By Steve Plunkett
A routine extension of the controversial Archstone project’s development approval gave the Boca Raton City Council an opportunity to vent about traffic tie-ups on East Palmetto Park Road. Council member Anthony Majhess, sitting as vice chairman of the Community Redevelopment Agency, asked whether his colleagues could add a demand to include a left-turn lane into the planned nine-story structure.
“It’s obvious that with 378 new apartments, people traveling down Palmetto that want to turn into the building are going to completely congest that left lane and basically turn that eastbound into a one-lane road when people are coming home,” Majhess said.
But Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie said left-turn lanes are needed more at Fifth Avenue and at Mizner Boulevard.
“That’s where all the congestion is,” Haynie said, noting she has spoken with residents of the barrier island who drive through there all the time. “We as a council beautified the roadway, took those turn lanes out and put those signals on split phasing, and that’s what causing the backup.”
Haynie said she would support a traffic study of the roadway, but would not vote to link it to the Archstone extension.
Council member Constance Scott, who chairs the CRA, said she walks along the thoroughfare several times a day with a stroller for her dog.
“If we end up putting back the turn lanes I think we’re going to have problems with what we were trying to achieve, which is a pedestrian-friendly Palmetto Park Road and people being able to cross the street within the indicated time of the light change,” Scott said.
City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser said the agency could not add a new condition to the Archstone approval without new evidence, but could ask for a separate traffic study. Majhess withdrew his motion to link the two issues Dec. 9 after no one indicated support.
“I’m not going to deny an extension,” Mayor Susan Whelchel said. “We’ve never denied an extension to anyone who wanted an extension.”
Charles Siemon, a lawyer for developer Archstone Palmetto Park LLC, said the turn-lane issue was discussed during the approval process as well as when the beautification of the road was approved.
“I happened to not support the four-laning and that would have left plenty of room, but with the four lanes there is no space,” Siemon said.
The extended approval will expire Feb. 27, 2015. The CRA did not vote on whether to conduct a traffic study.
Archstone has not started construction or even completed its construction drawings because of the uncertainty of pending lawsuits over the project, which lies east of Northeast Third Avenue between Palmetto Park and Boca Raton roads.
The project has been tied up in court for most of the past year. A circuit judge ruled that citizens could have a referendum on the Archstone approval. The city appealed his decision and is waiting for the 4th District Court of Appeal to issue its opinion.
A second lawsuit by three residents was withdrawn after the city pointed out they would be liable for Boca Raton’s attorney fees if they lost the case.
As planned, Archstone will be one building that appears to be three towers, with 13,448 square feet of retail on the ground floor, mostly for restaurants. Amenities would include a pool, clubroom, fitness room and landscaped courtyard.
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