The new BocaConnect area (in green) provides people on the barrier island access to downtown (red) and from there to within the existing service area (blue). Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

BocaConnect, the electric vehicle shuttle service operated by Circuit Transit, has expanded to the barrier island.

Boca Raton City Council members approved the enlarged service area on Feb. 11, and service started on Feb. 24, after barrier island residents pressed them to make the shuttle available to them.

When launched on June 17, the service area ran from Glades Road to the south city limits, and from Interstate 95 to Fifth Avenue/Royal Palm Way. Now, the area will encompass the barrier island from South Inlet Park to just north of the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.

The city is currently paying Circuit Transit, which operates in many South Florida cities, $491,724 a year. The expansion will cost an additional $190,692.

The on-demand service is intended to make it easier for people to get around the downtown and adjacent areas without driving their cars, thereby reducing congestion.

Rides must start or end within the downtown. Rides between downtown locations are free. The downtown includes the Federal Highway corridor, Downtown Library, Brightline station and Wildflower and Silver Palm parks.

Rides that start or end within the service areas but outside the downtown cost $2. Each additional rider costs $1, with a fare cap of $5.

People cannot use the service to travel only within the barrier island, or between the barrier island and another service area outside the downtown area.

The city’s contract with Circuit Transit specifies that wait times can be no longer than 10 minutes. But that rule has been loosened for the barrier island service because Circuit Transit has no control over the opening and closing of the Palmetto Park Road bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway.

Ridership has gradually increased since the service was launched. During July, the first full month of service, 1,409 passengers used BocaConnect. That number rose to 2,456 in January.

Hours of service are Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

To book rides, download the Circuit app, available on both iOS and Android platforms,  and type in the pickup address and destination. Riders are updated on when the shuttle will arrive. 

By Mary Hladky

Now that The Center for Arts and Innovation will not be built on city-owned Mizner Park land, Boca Raton City Council members can no longer push aside the fact that the city’s amphitheater there needs an overhaul.

TCAI planned to incorporate the amphitheater’s functions into its proposed performing arts complex’s main venue. With that in the works, city officials could forgo major renovations.

But now, the aging amphitheater’s condition looms as a problem that needs to be addressed.

Before the deal with TCAI tanked, city officials had decided the roof needed to be replaced. That work is scheduled to start soon.

But in a Jan. 27 meeting, Council member Fran Nachlas asked City Manager George Brown what more needed to be done.

Citing the age of the building completed in 2002, Brown said the city should take a serious look at capital improvements. He proposed hiring a consultant that has experience with amphitheaters to outline options.

The main question is: “Should we invest some of the dollars we have in capital money to improve the amphitheater now that we know it will be ours for the time to come,” he said.

Among the matters that should be explored are whether the building should have a retractable roof to protect the public from the elements and whether the backstage facilities are adequate and attractive to entertainment groups, he said.

Council members endorsed Brown’s idea, with Mayor Scott Singer asking that the analysis be done soon so the cost can be included in next fiscal year’s budget.

Singer asked whether the cost would be “in the seven figures.” Brown agreed that an amount of under $10 million probably is what is needed.

While the TCAI planning was proceeding, “We have been putting a lot of Band-Aids on stuff and deferring a lot of serious maintenance and serious thinking …,” said Council member Marc Wigder.

But at this point, forgoing investment in the amphitheater is not an option, council members said. 

“The programming keeps getting better and better. The attendance has been getting better and better,” said Deputy Mayor Yvette Drucker. “That means the community has an appetite for that area of town. Our goal is to bring more people into Boca.”

So when it comes to improving the amphitheater, “I am all for it,” she said. 

Effort to influence city’s planning hits wall, so far

Conceptual ideas for a redesigned East Palmetto Park Road call for a reduction to two travel lanes that could become three to allow for emergency vehicles and evacuations, wide sidewalks and crosswalks, and many shade trees. Rendering provided

By Mary Hladky

Although they have been rebuffed so far in their effort to be part of planning to transform East Palmetto Park Road into an iconic Main Street, members of Workshop 344+ are not giving up.

Prominent architect Juan Caycedo has created a video that shows the group’s vision of what the road could be that invokes original city architect Addison Mizner’s ambitions for Boca Raton.

It pans from Palmetto Park Road as it exists today to what the group believes it could become with wide sidewalks, shade trees, flowers, trellises and generous pavered crosswalks. The current roadway does not fare well in the comparison.

The video notes that six people died on the road from 2018 to 2024, and 466 were injured.

Amy Lang, a former member of the Citizens’ Pedestrian and Bikeway Advisory Board, appears on the video to say that the road needs to prioritize pedestrians.

“We want to make it a place you want to meander through,” she says. “Getting from Point A to Point B isn’t really the point. It is enjoying the journey between Point A and Point B.”

Workshop 344+, which reflects the 344 acres in the core downtown area, was formed three years ago by then-Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke and 14 other influential residents, including Caycedo and land use attorney Ele Zachariades, to champion improving a five-block section of East Palmetto Park Road between Federal Highway and Northeast Fifth Avenue.

That’s still their focus, although they would like to see improvements expanded farther east and west.

Beyond Palmetto Park Road, the group emphasizes walkability, connectivity and placemaking throughout the downtown.

At O’Rourke’s urging when she served on the council, the city hired a consultant, Alta Planning + Design, to reimagine the road. 

But when Alta presented three options on Nov. 18, City Council members sidestepped a decision on which they preferred and instead said the matter needed more study.

Unimpressed with Alta’s ideas, 344+ members are on the move. They have presented the video to the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations and the City Council, and plan to do the same to the Chamber of Commerce and other civic groups.

They also have a website and will be using social media in hopes of creating a groundswell of support for their ideas.

And they have reached out to Alta, which shared with them data the firm had gathered that they have incorporated into their ideas.

But they are not content to cede the ground to Alta.

“We just don’t think Alta has a creative plan,” O’Rourke said.

She is heartened, however, by one recent development. The city has hired as a consultant noted urban planner Jeff Speck, author of the book Walkable City and widely considered the guru for creating such places.

Whether 344+ will be able to influence the city’s planning is an open question. But its members have their work cut out for them.

Council members said nothing after O’Rourke presented in November.

On Feb. 10, she asked council members to invite 344+ to participate in future planning after she showed them the video.

“We have tremendous added value and years of experience and nothing personal to gain,” she said after outlining the credentials of 344+ group members. “We are not sure why you wouldn’t champion community participation and involvement.”

She was greeted with silence.

Vincent Denchy, who has lived with his wife on Hypoluxo Island since 1974, holds a patch from his 24-year tenure with the crash rescue team that served Palm Beach International Airport. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Vincent Denchy doesn’t have any racy stories to tell, but after more than 50 years on Lantana’s Hypoluxo Island, he is a part of its lore.

Denchy, 91, and his wife, Arleen, moved to the island in 1974, built and lived in a house on Oyster Lane for three years, then built a house on Lands End Road where they still reside. “When we moved here, there were only three houses on our street,” Denchy said. “Lots were $25,000, and the ones across the street on the (Intracoastal Waterway) were $45,000. Imagine that today.” Single-family homes on the same street are priced in the millions today.

