News

By Jane Smith

    The municipal core of Boynton Beach needs a distinct identity with a signature entrance, a Treasure Coast Planning Council consultant told city commissioners.
    “Columns like they have in Rollins College,” said Marcela Camblor, an architect, at her presentation in early August.
    Camblor presented an amalgamation of what city residents had suggested at a May workshop.
    She took suggestions and will come back in October with a refined plan, said Vivian Brooks, executive director of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. It had paid the council $58,000 to help plan the area.
    Residents want to create an active, lively city center that is visible, Camblor told a joint meeting of city commissioners and CRA board members.
    First, residents want to build on history and preserve the old high school by moving all activities from other civic buildings to it.
That high school-turned-civic center could serve as an anchor for the Town Square complex, Camblor said.
    The City Hall should be moved south of Ocean Avenue with a plaza in front of it, she suggested in one scenario.
    The complex should be connected to Ocean Avenue with pavers or other colors on the street.
    And to help pay for it, the city should consider public-private partnerships with developers building mixed-used properties along Boynton Beach Boulevard, Camblor said.
    At least one commissioner, Mack McCray, wanted to know what the area would look like without the historic high school. Another commissioner, David Merker, said, “If we keep the high school, we need an exact plan of how to use it.”
    Commissioner Michael Fitzpatrick, a retired city firefighter, pointed out a problem with moving the fire station to Town Square. The response times could increase when All Aboard Florida trains start running and live up to the reported 32 train trips daily.
    Former city commissioner Woodrow Hay, who is a CRA board member, said he likes the walkability of the plan and moving City Hall to the south side, but the plan brings up “hot potatoes,” including the width of Boynton Beach Boulevard sidewalks.
    Lawyer Michael Weiner, who owns the land under the nearby Postal Service branch, cautioned commissioners against a build-it-and-they-will-come philosophy.
    “Retail is hobbled in the 21st century. Little shop spaces can’t be filled,” he said. Dry cleaners and bank branches that serve the neighborhood do well, he said.