beach, Residences at Broken Sound, Pembroke Pines YMCA and Evernia Place in West Palm Beach. He’s also contributed to the renovations of Palm Beach State College and the construction of multifamily communities.
    Root, who oversees Kaufman Lynn’s Estero office, led the company’s preconstruction and construction effort for Moorings Park at Grey Oaks, a continuing care retirement community in southwest Florida. The Associated Builders and Contractors Florida Gulf Coast Chapter recognized the project with an Excellence in Construction award.
                                
    Yachtico Inc., a company within the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, was singled out as a “Florida Company to Watch” by Florida economic development organization GrowFL.
    The research park provides an environment for companies in the research and development stages. It is home to 20 high-tech, high-wage companies and five support organizations.
    Yachtico operates a regional Technology Business Incubator with companies that collectively employ 1,484 people with average salaries of $57,739, which include 149 FAU alumni and 107 student interns.
    In 2016, the overall economic impact of the research park activities was $643.5 million.
    Yachtico connects customers who want to rent or charter boats with fleet operators and boat owners. GrowFL is certified by the National Center for Economic Gardening through the Edward Lowe Foundation, a national nonprofit that supports entrepreneurship through research, recognition and educational programs.
                                
    The Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s networking luncheon on Sept. 13 will host a program featuring city Police Chief Jeffrey Katz. Networking will begin at 11:30 a.m. with the program to follow at noon. Cost is $25. The event will be held at Benvenuto, 1730 N. Federal Hwy, Boynton Beach.
    The chamber also is gearing up for its 47th annual Boynton Beach Chamber Golf Tournament, which will be  Oct. 20 at the Indian Spring Country Club, 11501 El Clair Ranch Road, Boynton Beach. Registration will be at 11:30 a.m.; a box lunch will be at noon; and the shotgun start is scheduled for 1 followed by a reception and award ceremony at 5:30.
    Prices are $550 for a foursome and $150 for a single player. To be a tee sign sponsor, the cost is $100. The tournament is sponsored by Porges & Eisenberg CPA LLC, TooJay’s, Florida Power & Light, Senior Helpers, Bethesda Help, and Palm Beach Community Bank. For information and to register, call 732-9501 or email elda@boyntonbeach.org
                                
    The Lord’s Place ranked seventh of the Top 30 Best Mid-sized Florida Companies to Work For in “The Best Companies” list featured in Florida Trend magazine’s August issue. This was the fourth consecutive year the organization made the list.
    The Lord’s Place has worked for more than 30 years to help homeless people in Palm Beach County. Each year, hundreds of men, women and children transition out of homelessness at The Lord’s Place family campus, its men’s campus, three sites for homeless women and at more than 20 apartments throughout the county.  The organization provides job training and placement as well as clinical services.
                                
    The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties this year awarded $1.2 million in scholarships to 125 students who were evaluated by an advisory committee of board members and community volunteers based on a written application, test scores, transcripts and interviews. Individual scholarships ranged from $1,000 to $36,000 and were given to students from 32 high schools and colleges.
    For information on the scholarship program, or about establishing a charitable fund at the Community Foundation, call 659-6800 or visit www.yourcommunityfoundation.org.
                                
    The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will offer two issues-oriented events this month. The first, a luncheon on “Why Courts Matter: The Impact Federal Court Decisions Have on Daily Lives,” is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Sept. 20 at the Atlantis Country Club, 190 Atlantis Blvd., Lake Worth. The keynote speaker is Nancy Abudu, director of legal operation for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. Tickets are $25 before Sept. 10 and $35 after. Register online at www.lwvpbc.org or call 968-4123.
    The second event, at 6 p.m. Sept. 27, features Irving Labovitz, adjunct professor of business law at Florida Atlantic University, whose topic is “Constitutional Crises (de jour) Guaranteed to Keep You Up at Night.” The free presentation and Q&A will be held at the Palm Beach Post Auditorium, 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach. Register online at www.lwvpbc.org.
                                
    

The WAV Group, a real estate business and consulting firm, gave the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors its first WAVes of Change Award. ABOVE: (l-r) Marilyn Wilson, founder of the WAV Group; Kim Hansen, the Realtors’ chief operating office; Dionna Hall, their CEO, and Ron Lennen, president-elect. Photo provided

    The Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors were recognized as the top fundraising team by Habitat for Humanity Palm Beach County.
    The group donated more than $5,200, and team captain Kim Flossie won the Pink Hammer Top Individual Fundraising Award.
    The Community Outreach Taskforce of the Palm Beaches created a team, Tutu’s and Tool Belts, that raised money and helped construct a roof of a home. 
    Also, the association was honored by the WAV Group, a real estate business and consulting firm, with the first WAVes of Change Award for taking innovative steps to create positive waves of change in the industry.
                                
    The Space of Mind, a schoolhouse and community studio for students, adults, families and educators, will host a family open house from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 9 to introduce its new coaches as well as the interior redesign.
    The studio is at 102 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. For information, call 877-407-1122 or visit www.myspaceofmind.com.
                                
    Silver International Realty opened a second business, Silver International Realty 30A, for agents in the Santa Rosa Beach area in the Florida Panhandle. Owner Christel Silver’s daughter, Sabine Robertson, is on the sales team, and her grandson, Judson Robertson, has joined the company as an agent.
    The main office is at 55 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach.