When the Denchys moved in, a physical barrier blocked access from Hypoluxo Island to Point Manalapan, which didn’t open for development until later.

“When we went to the store to get building materials we’d tell the people we were on the wrong side of the gate, and we still feel that way,” he said.

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in New Jersey, Denchy met Arleen at Walt’s hot dog stand in Linden, New Jersey. The two wed in 1959 and have been married 65 years.

If Denchy has had a brush with fame it was when he was stationed in Bermuda in the Air Force. His girlfriend was the daughter of author Irving Stone, whose books included The Agony and the Ecstasy, and her best friend was actress Marlo Thomas.

His retirement was fairly active until recently. Always good with his hands, he earned his journeyman’s license to become an electrician while also making wooden bowls that he would sell at Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach.

For many years he was an active cyclist who would join the packs riding up and down State Road A1A, but now Denchy has traded in his bike for a pair of reading glasses while sharing life with Arleen.

During his life, he says, he would help people whom he didn’t know.

“I would give my neighbors a hand if they needed it. When we first moved here there was a town dump that has since been transformed into the park next to The Carlisle. A bunch of us got together and I would put up fences. I would build owl houses and bat houses for the nature preserve. They’re asking for help over there now and I would, but I can’t do that anymore,” Denchy said.

He and his wife always had dogs — poodles, collies, Westies — but don’t feel they can take care of them anymore. The neighbors will tell you that the Denchys’ fondness for animals is still evident and that they keep doggie treats on hand for people who come by with four-legged friends in tow.

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I was born in Pennsylvania but when I was 3 my family moved to Roselle, New Jersey. I went to Abraham Clark High School, and later we moved over to Scotch Plains, which was nearby and was a farming community. My family in Pennsylvania was working in the coal mines, including my father, who later became a maintenance man. He was very good with his hands, and I would go with him on jobs and learned how to work with my hands as well.
I went to Upsala College and accumulated 43 credits before I decided it wasn’t for me and later went to trade school for air conditioning. I also spent four years in the Air Force. I joined up to see the world, put in for the Far East and Europe, and never got farther than Bermuda. I was mostly in the States, which I found frustrating, but you go where you’re sent.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: I was a lineman for Public Service Electric and Gas in New Jersey for 18 years. That was before the time they had bucket trucks, so we would climb the poles with hooks on our boots. I remember when they got the first bucket truck and we were like, “Oh my God, look at that.” That was like driving a Cadillac. I left for Florida two weeks before I got my pension and never did get it.
When we came down to Florida in the early ’70s I got a job for another 24 years on the crash rescue squad at the West Palm Beach airport. We were the firefighters on the scene if and when an airliner crashed. Nothing big ever happened at PBI, but there were a couple of fatal crashes with small planes at Lantana Airport and I was first on the scene.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Go to college. And if not, go to a trade school. And give your cellphone to your mother and have her lock it away.

Q: How did you choose to make your home on Hypoluxo Island?
A: We bought a fourplex on Broadway in Lantana when we moved to Florida in the early ’70s and my cousin was living over here. We lived in one unit and rented out the other three for three years and used the money to build a house on Oyster Lane. So, we lived there for three years while we were building this house.
My cousin told us to be prepared to be disliked by people over on the mainland because they perceived us as being more affluent. Some of that still exists. When we came here it was quaint; the island was known as Mosquito Island years ago and I understand the Army would bring troops down here to prepare them for fighting in the jungle.

Q: What is your favorite part about living on Hypoluxo Island?
A: It’s a nice place, and it used to be nicer. I have problems with the traffic — the people who come through here think this is an airport runway — but it’s quiet and the people who live around us are very nice.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: Walk In My Combat Boots, by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. It’s several stories about soldiers who served in combat from Vietnam to Afghanistan. I really enjoy reading the war stories.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I don’t listen to music anymore. I have otosclerosis in my ear. I started losing my hearing way back when I was in my late 20s from working on airplane engines. I used to like country-western music when I was in the service. But the rock ’n’ roll stuff is all garbage.

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: My father and Arleen’s father. It was actually my stepfather; my mother got divorced when I was about 3. But I remember my father stopping in the pouring rain to help some nuns whose car was on the side of the road and helped them get going again. That’s the kind of man he was, and he passed that down to me.

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: Robert Redford made a lot of good movies, so I would say him.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: Tom and Jerry. We used to go to the drive-in movies and the first hour would be cartoons and I got a big kick out of Tom and Jerry. We both liked Jerry Lewis, too.

With Boca Raton’s centennial celebrations already in full swing, the Boca Raton Historical Society is joining the party.

It has created a glossy coffee-table book titled Dream City: A Pictorial History of Boca Raton that chronicles the city’s evolution over the past 100 years since its incorporation, starting with architect Addison Mizner’s vision for the city.

“We wanted to create more than just a history book — we wanted to tell the story of Boca Raton through the voices, images and moments that have shaped our community,” said Mary Csar, the society’s executive director. “Dream City is a reflection of our city’s evolution and the people who have made it what it is today.”

The book, priced at $100, can be purchased at the society’s Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum gift shop at 71 N. Federal Highway, at www.bocahistory.org and at www.boca100.com.

A book signing was held on Feb. 20 at the history museum where guests could meet author and museum curator Susan Gillis.

In addition, the history museum will present 1925!, a new exhibit about the city’s founding, from July 2 to Dec. 20.

More information is available at www.bocahistory.org

— Mary Hladky

By Charles Elmore

Delray Beach is requiring new signs on private parking lots within six months to combat what a staff report calls “numerous, ongoing reports of non-transparent and sometimes predatory practices employed by certain operators.”

The action approved 5-0 in a Feb. 18 City Commission vote represents a tangible response to what stunned drivers say have been parking bills reaching $96 or more for some movie, shopping or restaurant trips, as documented by The Coastal Star last year.

Still, the ordinance bumps into limits on what municipalities can do.

Cities can write sign ordinances, and in this case try to alert residents and visitors that these are not city-owned lots, for example. Under state law, though, city officials cannot cap the rates.

“This is all great and I’m going to support it, but I wish these efforts trickled down more to the end users and the people that are being victimized by these lots, unfortunately,” Commissioner Rob Long said.

“But I think this is still great and we shouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of the good,” Long said.

Making prices clear
One issue that could complicate the sign ordinance is the practice of “dynamic” pricing, comparable to the way ride-share companies maintain fluid rates based on local conditions and market demand. A ride could cost more on, say, a busy Saturday night than a slow Tuesday, the concept goes.

If that kind of pricing is in play, it could prove tricky to sum up coherent parking rate information on a metal sign that is presumed to last for a while and not be replaced daily.

“One of the biggest pushbacks we have from the operators is the fee isn’t always the same every day or every time of the day,” said Anthea Gianniotes, the city’s development services director.

Her stance is “if you’re going to have it at that rate, and it’s $20 an hour, put it on the sign, somehow or another,” Gianniotes told commissioners.

