By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton is working with Palm Beach County to determine what can be done to improve safety along the stretch of East Palmetto Park Road that runs from the Intracoastal Waterway to State Road A1A.
Beachside residents for years have sought changes that would improve the appearance, walkability and safety of that portion of the road but have been unable to persuade the city to take action.
That changed on Aug. 22, when Municipal Services Director Zachary Bihr told the City Council that the city will evaluate what can be done to improve safety. Possibilities include adding a traffic signal at an intersection and a crosswalk.
The city’s analysis has the blessing of the county, which owns that section of the road. The Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency also will be involved.
The city’s turnabout comes one month after County Commissioner Marci Woodward, who lives in Boca Raton, offered the county’s help to improve the road.
At the time, Deputy City Manager George Brown was noncommittal. An earlier city study had determined that no crosswalks are warranted and installing them could create safety hazards, a finding that angered beachside residents.
In other city business, council members voted unanimously at the same meeting to authorize making an offer of $400,000 to settle protracted litigation over a city ordinance that banned the controversial practice of conversion therapy on minors.
The city, as well as Palm Beach County, repealed their ordinances after a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2020 that the bans were unconstitutional because they violated the free speech rights of Dr. Robert Otto of Boca Raton and Dr. Julie Hamilton of Palm Beach Gardens.
The two therapists earlier had accepted a city offer to pay Otto $50,000 and Hamilton $25,000. Liberty Counsel, whose attorneys represented them pro bono, then sought a total of $2.1 million from the city and county to cover their attorney’s fees.
It remains to be seen if Liberty Counsel will accept the city’s offer.
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