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

The path runs the length of Highland Beach on the west side of A1A and needs repairs. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach’s aging 3-mile walking path could become safer, more attractive and even more durable if town commissioners — and then voters — approve a recommendation from an ad hoc committee of residents.  
    “Our goal is to have a walkway that will last for many years, that is safe, and that will be aesthetically appealing without great cost to the taxpayers of Highland Beach,” said Mayor Carl Feldman, who chairs the committee.
    Later this month Feldman and other committee members are likely to bring a proposal for $1.5 million to $1.7 million of improvements to the town’s popular walking path on the west side of State Road A1A.
    A large portion of the budget would go toward tearing up the existing asphalt sidewalk and replacing it with decorative aggregate concrete embedded with crushed oyster shell.
“It’s more of a premium, but this committee decided it wanted something special — and it will be,” Feldman said.
    The proposal likely will include creating signage and landscaping at the north and south ends of town, as well as improvements to some swale areas to eliminate dangerous drop-offs from the sidewalk.
    The proposal also includes placing lighted pedestrian crosswalk signs at all eight of the town’s crosswalks. The Florida Department of Transportation will need to approve the plan for the entire project.
    Feldman is proposing the town use an estimated $200,000 a year it will receive from the recently approved countywide 1-cent sales tax increase to cover the cost of the project.
    The town would use money in reserves to pay for the project and then use the money from the sales tax to replenish the reserve fund. “The most important thing is that there is little if any burden to the taxpayers in Highland Beach,” he said.
    Commissioners have been discussing improvements to the 5-foot-wide walking path for years, after the town has continually patched cracks and made other temporary repairs.
    “We have to do something because there is so much deterioration in the asphalt,” Feldman said. “It’s not a safety issue yet, but it could become one.”
    Feldman said the streetscape committee will meet again this month before bringing a final proposal to town commissioners. If approved, the proposal would then be put before voters in March, since the town requires voter approval for spending above $350,000.
    If approved by voters, work on the project could begin as early as next summer.
    Should the proposal come before voters, town leaders would hold a series of informational meetings prior to the referendum.
    “We want to keep the public involved so they know what they’ll be getting,” Feldman said.

ABOVE: The initial mixed-use building is proposed to front on Federal Highway. BELOW: A later phase of the project is planned for the northeast section of the property. Renderings provided

By Mary Hladky

    Nearly two years after withdrawing plans for redeveloping Royal Palm Place, Investments Limited is back with new plans for two portions of the 14-acre site that would dramatically change the look of the longtime shopping and dining destination.
    The largest owner of commercial properties in downtown Boca Raton plans two buildings. If the city approves, the first one out of the ground will front Federal Highway between Southeast Second and Third streets. It will include 69 luxury rental units, 11,156 square feet of retail and restaurants, and parking for 301 cars, with construction starting next year.
    Shortly thereafter, Investments Limited plans to start work on a larger building on the northeast section of the property at the intersection of Southeast Mizner Boulevard and Southeast First Street. It would include 220 high-end rentals, 4,560 square feet of retail and restaurants and parking for 500 cars.
    Plans call for restaurants and retail to fill the first floor, parking masked from public view to be on the next floors and residential units to top the building.
    The city allows buildings as tall as 140 feet, with an extra 20 feet for architectural elements, in that part of downtown. Architect Doug Mummaw, of Mummaw and Associates, said heights would be varied in both buildings.
    The overall aim of the redevelopment is to transform Royal Palm Place, built in 1966, from the appearance of a suburban-style shopping center to an urban center that meets current demands of retail and restaurant tenants. It will include landscaped outdoor areas that adhere to the city’s requirement that 40 percent of the property be open space.
    “It is the first two steps to bringing Royal Palm Place from the 1960s to the 2020s,” said Robert Eisen, of Investment Limited’s legal department.
    “We are creating essentially a modern interpretation of Renaissance-style architecture in a vertical form,” Mummaw said. “Each building will have a unique personality.”
    Five architectural styles will be used.
    Investments Limited also is addressing Royal Palm Place’s well-known parking problem. Although it met the city parking code in 1966, the code has since been revised. When the site is completely redeveloped, it will meet current code and could have 1,600 spaces.
    Plans submitted to the city in June are for the second phase of redevelopment. The first phase came in 2006 when Investments Limited built a 185-unit luxury apartment building adjacent to the retail and dining area.
    Although Investments Limited plans to redevelop the entire site, Eisen could not yet say when it will submit additional phases to the city.
    Eventually, the Garden of Humanity will be expanded at the center of the site and an “entertainment district pedestrian promenade” lined with shops and restaurants will course through the south end of the property and could host special events. The Addison Mizner statue will remain.
    Investments Limited’s plans to redevelop Royal Palm Place in phases differs from its previous proposal to redo the entire property at once.
    The luxury rentals in the second building would be across Southeast Mizner Boulevard from the proposed Mizner 200 luxury condos.