A sign design in the ordinance package shows how city officials could picture it working, using fictitious rates for display purposes.

The sign says “Paid Public Parking,” with “Hourly Rate: $10” and “Event Rate: $35” as an example. The sign then says, “Overstay or Non-Payment Penalty: $150.”

The sign also shows a way to include telephone and email contacts for a fictional private lot operator. A red horizontal bar at the bottom of the sign, with white lettering, notes it is “not a city-owned lot.”

No more surprises
A big point in all this is “identifying the rates so people are not getting surprised when they come visit the city or they come downtown,” Gianniotes explained during a first reading of the ordinance on Jan. 21.

“As you know, we’ve had a lot of complaints from our residents that they’re a little bit surprised by getting parking tickets in private lots, and kind of mistaking them for city lots,” Gianniotes said.

A state law effective July 1 of last year sketched out some guidelines on what private lot signs must say, set down rules for appeals and late fees, and granted a 15-minute grace period before fees kick in.

Private lots held to account
Earlier, the Florida Attorney General’s Office signed an “assurance of voluntary compliance” with at least one private parking company operating in Delray Beach, among other places, requiring a payment of $30,000 from the company to make restitution to eligible consumers, records show.

That company was Professional Parking Management Corp., which has offices in Fort Lauderdale. It did not admit wrongdoing in an agreement signed Sept. 1, 2023, that calls on it not to engage in unfair and deceptive trade practices.

A company official reacted a day after the Delray Beach commission passed its ordinance.

“Professional Parking Management is always seeking to clearly communicate with our customers and the general public regarding private parking facilities we work with and enforce, their usage rules and rates, and other helpful information,” company spokesman Robert Leonard said. “A Florida state law adopted last year — which PPM and many in the private parking industry supported — requires many of the same signage and notice requirements as this new local ordinance, most of which were things PPM was already doing at our facilities.”

Complaints filed
Many private lots promote the convenience of paying by a phone app, without traditional gates or attendants. Then they sometimes employ technology that takes pictures of license plates to mail letters to drivers, claiming they failed to pay or overstayed.

In complaint records, Sharron Feldman of Boynton Beach said she was charged $96.30 for parking in a lot in Delray Beach, even though she just drove through and never actually parked.

“It is outrageous that this company can demand money for a service that we never used, threaten us with a collection agency, and force us to waste a good deal of time and energy on this matter,” Feldman said.

Among other complaints from the last two years, Chase Krusbe of Jupiter said he parked in a garage in Delray Beach and thought he paid in full. Then he got mail saying he owed $96.75.

“They claim the charge is for ‘overstaying,’” he said. “I don’t know what that means. I parked. I paid. I left.”

The ordinance language says the sign must include “parking rate, including peak hour and special event parking.”

It also says, “It shall be unlawful to charge a rate or fee higher than the rate published on the posted signage or displayed on pay kiosks.”

Will it help? That might remain a dynamic issue for some time to come.

This rendering of Milani Park, to be constructed on a 5.6-acre parcel at the south end of Highland Beach, has calmed fears that the park would be an eyesore. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Maggie Chappelear was pleasantly surprised when she first saw the 3D model of what the controversial Milani Park could become in a couple of years.  

“I thought it was going to be a boring, traditional park with an asphalt parking lot that would be an eyesore. Instead, it was something I’d never seen before that encompasses nature in design and that creates a user-friendly environment,” said Chappelear, who had offered ideas for the park’s development and was subsequently invited to share her concepts with the architects.

The 3D model — created by the design firm of Brooks & Scarpa, which was hired by Palm Beach County to develop the 5.6-acre park — is now on display at Town Hall after being presented to Highland Beach Mayor Natasha Moore during a meeting with county leaders in February. 

“Overall, I was struck by the innovation and how much they implemented the feedback from Highland Beach,” Moore said. “It will be a beach park with a lot of different elements that people can enjoy without necessarily having to be on the sand.”

One example, Moore said, is the possibility the park would include “lookout points” on the eastern portion for people who don’t want to be on the beach. The park could also include a few shade shelters on both sides of State Road A1A. 

The 3D model is still mostly conceptual, Moore said, with county officials planning to get more input into the final design during a public meeting in April. Still, it is almost certain that the design of the park will meld well with the natural surroundings. 

“It’s going to be aesthetically beautiful and fit in with the natural environment as much as possible,” Moore said. “They said there’s no other county park like this because of all the innovative features and because of the architect promoting the area’s natural features.”

On the east side of A1A, the tentative plan calls for a boardwalk winding through the parcel, which has been left mostly untouched. The boardwalk, Moore said, could have a railing on one side and a bench-like rail on the other side so visitors could stop and rest along the way. A portion of the boardwalk will go over an archeological site, believed to be a native American burial ground, and will most likely be raised so as not to disturb the site. 

“One of the solutions being considered is to rely on pilings to support a system of boardwalks,” said county Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Cirillo. “Such an approach will minimize ground impacts on archeologically sensitive areas.”

The county also plans to have a lifeguard station and perhaps a small office on the east side on a portion that once included a home. 

“The east side is going to be fabulous,” Chappelear said. 

Development of the west side of the park has been more controversial and has drawn the greatest objection from nearby residents, especially those in the Boca Highland Beach Club and Marina. That parcel will include 100 parking spaces, which residents have feared will be an eyesore. 

In creating the conceptual design for the 3D model, lead architect Jeffrey Huber took those concerns into consideration. 

While the number of parking spaces won’t change, Huber’s plan includes shade trees with large canopies to camouflage parking spaces, according to Moore. Also, instead of asphalt, the plan includes paving stones throughout most of the parking area, which allows grass to grow between the voids so water can flow through them.  

A wetland area on the north end of the west parcel could include walking trails, although Cirillo said that a survey of plant species is underway in that area and on the east side as well.

“Invasive species will be managed and native species encouraged per our park natural land management practices,” she said. 

Part of the county’s plan for development of the park includes getting 2.319 acres on the National Register of Historic Places, which would give the county “an opportunity to recognize and preserve the site’s archeological/historical relevance for generations to come,” according to Cirillo, who said the county has budgeted $8.6 million for development of the park. The state, in November, sent a nomination to the National Park Service, which will make a final decision on the listing.    

The property was used centuries ago by native American populations and in the early 1900s by Japanese-American farmers who formed the Yamato Colony in the Boca Raton area.

Chappelear, who along with Boca Highland Beach Club and Marina resident Laura Thurston has been providing input on the design at the invitation of County Commissioner Marci Woodward, believes the emphasis on history and the educational elements will be a plus for the park. 

“I think a lot of people in town are going to love it,” she said. 

If You Go

What:  Public meeting on plans for Milani Park

When: 6-8 p.m. April 2

Where: South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach 

Who: Lead architect Jeffrey Huber from Brooks & Scarpa, the team selected by the county to design the park, will present design plans. County Commissioner Marci Woodward, county parks and recreation staff and other county leaders plan to attend.

By Steve Plunkett

Palm Beach County has rejected Briny Breezes’ request for a $5 million grant to help pay for the town’s ambitious stormwater and sea wall project.

