Mary Kate Leming's Blog – March 2012 Archive (31)

                  The most popular Florida building may be in our neighborhood.

                  Results of an online poll of the state’s top 100 architectural buildings in the “Florida Architecture: 100 Years, 100 Places” competition will be revealed in mid-April, says Deborah L. Nichols, chapter director for the Palm Beach Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and coordinator of the contest in this region.

                  The competition identifies 100 buildings…

By Tim O’Meilia



Five years after a half-billion dollar sale collapsed, Briny Breezes’ 43 acres of ocean-to-Intracoastal mobile homes is on a land developer’s shopping list.

An unnamed development firm has pitched the idea of erecting twin 20-story towers and a 350-room hotel on the beach and constructing a row of three-story condos on the west side of State Road A1A — totaling more than 1,200 units — where rows of mobile homes now sit.

Briny Breezes…

Croquet players take to the courts at St. Andrews Club, near Gulf Stream. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Photos: St. Andrew's Club - Yesterday…

The 1950 Lantana Bridge will be replaced with a taller, wider span. The first bridge on the site was built in 1911. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Inconvenience ahead; might as well throw a …

Neighbors of the home Caron purchased stand in front of portraits of former Delray Beach mayors and wear white to protest the rehabilitation center’s request to turn its property into a sober house during a meeting at City Hall. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim Pallesen



The…

     Since 1909, Florida’s residents have had the right to see documents created by public agencies and since 1967 a basic right of access to most meetings of governing bodies of state and local governments.

    This access constitutes the  “Sunshine Law” regulating the open access for citizens to their government’s actions. It does not directly cover private cooperatives, condominiums or mobile home parks, but other Florida laws do direct the operations of these private groups and…

Angela Moore is moving her corporate headquarters to Plaza del Mar. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Allen Whittemore

    

Angela Moore is moving her corporate headquarters to Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar shopping center, next to her newly opened retail store. “We are thrilled to be in Florida, and the…

By Steve Plunkett



The green uniforms and patrol cars of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office may one day replace the Manalapan Police Department’s familiar blue trappings.

The Sheriff’s Office is offering to provide law enforcement to Manalapan for $1.17 million a year the first two years, an almost 17 percent savings from the $1.4 million the town plans to spend this year.

Commissioner Donald Brennan, who asked his colleagues to hear the proposal Feb. 28…

By Tim O’Meilia

    

Whaddaya do when the danged guvmint closes the bridge to the beach for 19 months and promises to build a nice, new, tall shiny replacement?

    Why, ya throw a party of course.

    The East Ocean Avenue bridge in Lantana officially closes to automobile traffic sometime after midnight March 19.

    But the town of Lantana will close it a day early — March 18 — and throw a Demolition Day party at Bicentennial Park on the west bank of…

By Tim O’Meilia



Three coastal communities signed a mutual aid agreement last month that will guarantee quick police response to calls on Hypoluxo Island during the 19 months the new East Ocean Avenue bridge is under construction in Lantana.

The agreement was ratified first by the Lantana town council, then, separately, by the South Palm Beach council members and Manalapan commissioners.

 Although written in very general terms, the pact gives officers in each of the towns the…

A1A in Manalapan will be closed to all but emergency vehicles and local traffic March 5-9 as a private tunnel is constructed.  Expect delays.

By Angie Francalancia



Residents in Ocean Ridge have gotten vigilant about calling police and city officials when they see too many different cars and faces coming and going from homes in town. And it’s resulting in an active code enforcement season for residents renting their homes for short-term vacations, said Town Manager Ken Schenck.

    “On our books, we have a regulation that says you can’t rent for less than 30 days. As we find people that don’t follow…

John Davidson serenades Susan Pincus of West Palm Beach at Atlantis Country Club on Valentine’s Day. Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

     The last time Jose Carreras performed in Palm Beach County, in March 2009, a persistent cough forced him to cut short a concert at the Kravis…

By Thomas R. Collins

    

Behind the signs of protest, the prospect of an expensive legal fight and contentious city commission meetings, there is something that’s even more desperate: people trying to figure out how to kick a crippling habit.

    The patients targeted by Caron Treatment Center’s Ocean Drive program — in which they would live in million dollar houses near the beach and receive treatment at another location in Boca Raton — would include…

Parking specialist Scott Aronson was directed to put together a fee-based parking program that will give Delray Beach commissioners a solid starting point on how downtown parking will be managed and funded.

    The plan comes after two parking charrettes to solicit merchants’ thoughts were held in late January on the $94,000 parking study.

 The discussion on a fee-based program has included metering for Atlantic Avenue and an employee parking program, possibly in garage lots.

  …

A group of flamingos takes over a lawn on Island Drive in Delray Beach. The Youth Group at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Boynton Beach is in charge of ‘Flamingo Flocking,’ a fundraising effort for a planned 18-day trip to Scotland this summer. They are ‘flocking’ lawns through March 17. The cost to ‘flock’ a friend is $30 for 30 flamingos…

By Tim O’Meilia

    

As the presidential election season rumbles on elsewhere, in south Palm Beach County coastal towns, there’s no place more comforting for an incumbent than a high-backed chair behind the council dais.

    Of the 19 seats up for election this spring in nine coastal towns, 11 sitting elected officials will remain seated for another term without so much as a write-in challenge. In Manalapan, newcomer John J. Murphy — not even an incumbent — won a commission seat…

By Rich Pollack



    Six months ago, if you called the city of Delray Beach to ask if your wedding could be held on the public beach, the answer would have been a simple no.

    Call today and the answer will be yes, weddings are allowed — sort of.

    Responding to questions from city commissioners, the recreation department has changed its unwritten policy of forbidding weddings on the beach to an unwritten policy of allowing weddings on the beach — but just small…

By Angie Francalancia

    

With continuing uncertainty over emergency services for the coastal towns, Ocean Ridge City Manager Ken Schenck reached out to private ambulance company American Medical Response to investigate options.

    It could cost as much as $650,000, would require changes to several existing agreements, and could happen no sooner than about 18 months from now. But Schenck said it was necessary for the town to know its options, given the potential for changes to…

Ocean Ridge police voted last month to approved a long-awaited contract that will give them an additional $800 toward their medical deductible and a $1,000 salary adjustment.

    Ocean Ridge town commissioners are set to vote March 5 on the pact, the first negotiated with the Police Benevolent Association since police voted to unionize a year ago.

    Town Manager Ken Schenck anticipated that the commission would approve the 37-page agreement, because the commission had reviewed most…