Universal Electric of Florida employee Barry Bowman installs a permanent license plate recognition camera along A1A in Highland Beach on July 13. The scanners are an important way for the police to find stolen cars and catch up with people who have expired licenses or active warrants. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

    As town property values rise to a record high, Highland Beach residents are likely to see their tax rate drop for the third consecutive year.
    Town commissioners late last month set a maximum operating tax rate for the 2017-2018 fiscal year of $3.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value, the same rate as the current fiscal year.
    Commissioners, however, gave every indication they would lower the rate before determining a final number by the end of September.
    This year, property values in Highland Beach reached slightly more than $2.4 billion, exceeding a record $2.3 billion set in 2007, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office.
    During a special commission meeting last month, in which the public got its first glimpse of the proposed $13.8 million budget, Mayor Carl Feldman hinted that commissioners might consider dropping the tax rate to as low as $3.08 per $1,000 of assessed value.
    That rate, the rollback rate, would generate approximately the same amount of tax revenue as the current tax rate, plus an additional $180,000 brought in from new construction.   
    “If we go down to our rollback rate we can keep the town running smoothly,” Feldman said.
    Included in the tentative budget is a transfer of about $2.5 million from the town’s reserve funds for capital improvements, with the bulk of that money expected to pay for a proposed renovation to the town’s 3-mile walking path.
    Voters in a March referendum must first approve the spending for the improvements due to the town’s spending cap, which requires voter approval of any expenditure over $350,000.
    Feldman has proposed using an expected $200,000 per year from Palm Beach County’s 1-cent sales tax increase to replenish the reserves over 10 years.
    Other highlights of the proposed budget include a 5 percent salary increase for town employees based on performance and the addition of one police officer.
    During their meeting, commissioners praised town staff for coming up with a reasonable budget, with Vice Mayor Bill Weitz pointing out the town has reduced its tax rates while many others have opted for increases.
    “We’ve been very astute in coming up with reasonable budgets while maintaining quality services,” he said.
    The town has scheduled public hearings on the proposed budget for 5:01 p.m. Sept. 7 and Sept. 19.

By Mary Hladky

    Efforts to build a downtown parking garage are bolstered by a new study that finds Boca Raton needs more public parking.
    The peak demand area around Mizner Park needs 108 more parking spaces now, and that number will grow to as many as 150 by 2020, according to the study by Kimley-Horn and Associates. By 2040, as many as 350 more will be needed.
    Kimley-Horn collected parking data March 30-April 1 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Demand around Mizner Park was strongest from 2 to 9 p.m. on all three days.
    The 1,275 existing spaces downtown, stretching from Camino Real to Northeast Mizner Boulevard, are enough to meet demand since they are only 70 percent used, the study found.
    The problem is that those public spaces are not all located near where many people want to shop and dine, Kimley-Horn’s Chris Heggen told the City Council on July 24. So while vacant spaces are available, many people don’t want to park and walk several blocks to their destinations.
    Council member Scott Singer said he was concerned about reports that people unable to find public parking downtown go instead to other cities.
    Heggen said he too has heard those stories, but the study could not measure if that is happening.
    “We have all heard anecdotal stories of people coming downtown, not being able to park and leaving,” he said. “That is not what we want to happen.”
    Asked if ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft will reduce the need for downtown public parking, Heggen said that hasn’t happened yet. Even if ride sharing increases in the future, that doesn’t eliminate the need for more parking near-term.
    Heggen suggested that a new downtown parking garage be built in a way that it can be converted to another use if the need for parking decreases.
    The council is still mulling where to build a garage. While members initially considered city-owned land behind the downtown library north of City Hall, they now are leaning more toward a location east of Dixie Highway.
    Concerns about crossing Dixie Highway and the FEC railroad tracks will dissuade many people from parking on the city-owned property, Heggen said. That problem could be alleviated by a good shuttle service, he said.
    Kimley-Horn will conduct another study later this year so the city will have more robust data that take into account the opening of several downtown restaurants and more people moving in to new downtown residential units.
    Options Kimley-Horn outlined to alleviate present and future parking shortages include:
    • Acquiring 1.25 to 3.5 acres for a surface parking lot somewhere between Dixie Highway and Mizner Boulevard.
    • Acquiring a 1- to 2-acre parcel for a parking garage in the same area. The garage would cost $6.5 million to $10 million to build, not including land acquisition.
    • Using existing parking lots near downtown during off-peak times and providing shuttles to and from downtown.
    • Providing parking in the proposed new city government campus and using shuttles.

Workers tend to the outside and driveway of the new Customs Office in late July. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

    A new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility will soon be opening its doors at the Boca Raton Airport — just not as soon as expected.
    Members of the Boca Raton Airport Authority hoped to see the facility working this month, but issues with weather and personnel caused unanticipated delays.
    Now, airport officials hope to have the 47,000-square-foot center up and running in October.
    One reason for the delays, airport Executive Director Clara Bennett said, was turnover in contractor West Construction’s field supervisors during the construction process.
    “We now have a good project manager in place who is trying to make up lost time and minimize delay,” Bennett said.
    Airport tenants, including owners of corporate jets and a company that offers private charters, are eager to see the center open, but “most are just glad to see the work being done and they’re happy knowing that the center is coming,” she said.
    The new $4.3 million station will make it easier for air passengers coming from outside the country to clear Customs.
    Now, planes coming from outside the country planning to land at the Boca Raton Airport must first stop at an airport with a Customs facility, such as Palm Beach International Airport or Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
    Bennett says the new Boca Raton center will enhance convenience for air travelers coming in from overseas, improve safety and decrease fuel costs because it will eliminate an additional landing and takeoff.
    The benefits, however, will come at a cost to those using the center, which will be open Thursday through Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., considered the busiest times for international travelers at the airport.
    While Customs centers at Palm Beach International and Fort Lauderdale Executive airports are funded by taxpayers with no costs to arriving travelers, Boca Raton Airport’s center will be a user-fee center, with travelers paying for the service.
    The Airport Authority will pay the Customs and Border Protection Service to operate the center and will cover a variety of costs, including the salaries of assigned officers.
    To recoup the estimated annual operational costs of $244,000 for the first year and about $205,000 every year afterward, the airport developed a fee structure that will enable it to pay for the service in approximately five to six years.
    “Our ultimate goal is to break even,” said airport Deputy Director Scott Kohut.
    Under the proposed schedule, propeller planes will pay anywhere from $50 to $150 per aircraft, depending on the type of engine and the number of passengers.
    For jets, the range is anywhere from $225 to $425, based on the aircraft’s weight.
    Bennett thinks many users will be more than happy to pay to use the facility because of its convenient location and likely reduced wait times compared to other facilities.
    To help pilots and aircraft owners see the advantages firsthand, one authority member has proposed offering a 50 percent discount at the station for the first three months.
    “Once they use it, they may want to be here more often,” board member Jack Fox said during a recent Airport Authority meeting.
    Bennett said that’s a good idea, but she is checking to make sure there are no federal or state regulations prohibiting the discount.