County Commissioner Marci Woodward’s office delivered the bad news Feb. 5.

“Unfortunately, the county is unable to provide funding at this time,” Woodward’s chief of staff, Caitlin Joyce, wrote in an email to Town Manager Bill Thrasher. “The commissioner was very impressed with your dedication and efforts, and asked our resilience team to continue exploring other potential options for the town moving forward.”

The decision did not deter Thrasher in his quest to find full, outside funding for the proposed infrastructure work.

“This does not mean all is lost or the projects are stopped,” he said. “It is my hope that the county would reconsider their abilities to assist with our financial need for these very important projects in part or whole.”

Briny Breezes hopes to build a comprehensive, townwide drainage system and raise its sea walls to fight perennial flooding and expected sea level rise. The total project cost is $14.4 million.

So far the town has qualified for a $7.2 million grant from the state’s Resilient Florida program and a $1.4 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“The rest will come from match-leveraging credit, loan, reserves and other potential sources,” Thrasher said.

Besides asking the county to reconsider a lower grant amount and seeking financial assistance elsewhere, Thrasher said he will look to trim the town’s spending to increase its reserves, re-evaluate how much the town could borrow based on a projected increase in its taxable value, and possibly raising Briny Breezes’ property tax rate 5.3%, from $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value to $3.95. The town’s agreement on sharing costs with Briny Breezes Inc., its corporate entity, would allow such a raise, he said.

Thrasher will also ask the rest of the barrier island for donations.

“I believe it is important to other barrier communities that the present low density of Briny exist rather than having Briny possibly redeveloped which would materially increase the density along the present A1A evacuation routes,” Thrasher said. “Protecting the Town of Briny Breezes from seawater rise is important to others, not only Briny.”

He’ll also do “whatever else I can think of,” he said.

“I am optimistic and confident that these projects will proceed to completion.”

Meanwhile, the corporation had scheduled a vote at its Feb. 26 annual shareholders meeting, after The Coastal Star’s deadline, on whether to allow the “material alteration” of the town, meaning the drainage and sea wall project, to proceed. The measure needed 51% of shareholders to agree.

By Rich Pollack

Navigating Highland Beach’s website these days can be a challenge. 

You want to pay your water bill but it could take a few clicks to get to the right place and then there are forms that you’ll need to fill out. 

“I find the website cumbersome,” says Town Manager Marshall Labadie. “As town manager, even I find it cumbersome.”

To fix that, the town is about to launch a mobile app that is designed to make it easier for residents to get information quickly and without having to spend time figuring out how to find the information they need.

“The goal is to make it so that when you need something, it’s easy to get it,” Labadie said. “With today’s technology, easy is possible.”

With the new app, residents will be able to push a button and call the library or other town department from wherever they are without having to spend time looking up the number. They’ll also be able to send a message to a specific department or ask a question with the town providing an answer as quickly as possible right to the resident’s phone. 

Through the app, residents will be able to find out when garbage pickup days are, pay their water bills, and let the public works department know about a crack that needs fixing in the walking path. 

The app will also come in handy if you want to get updates on the State Road A1A construction project or on the progress of a building permit. 

Town news will be available with a click, as will information about town meetings. In the event of a gas leak, the town will be able to send information directly to phones via the app so motorists know to avoid the area. 

Labadie said that the app will be structured more in line with the way residents think and less in the way town government thinks. 

For example, he said, it would be logical to think that information about the town’s water rate structure would be found under public works, which includes the water treatment plant. Instead, that information is found online under the finance department. 

“We have to get out of the residents’ way so residents can get the best services,” he said. 

Town staff is in the process of finalizing the app, which could be available to residents as early as this month, Labadie said. 

The interior reflects a recent renovation of the Andrews House. The city has set aside $300,000 toward moving the 117-year-old structure. Photo provided by Tom Warnke

By Tao Woolfe

People hoping to see Boynton Beach’s oldest home preserved and relocated have fresh hope, now that the city has set aside $300,000 for historic preservation.

The city commissioners, acting in their roles as Community Redevelopment Agency board members, decided to set aside those preservation funds after a lengthy discussion on Feb. 11 about how to save the 117-year-old Andrews House that once belonged to the family of Major Nathan S. Boynton, the city’s founding father.

The unanimous decision came after many residents asked the commissioners through the CRA to save the little wooden house, which had been on the verge of demolition a few months ago.

Setting aside money to move and preserve the Andrews House would allow the city to “do the right thing” by saving the home, creating positive media coverage, and reminding the public that “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it,” said longtime resident Susan Oyer.

“Let’s not repeat our past mistakes of destroying our city’s unique history by not preserving it when we have the time and the funding to do so,” Oyer added. “Now is the time to lead by example.”

Barbara Ready, chair of the Boynton Beach Historic Preservation Board, agreed.

“It is sad that historic preservation in our city has taken a back seat for almost a decade now,” Ready said. “I am incredibly hopeful that these unallocated funds … would save a physical portion of Boynton Beach’s history for the future, revive that part of Ocean Avenue, and give your residents a bit of the quaint fishing village they crave.”

Ready was speaking about some $2 million in unallocated CRA money, most of which will be used for property acquisition in the CRA district, said Vicki Hill, the CRA’s finance director.

The CRA board members decided to redirect $300,000 of that money for historic preservation. Some of the money could be used to restore the Magnuson House, another historic property that has suffered from neglect, and possibly to move the Andrews House to the Magnuson parcel.

CRA Attorney Kathryn Rossmell said the board members did not have to be specific about the purposes of the historic preservation fund to set it up.

“You have the opportunity to adjust the plan so the CRA can work with historic properties,” Rossmell said.

Mayor Ty Penserga said the $300,000 was “seed money” and that more could be set aside in the future once the CRA staff has determined the exact relocation and renovation costs for the Andrews House.

Acting CRA Director Tim Tack said his organization is allowed to consider historic properties in the CRA zone under the category of “adaptive reuse,” which allows new uses for vacant, heritage properties.

The Andrews House was almost demolished just before Thanksgiving, but neighborhood residents noticed the yellow demolition excavator sitting on its current site at 306 SE First Ave. and raised the alarm. The neighbors pleaded with the mayor and commissioners to call off the execution.

The city obliged and worked with the property owner to delay any demolition. The house has been a hot topic of conversation ever since.

At a Jan. 14 City Commission meeting, Assistant Public Works Director Richard Hoffer said the city and CRA staff are looking at three potential locations for the Andrews House: a city park at Northeast Sixth Avenue and Northeast Sixth Court; the 211 E. Ocean Ave. site occupied by the Magnuson House; and a large CRA-owned lot at North Seacrest Boulevard and Northeast Third Avenue.

Hoffer added that city staff had consulted with contractors and had determined that it would cost $100,000 to $150,000 to move the home to a new site; $75,000 to $100,000 in construction costs; and $50,000 in consultant fees for a total of about $375,000, which includes a 25% contingency.

The project would take at least 14 to 16 months to complete — including the design, permitting and ultimately procuring historic designation, Hoffer said.

