News

By Jane Smith
    
    Delray Beach may have to refund $44,994 collected from 11 property owners because city commissioners were wrongly interpreting its sidewalk fee ordinance, they learned in August.
    The ordinance says, “said sidewalk,” but in some historic districts no sidewalk will be built because sidewalks were never part of the neighborhood. The idea was to pool the money for use elsewhere in the city where sidewalks are needed. The ordinance passed last fall as part of the city’s revised land development regulations.
    The money collected was held in an escrow account, further complicating the issue because those accounts have a strict interpretation about how the money can be used.
    City Attorney Noel Pfeffer said he knew about the problem for some time. The previous planning and zoning director had wanted to create a “mobility fund that would capture revenues from several different sources” to create sidewalks where they were needed, but he left before the fund was established, Pfeffer said.
    That explanation did not sit well with the mayor or other commissioners who were assuming the sidewalk fees could be used in other areas.
    Commissioner Al Jacquet honed in on the discrepancy when he said, “In drafting that piece of the ordinance, there was talk about the greater good, the bigger picture. Then why are we saying it is for ‘said sidewalk’?”
    In July, an applicant had complained about the fee because the sidewalk would never be built on the property.
    That discussion devolved into two commissioners’ questioning the city attorney’s ability to give them good advice.
    Mayor Cary Glickstein said their reaction was not proportional to the error: “It’s a mistake. Assumptions were made and they were wrong. … It’s not the end of the world, people are not dying. There are sidewalks. We’ll have to refund some money.”
    To his city attorney, the mayor said, “I have every confidence in you. Next time, own it quicker and sooner.” He told Pfeffer to reword the sidewalk ordinance before creating one on the mobility fund.
At the Aug. 17 meeting of the Planning and Zoning board, members approved a rewrite of the sidewalk fee ordinance that removed the mention of the escrow account and the words “said sidewalk.” The motion passed 4-1 with Chairman Robin Bird dissenting and Joe Pike and Gerald Franciosa absent.
    In other action at the Aug. 11 meeting, commissioners learned:
    • Delray Place, a shopping plaza with restaurants at the southeast corner of Federal Highway and Linton Boulevard, still does not meet site plan requirements for open space, landscaping and signs. The city is withholding its certificate of occupancy until those requirements are met. Without the certificate of occupancy, the plaza owner cannot get permanent financing, the city manager said.
    • The Downtowner trolley will have fixed stops starting in August. Previously people could wave and the trolley would stop and pick them up.