Proponents of a park for the beachfront parcel are happy to see plans being offered, but some critics think this plan proposes too many options. Rendering provided by the City of Boca Raton

By Steve Plunkett

    The verdict for the latest proposal to develop Ocean Strand: Too much.
    “My impression is we’re trying to be too many things to too many people,” Steve Engel, vice chairman of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District, said after seeing a consultant’s concept for the vacant beachfront parcel.
    “It’s got to be very passive. It cannot be intense,” District Commissioner Craig Ehrnst said.
    The reactions came as Kona Gray, of architecture and planning consultant EDSA Inc., presented a plan July 17 for the nearly 15-acre parcel that included docks, a lookout pavilion, restrooms, trails, a playground, a drop-off area for the beach and educational treehouses.
    Ocean Strand “is really a place that sort of lends itself toward something eco-friendly, very natural,” Gray said. “That connection to the environment is very rare. A lot of people are missing that right now.”
    Gray said the concept his firm developed was just an idea and he wanted commissioners and members of the public to suggest improvements. At a meeting at the downtown library the week before, people said the proposed development seemed too intense at the Intracoastal Waterway and too close to single-family homes to the north. They also wanted only nonmotorized vessels at the dock, botanical gardens and someplace to eat, Gray said.
    EDSA is in the midst of developing a comprehensive plan for Boca Raton’s waterfront parks. In May Gray suggested a restaurant at Ocean Strand like Guanabanas in Jupiter, which once was interested in building a sister site at the city’s Wildflower property.
    “That is not necessary here. We could do something way scaled down, that’s just offering some hot dogs, hamburgers or something more healthy so that when you come and you have your kids and you want to stay a little bit longer, you don’t have to leave,” Gray said.
    The crowd in the commission chamber, mostly neighbors from just north and south of the site, would have none of it.
    “We definitely don’t want to have any restaurants,” said Andrea Stekloff, who lives in Boca Towers directly south. “We don’t want the noise from the band like Guanabanas, we don’t need any smelly food cooking, any rowdy bars, any boat dockage and valet parking and music until 2 a.m.”
    Stekloff said the Intracoastal side of Red Reef Park could be the model.
    “You have one little gazebo, one little grill so one little family, whoever gets there first, gets it, and you don’t have 5 million people cooking,” she said.
    Commissioner Erin Wright agreed.
    “I would prefer actually no restaurant or food. I don’t think it’s necessary,” Wright said. “Love all the walking trails and back-to-nature type of things.”
    Sharon Picker, also a Boca Towers resident, compared the parcel to the world’s rainforests.
    “If you just put pathways to walk through and a couple of other things and make it accessible to the public to just see its awesomeness and its natural state, that might be enough,” Picker said.
    Gray said because the proposal is only at the conceptual level, his colleagues didn’t really anticipate a hard number of parking spaces at the site.
    “From what we’re hearing, we shouldn’t have more than 10 spaces,” he said.
    Engel also said Ocean Strand does not need a playground.
    “I want to see something where the development is limited, where the accent is really on the flora and fauna … almost a nature preserve, and make it congruent with what’s going on at Gumbo Limbo so that one almost is an extension of the other,” Engel said.
    Commission Chairman Robert Rollins said any talk of developing Ocean Strand starts with a concept.
    “You have to have some design in order to move forward, and the conversations that we’ve had here tonight I think will be invaluable when it comes down to our discussion at this commission what we wish to do with our park,” Rollins said. “I can almost assure you, it’ll be a very passive park. As someone said, [Gray’s proposal is] a little too busy.”
    District commissioners agreed to give the city $50,000 to start developing a master plan for Gumbo Limbo. The city wants an additional $200,000 in the coming budget year to complete the plan.
    EDSA and another consultant, Cambridge 7 Associates, will do the work.