Residents who spoke in favor of preservation said they would prefer having the Andrews House on the same parcel as the Magnuson House to create a historic enclave downtown.

That sentiment resurfaced at the Feb. 11 CRA meeting.

“The Move Historic Andrews House Committee is proposing ideas to move the Andrews House beside the Magnuson House to create a downtown heritage district,” Ready told the board members. “This would represent a new and interesting destination, as well as an economic development strategy that would activate the area by the historic Magnuson House that the CRA already owns.”

For more on the committee’s ideas, visit movehistoricandrewshouse.org.

The Andrews House, built in 1907 by Dutch pioneer Bert Kapp, has some unusual features — including built-in steel rods that can be tightened to hold the house together during a hurricane.

The house has survived several hurricanes. It was completely renovated several years ago, restored to its former glory, and updated for modern use.

By Mary Hladky

After years of effort, the rebuilding of the Dixie Manor public housing project will begin soon.

Ashley Whidby, executive director of the Boca Raton Housing Authority, told Boca Raton City Council members in late January that half of Dixie Manor residents are being relocated so that buildings on the north side of the complex can be demolished. Some are moving into units on the complex’s south side.

Once the residents move, the housing authority can close on financing, and then demolition will begin about 60 days later. Construction of new buildings will take about 18 months, she said.

After that, the second phase of the project will begin, to demolish and replace the south side buildings.

The new complex will be known as the Residences at Martin Manor. The housing authority has joined with co-developer Atlantic Pacific Communities to complete the project.

Dixie Manor is in Pearl City, a historically Black community founded in 1915 before Boca Raton was incorporated. Pearl City is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Dixie Manor buildings, which have 95 apartments, date to 1941 and are badly in need of replacement. 

The housing authority launched efforts to accomplish that more than five years ago. But the effort stirred angst and anger as Dixie Manor residents feared they would lose their apartments and might not be able to return to the new buildings.

Their fears were exacerbated by skyrocketing rental rates throughout South Florida, leading residents to worry that they might end up homeless. They also criticized the housing authority for not being transparent about what it was doing and for poor communication.

Whidby told council members that of those who already have moved out, none have said they will return, although they have the right to do so.

For those moving to apartments outside the complex, the housing authority will cover moving expenses, application fees, and security and utility deposits, Whidby said in an interview. 

As the city adds events to bolster its centennial year celebration, Boca Raton City Council members approved spending up to $1.25 million to bring in a headliner and possibly supporting musical artists for a May 24 centennial concert.

The city has hired live entertainment promoter AEG Presents to book artists and handle ticketing and production services for the concert at the Mizner Park Amphitheater.

Mayor Scott Singer garnered council members’ support when he proposed a concert with “nationally known artists” during an October council discussion about centennial events, with Deputy Mayor Yvette Drucker saying the city should “showcase paradise.”

Concert specifics are still being worked on, and ticket prices have not yet been set. 

— Mary Hladky

City is sued in Little League Park dispute — Boynton Beach may have made peace last year with the East Boynton Beach Little League over operations at the city’s Little League Park, but another party in the long-running saga over facility improvements there isn’t ready to bury the hatchet.

Primetime Sports Group, which is run by Phil Terrano and which once had a contract to construct a training facility at the park, filed suit Jan. 31 against the city. Primetime claims the city breached its contract in numerous ways, including by negotiating with one of Primetime’s subtenants, Mike Barwis, to take over the project despite Primetime’s contract.

The city ended its contract with Primetime in February 2024, saying a financial consultant determined Primetime “has not demonstrated the ability to procure the funds needed for the construction of this facility.”

The suit contends Primetime had the ability, but that the city kept changing the size and scope of the project. This prevented the company “from finalizing the plans and specifications in order to obtain approvals and permits and secure financing,” the suit said.

— Larry Barszewski

Adam Hasner, an executive at private prison company The GEO Group and a former majority leader of the Florida House, became the eighth president of Florida Atlantic University in February.

“Florida Atlantic University is a shining example of what a modern university can achieve — academic excellence, cutting-edge research, student access and success, all while maintaining a strong connection to the communities it serves,” said Hasner, who has a law degree from Florida State University.

As a Republican state representative from 2002 to 2010 representing southern Palm Beach County and northern Broward County, Hasner was chosen to be majority leader by then-House Speaker and now U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He counts among his legislative accomplishments leading the efforts to secure funding to establish FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and securing $43 million for the university’s current College of Engineering building.

Hasner will make a base salary of $875,000 with performance bonuses up to $150,000. He succeeds John Kelly, who announced his resignation in 2022, and Stacy Volnick, who served as interim president.

Hasner and his wife, Jillian, who is executive director of a nonprofit, live in Boca Raton.

— Steve Plunkett

Resort downsizes its expansion plans — The Boca Raton wants to build an eight-story building that would contain 60 condo units on the resort site, according to a proposal submitted to the city. The project would include an underground parking garage.

The single-building project appears to be a change in plans since last year, when the resort’s owners proposed two eight-story buildings with a total of 80 units and a five-story parking garage.

The latest proposal calls for a 100-foot building, which would exceed the current 85-foot limit. The Boca Raton plans to seek an amendment that would allow the taller structure. 

Currently, The Tower, one of the hotels in the resort, is over 130 feet tall.

The Boca Raton is owned by MSD Partners, the investment arm of Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, and merchant bank BDT & Co. MSD and BDT merged in 2023. MSD Partners bought the resort in 2019 for $875 million from Blackstone.

Camino Square wants 400 more residential units, not retail — The Camino Square project was first proposed as being developed in two phases, one with two eight-story apartment buildings and the second with retail. Now, Kimco Corp., the owner of 9 acres at 171 W. Camino Real, wants to swap out retail for more residential on the site that once was a retail center anchored by a Winn-Dixie grocery store.

The completed first phase on the eastern portion of the site, approved by the City Council in 2019, has 350 apartments and two parking garages. The second phase was slated to have nearly 38,000 square feet of retail. But in an application to the city filed by land use attorney Ele Zachariades with the Miskel Backman law firm in late 2024, Kimco is seeking to build 400 residential units in two eight-story buildings and a parking garage.

The Camino Square project was controversial when first proposed. While residents wanted to see redevelopment of the derelict shopping center where Winn-Dixie closed in 2010, they opposed plans by the developer FCI Residential Corp., an arm of sugar producer Florida Crystals.

Their chief concern was that the project would add traffic to roads in the area.

— Mary Hladky

Moratorium on some Atlantic Avenue development — There is little disagreement among stakeholders and elected leaders the time is now to preserve — as Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney calls it — the charm, the feel, the scale of downtown Atlantic Avenue. It’s how to do it that is up for debate.

While Vice Mayor Juli Casale and Commissioner Tom Markert campaigned on supporting a downtown historic district, Carney has gone his own way. He added a resolution at the last minute to the Feb. 18 commission meeting agenda to implement a zoning in progress status for the avenue, which would stop any aggregation of properties east of Swinton Avenue and would prohibit any facade or architectural changes while the city crafts new zoning rules for commissioners to consider.

