By John Pacenti

The Delray Beach City Commission voted to permanently close Northeast Seventh Avenue at First Street, to the delight of Palm Trail neighborhood residents who feared it would reopen once construction at the massive Atlantic Crossing complex is finished.

“It’s a big night for us tonight,” Jack Indekeu told commissioners at their Dec. 10 meeting. “This has been a priority for the neighborhood for many years, and we’ve had countless discussions with many of you, and we appreciate now that we get to this point.”

The commission agreed that there was no legal obstacle to closing the street, as it was outside the settlement agreement for Atlantic Crossing, which sued the city for $40 million in 2015 accusing officials of trying to stall the development.

Staff recommended to commissioners a gated structure on Seventh Avenue at Northeast First Street to allow access to emergency vehicles while preventing traffic.

Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioner Tom Markert attended a Palm Trail neighborhood meeting the night before and heard how adamant the residents were about closing the road and not opening it to service Atlantic Crossing and its restaurants.

“We’ve put the residents through some harder times there. They talked about that last night. And I’m in support of this, so I think we should do this right away,” Markert said.

Palm Trail resident Gayle Clark, who lives on Northeast Seventh Avenue, said many drivers are still using the street, unaware that it is closed.

The commission directed staff to design and implement the permanent closure utilizing funds already allocated for this purpose in the Atlantic Crossing settlement agreement.

The commission also asked staff to explore an alleyway situation related to the Seventh Avenue closure to ensure it does not create other traffic issues.

Palm Trail resident Joy Howell said closing Seventh Avenue fulfills another campaign promise by Carney. She said not permanently closing the road would turn the neighborhood into a speedway. 

“The bottom line is the neighborhood wanted to push this at this time because we have a pro-resident majority on the commission,” Howell said. “You know, political winds of change come most elections.” 

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