Critics have complained that Mizner 200 is too large and would obstruct sunlight and views for adjacent buildings. Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

    Boca Raton City Council members have demanded yet another redesign of the proposed Mizner 200 luxury condominium, giving developer Elad National Properties one month to complete the task before they reconsider the project Aug. 21.
    Council members, sitting as Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners at a July 24 meeting, praised the design of the project, which would replace the 246 Mizner on the Green townhouses on nearly 9 acres along Southeast Mizner Boulevard.
    But four council members said they want more design tweaks before they will give the project their blessing. Only one, Robert Weinroth, said he was ready to vote in favor of it.
    “I personally feel this is a project that has come to the point it deserves to be embraced by the city,” Weinroth said.
    Other council members recognized that Mizner 200 has been redesigned four times in an effort to win support of vocal critics who contend it is too massive. Even so, they want more space between three sections of the project to open up views toward the ocean, more landscaping along Southeast Mizner Boulevard, and developer meetings with critics in an effort to win them over.
    “I think we are on our way. I think this is going to happen,” said council member Andrea O’Rourke, who then added, “It is important we reach out to the people concerned. Please get with the neighbors.”
    “I don’t feel we are all the way there,” said Mayor Susan Haynie.
    Elad chief executive Amnon Safran contended his team has met with critics, to little avail.
    “We negotiated for a year and a half with everybody. They would never agree to anything,” he said.
    Elad is unwilling to start over on the design, Safran said, noting that the developer and architects GarciaStromberg/GS4Studios already have cut the size of the proposed 384-unit condo by 60,000 square feet to decrease its density.
    Other changes included increased setbacks, additional green space, varied roof heights and increasing the distance between the project and the neighboring Townsend Place condominiums.
    After a brief huddle between the Elad team and city staff, Elad agreed to meet again with critics and make additional changes.
    “As quickly as we can, we will reach out to interested parties and talk to them about our ideas,” said Elad attorney Bonnie Miskel.
    Within days of the meeting, architects for Mizner 200 and architects hired by project critics were working to make design changes acceptable to all by the first week of August to meet a city deadline to place the project on the Aug. 21 agenda.
The changes will be presented to two city consultants for their review before going to the City Council.
    The strongest criticism has come from Townsend Place unit owners, who complain Mizner 200 will block their eastward views and sunlight, reducing their property values.
    “The residents of Townsend Place are against this project in its present form,” said Townsend Place president Craig Sherman. “We are not against development.”
    Investments Limited, a prominent city developer which is planning a makeover of its Royal Palm Place shopping and dining destination on the west side of Southeast Mizner Boulevard, joined them.
    The views from Royal Palm Place, whose residential component would compete with Mizner 200, also would be partially blocked and its representatives contend the condo project does not comply with the city’s architectural guidelines.
    Architects Doug Mummaw, who has designed several downtown projects, and Derek Vander Ploeg, who is on the Downtown Boca Raton Advisory Committee, and former Boca Raton CRA executive director Jorge Camejo support Investment Limited’s objections.
    The meeting was punctuated by the spectacle of Mizner 200 attorney Robert Sweetapple employing a little-used procedure that allowed him to cross-examine some of those who spoke against the project.
    Sweetapple questioned other attorneys in sometimes testy exchanges.
    “I felt I got to witness Law and Order, Boca Raton edition tonight,” quipped Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers, referencing the TV show.
    Sweetapple’s intent, in part, appeared to be to show that some opponents had been recruited to the cause by Investments Limited, which had paid at least one of the opponents to review the project.
    Elad has struggled for three years to get approval to begin construction. The tide began turning in its favor this year when two city consultants reviewed plans for Mizner 200 and determined it complies with the city ordinance that governs downtown development.
    In May, the Community Appearance Board and Planning and Zoning Board voted in favor of it. City staff also has recommended that the City Council approve it.
    At nine stories, Mizner 200 meets the building height limit for that part of downtown. It also meets the city’s requirements for setbacks, parking and open space. It incorporates a reinterpretation of design elements that appear in architect Addison Mizner’s signature buildings.
    The building has supporters, including a number of downtown residents who would love to see the old Mizner on the Green rental units replaced with a more visually appealing project.
    The City Council has been lobbied intensely on the project. At the start of the meeting, Weinroth and Haynie held up thick binders filled with emails they have received.
    Regardless of whether the council gives the project the go-ahead or nixes it, a court battle is likely to follow. Elad’s legal team now includes Sweetapple, a well-known litigator.
    BocaBeautiful, a citizens group that opposes the project, and two residents of Townsend Place also have hired attorneys.

By Sallie James

    Driving an electric car makes sense in so many ways: no gasoline costs, no toxic emissions, and one of the quietest rides around. But access to a charging station is essential if the battery runs low.
    For Boca Raton residents, that worry may soon be a thing of the past.
    In the spirit of “going green,” council members recently proposed that new multifamily dwellings such as apartments and condominiums put chargers in their parking lots.
    The proposal comes after the city recently installed two new stations at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road, and one at the Spanish River Library, at 1501 NW Spanish River Blvd. Each can recharge two vehicles at a time, enabling users to top off their cars within hours while visiting the libraries or downtown.
    The first EV charging station was installed in October 2015 at the Downtown Library.
    “The hope is that the stations are an added benefit and that they support and encourage drivers of electric vehicles,” said Dan Grippo, municipal services director for Boca Raton.
    The Boca Raton City Council recently passed a resolution adopting a climate action pledge and is continuing its efforts to integrate “green” actions within the framework of the Regional Climate Action Plan.
    “We hope that more commercial businesses will follow our lead and start installing stations as well,” said Mayor Susan Haynie. “Transportation models are changing and electric vehicles are a big part of that change; we all need to do our part.”