Casale and Markert objected, saying they wanted to read the resolution and vote on it at a later time, but Carney had support from Commissioners Angela Burns and Rob Long.

“This is a time-out, and all it does is, essentially, it’s going to protect the direction of the commission, and for a period of six months, we are able to extend it if we’re still actively working on these ordinances,” explained City Attorney Lynn Gelin.

The resolution unanimously passed after Gelin said time was of the essence in case a property owner wanted to try to knit together multiple properties or make facade changes before the city adopts stricter standards.

Carney, outside the meeting, said his main concerns were big-box stores buying up properties and turning what makes downtown Delray Beach unique into another shopping mall.

Carney said it is to be determined whether aggregation of properties along the six blocks could be prohibited or if there could be a requirement that each parcel must have a different facade. “It’s going to be done through discussion with stakeholders, discussion with staff and discussion with commissioners,” he said.

Supervisor in code enforcement resigns — A Delray Beach supervisor in the city’s troubled Code Enforcement Division resigned the same day a commissioner demanded an outside investigator get to the bottom of how she had resolved three liens on a property she owned.

Danise Cleckley, the assistant neighborhood and community services director, resigned on Feb. 4 after allegations surfaced that she should not have resolved the liens without alerting the city that she owned the property at 624 SW Fourth St.

An internal Human Resources investigation by Paul Weber said the liens were a result of a clerical error by the Palm Beach County clerk of courts. City Attorney Gelin, in an email to Weber, said the question remained whether policies and procedures were followed.

Cleckley also faced a 2021 lawsuit claiming the home on Fourth Street was deeded to her by an owner who could not read or write.

Vice Mayor Juli Casale at the Feb. 4 commission meeting questioned the independent investigator with Calvin, Giordano & Associates who was giving an update on his findings. 

Casale said his preliminary report was woefully inadequate.

Casale told the investigator he needed to look into Cleckley’s actions, among other problems that have surfaced in the division since an employee was arrested for allegedly taking bribes in October. No formal charges have been brought by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. 

— John Pacenti

By Brian Biggane

CPZ Architects Vice President Joe Barry presented the firm’s initial set of conceptual drawings for the new Town Hall to the South Palm Beach Town Council at its February meeting, with options of both a two-story and three-story building.

“The object today,” Barry told the council, “is to leave here with a consensus on a direction to further develop the design, get into the architecture, the aesthetic of the building, and then move the design forward.”

His presentation triggered a 45-minute discussion regarding the position of the building, the cost, and how all the wants and needs of the community can be addressed not only for the present but for the next 15 to 20 years or more.

The cost of the project amounts to about $6 million for the two-story building and $7 million for three stories. Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the funds are available, but if the town decided to opt for low-interest loans, those could be obtained through the Florida League of Cities or through a federal grant, though there could be strings attached to the latter.

Both designs featured ground-level parking that, along with the offices of the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, comprise the first floor. The plan is to both raise the building above any potential flooding as well as complement the 17 existing parking spots behind the current building.

The square footage of the two concepts is similar, totaling 10,800 square feet in the two-story structure and 12,500 square feet over three stories. Barry said his firm has calculated the cost of about $550 per square foot, thus the $1 million discrepancy between the two concepts.

Following Vice Mayor Monte Berendes’ lead, most of the council members voiced support for the two-story concept. Sandy Beckett said she would much prefer that option as long as it would address all the needs of the community.

Barry said the second story of the two-story structure would be extremely flexible, with movable partitions creating rooms small enough for one-on-one meetings — or large enough to accommodate crowds of 100 or more — in addition to housing administrative offices.

Other spaces would be set aside for a small cafeteria, exercise room and terraces overlooking both the Intracoastal Waterway and State Road A1A.

The first story of the three-story plan would be almost identical, with the second reserved for town offices and meeting rooms and the third designated for the suggested public spaces.

Several of the dozen or more residents in attendance offered ideas for the next revision. Notable among them was Ellen Saith, who serves as chair of the Community Action Activities Board.

Saith pointed out that the technology the town has been using, such as collapsible screens to show movies, needs to be updated. Barry called her suggestions “great ideas” and said the latest technology would be featured.

When Barry mentioned that the plans called for some permanent seating in areas such as the council chamber, Saith responded quickly. “No, no, no, don’t think about it,” she said. “It’s going to be a waste of space. We need to convert space.”

Despite her objections, that matter remains open to debate.

After Barry said his plan was to move the building closer to A1A and a bit more south, as the footprint would be larger than the current building’s, there was more pushback and nothing was resolved.

Barry said another issue that needs to be addressed is an environmental assessment of the large fuel tank behind the building and what, if anything, needs to be done about it.

All parties involved reiterated the plan to present another set of amended drawings to a meeting of town residents sometime in March, but not before the next council meeting on March 11.

Trash contract extension appears likely — The South Palm Beach Town Council received an amended proposal to extend its 10-year agreement with Waste Management for trash pickup and appeared likely to pass it when it is formally presented by Town Attorney Ben Saver at the March council meeting.

One significant change is the agreement is for five years instead of 10, allowing the council to review it after the new Town Hall is completed. The company promises to haul away the debris from the demolition of the current Town Hall, which is expected to occur in late 2025 or early 2026.

Waste Management also offers to assist in two holiday events conducted by the town, such as Memorial Day and Fourth of July, and will contribute $5,000 annually to town functions as part of the deal.

Vice Mayor Monte Berendes and Council members Ray McMillan and Sandy Beckett all commended the company for improving its service to the community over the previous month.

Lift station plans advance — Town Manager Jamie Titcomb reported that the town had still received only two sealed bids for a new lift station and encouraged the council to move forward despite not having the three bids required by law. The council instructed Titcomb to invite the two firms to make proposals at an upcoming meeting.

Saver then suggested the council consider issuing a request for qualifications to attract engineering companies interested in being on call for future projects, along the lines of what is in place when emergency repairs are needed for the current lift station.

Height limit west of A1A criticized — Berendes said the rule that buildings on the west side of State Road A1A cannot be more than 60 feet tall needs to be changed, as no developer would undertake a project with that limitation. Berendes said a referendum should be on the ballot for the March 2026 election, which is the next time it can be addressed.

Titcomb contract extension encouraged — Berendes also noted that Titcomb’s two-year term as town manager is expiring and instructed Titcomb and Saver to meet regarding terms of an extension. Berendes and Mayor Bonnie Fischer both made clear they have been pleased with Titcomb’s performance.

— Brian Biggane

Ed Mileto and Jayson Koss have opened an office of Eightfold Ventures, their consultancy, off Federal Highway just north of George Bush Boulevard. Photo provided 

By Christine Davis

South County residents Jayson Koss and Ed Mileto created their company Eightfold Ventures, a consultancy/venture capital fund, with a portfolio limited to eight active specialty-brand companies, in 2023. Recently, the two opened an office at 709 Bond Way, Delray Beach.

Along with investing capital, Koss, 39, of Delray Beach and Mileto, 37, of Boynton Beach offer these companies step-by-step plans and advice based on the two’s entrepreneurial experiences. Starting his company Delivery Dudes by making deliveries on his moped in 2009, Koss grew it to operate in more than 40 cities, making thousands of deliveries each month.

