Richard Rolle picks up garbage and debris
July 24 on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jane Smith
Delray Beach will spend more than $2 million in the next budget year to make its downtown into a Disney-esque world of sparkle and safety.
That amount represents a 27 percent increase over the current budget year. The extra money is needed to make the Clean and Safe program work in the downtown, leaders say.
“Every time people come downtown, we want to have a clean downtown. It is realistic,” said Michael Coleman, new Community Improvement Department director. The city recently consolidated the program under his department, except for the safety part that remains under the Police Department.
The extra $500,000 will cover these additions: one downtown manager, one police sergeant, two Segways for police use, three-quarters of a code enforcement officer, one sanitation officer, trash can liners, uniforms, one golf cart and pressure-cleaning sidewalks three times a year inside the program’s boundary along Atlantic Avenue, from West 12th Avenue east to Ocean Boulevard.
The downtown manager will supervise the program, which was previously spread among city departments without someone in charge.
“Without the downtown manager,” Coleman said, “the program will revert back to how it was.”
The program’s money will come from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, where is was first created as a CRA project in 2000. The program consists of increased police patrols, code enforcement, landscape maintenance, lighting, garbage removal, and street and sidewalk cleaning.
Coleman made the pitch for extra money in late June to the CRA board. His police counterpart is now Sgt. Troy Baer.
City commissioners had named the Clean and Safe program a priority in April. They thought the downtown’s cleanliness had slipped, creating problems because the area represents the city’s main asset and runs nearly 18 hours daily, seven days a week.
Different elsewhere
Nearby cities and towns approach their downtowns differently.
Boca Raton does not have a specific program, but in its “downtown and Mizner Park, work is done on code enforcement, policing and maintenance,” said Mike Woika, assistant city manager.
Boynton Beach would like to start a Clean and Safe Program for its downtown. In the next budget year, its CRA hopes to cover litter cleanup costs inside the district on Ocean Avenue, Seacrest Boulevard, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Federal Highway, according to Vivian Brooks, CRA executive director.
She said she would like to see community-oriented policing. “Police need to get out of their cars and do foot patrols and bike patrols,” she said.
The Boynton Beach CRA will hold its budget session on Aug. 6.
Lantana has a small downtown and does not have adequate staff for a Clean and Safe program, said Deborah Manzo, town manager.
The town handles code enforcement issues, she said. East Ocean Avenue is a county roadway, making the county responsible for street and sidewalk repairs and maintenance. The town maintains the benches, empties garbage cans weekly, trims hedges quarterly and prunes the trees, as needed, along Ocean Avenue.
The Lantana Police Department patrols the downtown area in marked vehicles and on bicycles, and participates in the Park, Walk & Talk program. It requires the officers to get out of their vehicles and walk and speak to business owners and residents along the way, Manzo said.
“The Police Department does not have a dedicated community policing program,” she said, “but various shifts have established programs individually to address community concerns.”
In downtown Delray Beach, police try to make contact because it is such a high-density area, Baer said. “We rely on relationships with stakeholders — visitors, business owners and employees — to tell us about situations that need attention.”
Coleman started with the Delray Police Department in 1994 and was promoted to captain, before being tapped to run the Community Improvement Department.
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