ABOVE: The ultra-modern four-story duplex could feature wide open glass exposure on the beach side. BELOW: The side facing A1A would have access to the four-car garage. Renderings provided

By Steve Plunkett

    A volunteer group led by a barrier island resident is mounting a last-ditch effort to stop construction of a four-story duplex on the beach between Spanish River Park and Ocean Strand — the second project planned in the area.
    Boca Save Our Beaches opposes the 14,270-square-foot project planned for the east side of A1A at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. The proposal is hurtling toward a City Council showdown perhaps as soon as October.
    In late July, group founder Jessica Gray opened an online fundraising campaign with a goal of $5,000.
    “Once our beaches are gone, we cannot get them back,” she wrote on the GoFundMe.com website.
    Gray’s group also collects PayPal donations via a link on www.bocasob.com, its main webpage. So far the group has about $4,000, she said.
    The group equally opposes a 10,432-square-foot house proposed for a parcel two lots south, at 2500 N. Ocean Blvd. That project sparked Gray to form Boca Save Our Beaches in December 2015, right after the City Council granted a zoning variance allowing the single-family mansion to be built on a parcel less than 100 feet wide. Gray and other furious residents complained that the structure  would change the face of the beach, disorient nesting sea turtles and set a precedent for more development.
    The proposed duplex site is wide enough not to need a zoning variance, but both sites will need the council to grant a variance for building seaward of Florida’s restrictive Coastal Construction Control Line.
    The state issued 2500 N. Ocean a “notice to proceed” in October, ruling that the project would not “weaken, damage or destroy the integrity of the beach and dune system.”
    Boca Raton’s procedure for granting a CCCL variance is separate from the state’s.
    “Neither project is currently scheduled for Environmental Advisory Board or City Council review,” city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson said.
    But the city sent coastal engineering consultant Applied Technology Management Inc. the 2600 N. Ocean duplex’s applications for the CCCL variance and EAB review on June 26, Gibson said. It has until Aug. 8 to return its recommendation.
    ATM’s review must be put on the environmental board agenda within the following 30 days, and the board’s recommendation must go to the City Council 30 days later.
    Gibson said paperwork for the CCCL variance and EAB applications at 2500 N. Ocean has not been sent to the consultant yet because the applicant has not provided an updated environmental assessment.
    Each side of the planned duplex will have four bedrooms, five full baths, one half-bath, a glass elevator and a four-car garage, according to Delray Beach-based Azure Development, which is marketing the site. It will also boast a 40-foot boardwalk and a rooftop swimming pool. No price has been set, Richard Caster, an Azure principal, said.
    Gray, 31, moved to east Boca Raton in 2004 to attend Florida Atlantic University and fell in love with the area. She moved to the barrier island four years ago.
    “I’m right in front of these two properties,” she said.
    She and the group’s two other directors sponsor events to create awareness and raise money. Attendance varies from 50 to 140, she said.
    The mission of the group is clear on its Instagram page: “Boca Save our Beaches was organized in Boca Raton, Fla., with one purpose: to save our beaches from coastal construction.”

By Sallie James

  Property taxes will hold the line if city officials approve the proposed tax rate for 2017-2018.
  However, residents could be asked to pay $125 for the city’s fire services fee, up from the current $105.
  City Manager Leif Ahnell proposed a tax rate of $3.6788 per $1,000 of assessed property value at the July 25 council meeting. The rate is slightly lower than last year’s rate of $3.6789.
  Under the proposed tax rate, the owner of a $300,000 single-family home would pay about $1,103 in municipal property taxes, slightly less than a year ago.
  Council member Robert Weinroth expressed concern about the proposed increase in the fire fee.
  “I’m just concerned with the trajectory of this fee,” he said. “I think we increased it by $20 last year and this would be another $20 increase. Where are we headed with this kind of fee going forward?”
  Ahnell said the fire fee hikes are due to increased costs and planned Fire Rescue Services Department expansion, a dynamic that could continue to be a factor in coming years.
  “I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s not going to go up in the future,” Ahnell said.
  Residents will have a chance to ask questions about the budget at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 during a public budget hearing at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road.

By Sallie James

    The Boca Raton City Council July 25 introduced an ordinance that would ban the practice of allowing private individuals or entities to place “unattended, expressive installations, displays, exhibits and similar objects” in Sanborn Square during the winter holiday season.
    Chalk up the proposal as a win for at least one Palm Beach County resident.
    “I think religion poisons everything,” said Preston Smith, a middle school teacher from Lantana and self-proclaimed atheistic satanist. He erected a controversial pentagram display at Sanborn Square last year and is happy the city may soon ban the practice. “Let the community decide how much they want to mix religion in government property.”
    Smith erected the pentagram and a banner disavowing the existence of heaven and hell in December and wasn’t surprised when it was vandalized eight times. He wanted to let others know that atheists in the community have the same right to make a statement as Christians, Jews and any other religious groups.
    The pentagram display was erected under the protections of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of religion and speech. The city has allowed religious groups to set up seasonal displays such as a Nativity scene and a menorah in the park, at 72 N. Federal Highway, since 1990.
    Preston thinks the practice becomes problematic when someone erects a display that doesn’t mesh with what most people think is acceptable, which is what happened with his pentagram display.
    “It’s not my place to decide what the city wants, but I intend to put up the satanic display for years to come as long as other religious displays are allowed. That is not a bluff, not a threat, but that is equal rights for all,” Smith said. “The Supreme Court has been clear if you allow one you better be ready for anything.”
    The proposed ordinance, which will be voted on at a later date, says the city “does not intend to limit other forms of expressive activity” within Sanborn Square, including protests, rallies, speeches and the carrying of banners or other similar types of messages.
    Smith said he would consider it a “win” if the city approves the proposed ordinance.
    “That is strict adherence to the separation of the church and the state,” he said. “That is my ultimate goal. But if they have a city-owned Nativity and menorah, they can expect a lawsuit from me and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, whose attorneys have indicated they will fight.”