He sold his company to Waitr Holdings in 2021. 

“Ed and I both had highly successful exits: Ed with Perfect Practice Golf and me with Delivery Dudes,” Koss said. “We’d done something exceptional and wanted to keep that going, but we didn’t just want to go the traditional VC [venture capital] route. We wanted to install our proven system into businesses primed for big growth.” 

Mileto, cofounder of Perfect Practice Golf, sold his e-commerce business in 2021 to a private equity-backed company. After selling only 25 Perfect Practice mats at the PGA show in 2019, he sold 10,000 at that same show a year later. 

“Jayson and I believe that good business is about more than money. It’s about creating and sustaining a brand that fills a real need in the marketplace, something that people really gravitate toward,” Mileto said. “We want our companies to achieve a successful outcome, sure, but we also want them to enjoy the trek getting there.” 

Of the eight companies that Eightfold Ventures works with, two are based in Delray Beach: DadFuel, a men’s nutrition supplement company, and NBT, a clothing line made for motorcycle riding enthusiasts. Eightfold Ventures helped launch DadFuel from its initial stages, and the brand has enjoyed success, with inventory selling out multiple times. NBT was brought on board a year after it launched and has grown its revenue sevenfold since adopting Eightfold’s strategies.

***
 

A trust in the name of David A. Frecka bought “Villa Oceano Azul” at 1400 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, for $49.12 million from Ramalinga “Rama” Raju Mantena and his wife, Padmaja, in February.

On a 1.84-acre lot with 200 feet on the ocean and Intracoastal Waterway, the seven-bedroom, 16,174-square-foot home features a 50-foot dock with a boat lift, a six-car garage, putting green, two pools, summer kitchen, bar, office, fitness room, wine cellar and a movie screening room.

Mark Griffin of One Sotheby’s International Realty was the listing broker. Catherine McGlennon of Engel & Völkers represented the buyer. The home last traded for $48.37 million in January 2023.

Frecka is the founder and former CEO of Next Generation Films, which made plastic packaging. After a $1.07 billion merger in 2019, he retired from the company. He then founded Triple F Collection, a high-end performance vehicle business, with his sons, Jason and Jordan.

Rama Mantena is the founder and chairman of Integra Connect, a West Palm Beach-based health care services company. Previously, he founded and led P4 Healthcare and Icore Healthcare. Cardinal Health acquired P4 Healthcare in 2010, while Magellan Health Services purchased Icore Healthcare in 2006.

***

The Balinese-inspired estate at 1370 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, owned by Christopher C. Rokos, a British hedge-fund manager, was recently listed for sale for $150 million, furnished. Sited on 2.83 acres with 300 feet on the ocean and Intracoastal, the nine-bedroom, 34,498-square-foot compound has a movie room, library, game rooms, wine room, office and several flex spaces. Rokos bought the property in 2017 for $40 million. The property is listed by William Raveis South Florida agent Jack Elkins.

***

An estate on 2 acres  fronting 160 feet on the ocean and Intracoastal at 1160 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, has come onto the market for $87 million.

With eight bedrooms and 27,745 square feet of living space, the estate includes a main house, guest house, cabana and gatehouse. It has two swimming pools, a 13-car garage and a dock with two boat lifts. 

Bought in 2021 for $28 million by a land trust managed by City National Bank of Florida, the estate is completely rebuilt on the same footprint by Siobhan Zerilla, principal of Bluedoor Building.

It’s listed by Corcoran Group agents Candace Friis and Phil Friis.

***

Boca Raton Airport was named a recipient of a General Aviation Safety Award presented by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The award, made on Feb. 4, recognizes the Boca Raton Airport Authority’s commitment to safety practices and innovations in 2023.

“Our team has always put safety first and it’s gratifying to see the FAA recognize our efforts,” said Clara Bennett, the Airport Authority’s executive director.

Keys to the airport’s receiving the honor were its prioritization of safety in all aspects of the operation and 100% participation in its safety management system — a set of policies, procedures and practices that help manage safety risks.

Criteria for the General Aviation Safety Award are based on the development or implementation of a specific program or activity, or other special and unique accomplishments, involving the operation of an airport that resulted in enhanced safety, according to the FAA.

***

The Ark Dog Services celebrated the opening of its new location at 1406 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, with a “yappy hour” in January.

In 2019, The Ark provided a grooming service and operated out of a garage. In 2022, the company expanded to operate out of two garages and added day care and boarding services. 

***

The Boynton Beach Online Chamber of Commerce appointed Maria Rowley as its chief operating officer. Rowley is a personal stylist for J.Hilburn, a company that specializes in men’s custom clothing.

Christine D. Roberts-Kelly, founder and CEO of Intention Enterprises, was appointed executive vice president. Patti Ann Leonaggeo, a licensed insurance agent representing Aflac and owner of Leonaggeo Benefits Inc., was appointed chair of the Chamber’s Ambassadors. 

***

Joseph Colon was named concierge for El-Ad National Properties’ Alina Residences Phase Two in Boca Raton. Previously, he served as hotel concierge at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan. Ahmed Abbas was named assistant property manager for Alina 220. Previously, he was an operational manager for Harbour Investment Co. Ltd. in Dubai.

***

Joann Fabric and Crafts, which has 850 locations across 49 states, will be closing all of its stores in coming weeks, including the one at 1632 S. Federal Highway in Boynton Beach.

A spokesperson from the Boynton location said the store is expected to close at the end of March or when inventory is sold.

The company, headquartered in Ohio, has been the nation’s leader in sewing and fabrics with one of the largest arts and crafts collections. Joann filed for bankruptcy a second time in less than a year in January after first filing in March 2024.

The company initially said only about 500 of its stores would close as a result of a comprehensive sale process and auction, but the “winning bidders plan to begin winding down the Company’s operations and conduct going-out-of-business sales at all store locations,” Joann said in a Feb. 23 statement.

***

The Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida’s “Cookies for the Military” program invites the community to donate boxes or cases of Girl Scout cookies that will be sent to service members stationed in the U.S. or overseas.

 Last year, nearly 58,000 boxes were donated, and this year’s goal is to donate 75,000 cookie boxes.  

The community can contribute by purchasing a box at $6 or a case for $72 through any local Girl Scout or by visiting www.cookiesforthemilitary.org.

Contributions also support the efforts of the Girl Scouts to foster financial literacy and leadership skills, including budgeting, customer service and goal-setting.

***

During 2024, 26 members of the Delray Business Partners, one of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce’s leads groups, generated more than $320,738 of gross sales by doing business with one another and by referring their colleagues to other potential clients.

For information on Delray Business Partners, visit delraybusinesspartners.com.

Rich Pollack contributed to this column.

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

 Whatever its official name, this century-old passage
has a sea of personal stories to tell

1925: When the bridge over the Boynton Inlet was first under construction, it included arches on either side of State Road A1A. The arches were eliminated when the bridge was replaced decades later. Then as now, the man-made channel's official name was the South Lake Worth Inlet. Photo provided by Boynton Beach City Library Local History Archives

By Ron Hayes

We regret to inform you that the Boynton Inlet is not the Boynton Inlet.