By Steve Plunkett
    
    The short era of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District’s rubber-stamping the city’s proposed parks budget appears to be over.
    Craig Ehrnst, one of the district’s new commissioners, led the first assault. The city wants $16.9 million in the coming year to operate and maintain district parks and Boca Raton’s Red Reef Park and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, up from $15.6 million it expects to spend this year.
    “We can’t give them a blank check,” said Ehrnst, who is corporate treasurer at NCCI Holdings Inc. and ran for a district seat last year in part on a pledge to boost cooperation between the district and the city. “That, to me, is an unrealistic budget, and it’s also to me not a very good stewardship of taxpayer money.”
    Ehrnst complained that some items that would lower the budget request were missing, such as the installation next April of artificial turf at Patch Reef Park, which should lower maintenance costs. He also said Mickey Gomez, the city’s recreation services director, should be at the district meeting to explain the budget request.
    Commission Chairman Robert Rollins said Gomez usually attends the district’s budget discussions.
    “I have to tell you, it gets pretty hot at these meetings, because there’s not always agreement with the budget,” Rollins said.
    Gomez was on vacation and missed the district’s subsequent meeting July 26. That did not deter Ehrnst, who noted the city’s operating budget was $13 million in fiscal 2014, $13.4 million in 2015 and $14.6 million in 2016.
    Ehrnst called the $16.9 million request “unrealistic” and suggested giving the city $16 million.
    “Last year the approved [amount] was $16.3 million but they never spent it. They’re not even close to spending it,” he said. “So $16 million gives them enough, assumes they spend the same as they did this year and gives them another $400,000-plus increase for inflation, whatever it is.”
    Rollins embraced Ehrnst’s approach.
    “I like it better than trying to go through it each individual park,” he said. “I think there’s still some fluff in there.”
    Rollins emphasized he has no complaints about how city workers do their jobs.
    “The parks are in as good a condition as I’ve ever seen them with the number that we’re paying them to do this project,” he said. “I’ve never been happier.”
    Commissioners decided to set a tentative rate for property taxes of 91.47 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. They will have more budget discussions on Aug. 9, 14 and 30. Public hearings will take place in September.
    Last year, in the heat of the election season, commissioners approved the city’s budget request in full with little comment. In earlier years they insisted that Gomez postpone some purchases and hold the line on other items.

By Emily J. Minor

    BOCA RATON — Dr. Samuel S. Stephenson III, who picked up his wife and two small children in 1968 to move to Florida and help lead a fairly new college called Florida Atlantic University, died June 21 in hospice care. He was 93.
Born in Manhattan in New York on April 18, 1924, Dr. Stephenson would go on to fall in love with both engineering and teaching. He first attended Manhattan College and then the Stevens Institute of Technology in nearby Hoboken, N.J.
    Eventually, he earned a doctorate of engineering from New York University and taught for many years at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island.
    In 1965 while walking along the street in New York City, he would reunite with the woman who would become his wife, Jeanne Godfrey Stephenson. The two met years earlier during their families’ annual summer beach vacations in Madison, Conn.
    “And that was that,” said their daughter, Karlen Stephenson. “They were 6 years old when they met.”
    The couple eloped in Manhattan in April 1966. They were both in their 40s at the time, and neither had been married before, their daughter said.
    Two years later, they uprooted their young family and moved to Florida when a colleague invited Dr. Stephenson to join the leadership faculty at FAU.
    The couple bought one of the first lots in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club. Mrs. Stephenson wanted their new home away from the water, because of their young children, and near the guard gate, because her husband often traveled, said their son, Sam Stephenson of Boca Raton.
    In Boca Raton, Dr. Stephenson quickly immersed himself in scholastic and community circles.
    A boater at heart, he served for 20 years with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 36, teaching boating and sailing for many years.
    “He loved that,” Sam Stephenson said. “He loved teaching, and his students loved him.”
    In 2004, he retired from FAU as a professor emeritus after 35 years. Through those years, he was a business and IT consultant to many major corporations, including PepsiCo Inc., said his children.
    Always laid back and looking at life with a positive attitude, Dr. Stephenson was stricken with aggressive cancer three times in his life, first with carotid cancer at the age of 18. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in 1986. Again, he survived.
Dr. Stephenson was diagnosed with bladder cancer in his early 80s. He lived cancer free until it returned and eventually contributed to his death, his daughter said.
    “I honestly think the reason he was able to live so long was that he didn’t worry about things,” she said. “He was so laid back.”
    He was also thoughtful, even bringing the bank drive-thru tellers chocolates at Christmas time, she said.
    And he served on the board of directors of the Habilitation Center for the Handicapped in Boca Raton for more than 10 years.
    “He always found the good in whatever was,” said his son.
    Dr. Stephenson was buried July 1 at Boca Raton Cemetery alongside his wife, who died March 6, 2006. In addition to his children, he is survived by a daughter-in-law, Kirsten, and his six grandchildren.