Officially, it’s the “South Lake Worth Inlet,” a noble title that, alas, gets very little respect.

This 130-foot-wide, man-made channel between the Atlantic Ocean and the Lake Worth Lagoon is bordered on the north by the town of Manalapan, but do we fish at the Manalapan Inlet?

We do not.

It is bordered on the south by the town of Ocean Ridge, but do we picnic at the Ocean Ridge Inlet?

No.

2025: The Sea Mist III has been using the inlet for decades to take out drift boat anglers. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

We fish and picnic at the Boynton Inlet.

Janet Naughton is a professor of U.S. history at Palm Beach State College and the author of a dozen books about Palm Beach County history. But for her January appearance before a full house at the Boynton Beach City Library’s Brown Bag Lecture Series, even she titled her slide show, “History of the South Lake Worth (Boynton) Inlet.”

“They could both be right,” Naughton says. “The inlet is halfway between Lantana and Boynton Beach, and directly across from the Boynton Beach boat ramp.”

Just when and how the official “South Lake Worth Inlet” became popularized as simply the Boynton Inlet is anyone’s guess. In the 1920s, newspaper accounts of the inlet’s dredging and bridge construction are consistent. It’s the South Lake Worth Inlet.

 But by the early 1960s, charter boat fleets were advertising themselves as at “Boynton Inlet.” Somewhere along the way, the voice of the people took control. And let’s face it, “Boynton Inlet” is a lot quicker and easier to say.

 Either way, as Naughton made clear in her Brown Bag lecture and a longer chat later, the South Lake Worth (Boynton) Inlet is a picnic of social, economic, environmental, legal and recreational history.

•

So, where’s the North Lake Worth Inlet, you ask?

That’s the inlet with Palm Beach to the south, Palm Beach Shores to the north, and Peanut Island straight ahead.

Officially, it’s the “Lake Worth Inlet,” so naturally everyone calls it the Palm Beach Inlet.

Created in 1866, that inlet merged the Atlantic Ocean’s salt water with the freshwater Lake Worth, and by 1913 the waters were brackish from both the ocean and growing development around the lake.

Gee, people said, maybe we should have another inlet at the south end of the lake to let that polluted water out.

But the bridge came first.

•

The South Lake Worth Inlet was still being dug when the bridge that would carry motorists over it opened on Sept. 2, 1926.

“New South Lake Worth Span Opens Tomorrow

“This beautiful bridge, which is of the rainbow arch type, is entirely of concrete with a wide roadway flanked on either side by walkways for pedestrians.”  — The Palm Beach Post

•

The inlet arrived a year later, on Wednesday, March 16, 1927.  

“Waters Of Atlantic And Lake Worth Mingle At South Inlet:

“Waters from the Atlantic Ocean glided in from a tiny cut, shoveled in the sand, and mingled with the waters of  Lake Worth for the first time at this point.

“Dozens of spectators lined the bridge and at 11:18 p.m. the waters ‘glided’ in from the Atlantic and ‘mingled with the waters of Lake Worth.’ Dozens watched from the bridge in the glare of large searchlights.”

— The Palm Beach Post

•

And then came the lawsuit.

Col. Robert R. McCormick, owner of The Chicago Tribune, was a staunch conservative who compared FDR’s New Deal to communism and opposed America’s entry into World War II.

He was also a very rich man.

On Thursday, Oct. 30, 1930, McCormick paid $650,000 cash for a 4,916-foot stretch of ocean-to-lake property, with the northern boundary just 780 feet south of the South Lake Worth Inlet. It was the largest real estate deal in Palm Beach County at the time.

Five years later, in June 1935, he sued in an attempt to shut down the inlet.

The southward drift of the ocean was causing sand to accumulate along the inlet’s north jetty and causing erosion by McCormick’s property.

He sued in federal court in Miami asking that the inlet be closed and the jetties removed.

He did not succeed, but two years later, a sand transfer plant — the first anywhere —was installed by the north jetty to pump sand beyond the inlet to the south.

The first sand transfer plant in the country was installed in 1937 at the inlet to keep up the flow of sand along the beach. Photo provided 

•

In January 1941, a beach club with an almost world-famous name opened just south of the inlet.

No, not that Mar-a-Lago.

This was the one without an “A.”

The Mar Lago Beach Club was built by Leon A. Robbins, an Ohio native who arrived in Ocean Ridge in 1926.

In 1946, he was elected mayor of Ocean Ridge and served for five years. The Mar Lago was torn down in 1974 to make way for the county’s Ocean Inlet Park.

The Mar Lago Beach Club stood for a few decades before it was demolished and replaced with Ocean Inlet Park. Photo provided

•

Surf’s up. Maybe.

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, 1967, Ocean Ridge commissioners passed an ordinance banning surfing “except in authorized areas.”

No areas were authorized, but surfers had always ridden waves by the inlet without any trouble.

Tom Warnke, a senior at Seacrest High School (and now archive coordinator for the Delray Beach Historical Society), fought back. He and his fellow surfers formed the Cripple Creek Surf Club, and Warnke designed the club’s logo, which featured the inlet bridge.

The club sponsored a beach cleanup by the inlet to convince the politicians that surfers were not responsible for all those beer cans on that small island in the lake just north of the inlet.

Wild parties, underage drinking and worse were alleged to be going on there — so much so that the former Pine Island had become known as Beercan Island.

Not us, the surfers said, and apparently the politicians agreed.

Surfing survived at the inlet.

“It was great when we won,” he says now. “It motivated me all my life to protect the image of surfers.”

Warnke is 76 now, and executive director of the Surfing Florida Museum.

Beercan Island is now Bird Island, a privately owned wildlife sanctuary.

•

The inlet’s bridge, that beautiful bridge with the rainbow arches, lived for 48 years and died on April 1, 1974, of old age and increasing costs.

The inlet remained open to boats, but for nearly a year traffic was diverted across the Lantana and Boynton Beach bridges while a new inlet bridge was constructed.

The new span opened 11 months later, on March 1, 1975, without those rainbow arches.

A visual hazard, the authorities said. But there had been rumors that motorcyclists enamored of the famed daredevil Evel Knievel would speed their bikes over the arches.

This has not been confirmed.

Maintenance is a constant where the ocean meets the land. In a major 2010 project the north jetty and sea wall inside the inlet were repaired. Coastal Star file

•

In 2013, Janet Naughton wrote an application to have the South Lake Worth Inlet named a Florida Heritage Site. The historic marker stands in Ocean Inlet Park with text by Naughton.

So, call it the Boynton Inlet if you want, but officially it’s the South Lake Worth Inlet. End of story.

Or is it?

There is one more high authority we should consult.

Type “South Lake Worth Inlet” into Google Maps and you’ll be told: “Google Maps can’t find South Lake Worth Inlet.”

Now try typing in “Boynton Inlet.”

Case closed.