Construction crew members plan for the demolition of several buildings in the Plaza del Mar shopping center

to make room for construction of a Publix grocery. Businesses in the mall will remain open

during the projected year-long process.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

    Demolition has begun to make way for a Publix supermarket at Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar after the mall’s landlord cleared the last two obstacles to the $10 million renovation project in June.
    For one, town commissioners ended seven months of negotiation with Publix and Kitson & Partners over the store’s sign design in finally approving 3-foot white lettering with backlighting for the marquee space above the front entrance.
    “We have ourselves a sign,” said a smiling Mayor Keith Waters after com-missioners’ unanimous vote on June 13.
    The other obstacle to fall was a civil suit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court that sought to block the supermarket’s construction. Lantana resident Barbara Federico and homeowners from Manalapan’s La Coquille Villas had accused town officials of procedural errors and failing to follow their own building rules.
    Federico also objected to the size of the supermarket — 25,000 square feet — and its potential negative impact on traffic. La Coquille residents complained the store wasn’t in keeping with Manalapan’s “unique ambiance.” But the plaintiffs decided to withdraw their lawsuit before the case made it to the courtroom, ending a legal fight that could have stalled the project for months.
    Matt Buehler, Kitson’s retail vice president, said construction of the Publix, as well as a facelift for the adjoining stores and parking lot, will take about a year to complete. The target date for the supermarket’s opening is June 8, several months later than Kitson and Publix had wanted.
    The approved sign design will share similarities with signs across the street at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa and will be restricted to the same level of illumination. Two monument signs marking the plaza entrances will not have the words “Food and Pharmacy” as Publix had wanted.
    Illumination of the store’s main sign is restricted roughly to business hours from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
    “When the store is closed, we’d like that light to go off,” Waters said.

By Steve Plunkett
    
    Is the town’s barrel of litigation half-empty or half-full?
    Resident Chris O’Hare, who inundated Gulf Stream with expansive requests for public records, then sued the town when it did not quickly respond, in mid-June notified judges he was withdrawing the lawsuits he had filed.
    O’Hare’s lawyer filed the motions the same way O’Hare asked for public records — in batches, three on one day, six on another, 15 on another.
    The filings came after O’Hare and Gulf Stream agreed June 9 to settle all legal differences.
    “This was a total attack on any government as we know it, any legal system as we know it,” said Robert Sweetapple, Gulf Stream’s outside lawyer.
    The lingering question is when — and whether — resident Martin O’Boyle and the town will settle similar cases he filed; O’Boyle and Gulf Stream have at least 10 actions pending.
    Mayor Scott Morgan, who ran for office promising to mount an aggressive defense against O’Hare’s and O’Boyle’s lawsuits, was elated with the settlement.
    “This essentially brings to a conclusion nearly four years of public records abuse and litigation from Mr. O’Hare. It is a testament to the determination of this town not to voluntarily pay out in response to extortion demands,” Morgan said.
    O’Hare said he worked closely with Morgan and others over several weeks and together reached “a balanced and equitable settlement.”
    “The town is a much different place now than it was when this all started,” O’Hare said. “The town’s new, once nonexistent Records Department is first-rate and the new town manager and police chief are a welcome change.”
    If O’Boyle agrees to settle, the mayor said he would call a special meeting of the Town Commission to endorse the document.
    In all, the release O’Hare and the town signed calls for the dismissal of 36 lawsuits and appeals O’Hare filed and the withdrawal of all requests for public records.
    Neither side will pay the other’s legal expenses. There is a clause preventing O’Hare from winning legal fees in future disputes.
    “What that would do would be to de-incentivize any further litigation over public records. There would be no fee entitlement based on this waiver,” Sweetapple said.
    The settlement also requires O’Hare to pay a $250 “facilitation fee” if he ever decides to make another public records request. Failure to pay the fee “will conclusively render such public records request withdrawn,” the release says.
    The O’Hare and O’Boyle saga has included demands for hundreds of documents and caused Gulf Stream to hire extra workers, upgrade its computer software and raise property taxes 40 percent.
    Gulf Stream maintained that O’Hare filed wide-ranging requests in hopes that the town could not timely respond and thus run afoul of the state’s public records law. In one case last month, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull III found that O’Hare “intended to harass and intimidate the town’s employees to generate litigation and fees with ‘gotcha’ type requests.”
    O’Hare began asking Gulf Stream for public records in 2013. From late August through December that year, he made more than 400 requests, Sweetapple said. Together, he and O’Boyle have filed more than 2,000 requests and dozens of lawsuits.
    In comparison Boca Raton, with more than 100 times the population of Gulf Stream, handled 2,263 requests for public records in 2016.
    An example of the cases being dismissed is one in which O’Hare on Sept. 29, 2013, asked for “Any photos of the Gulf Stream property of Anthony Pugliese in the town’s public record.” The town said it would review his request “within the next three business days” and “will promptly send you the appropriate response or an estimated cost to respond.”
    O’Hare filed suit 66 days after making his request. Pugliese, a developer, lives in an oceanfront mansion valued at more than $30 million. The property appraiser’s office labels the address a “confidential record.”