atlantic avenue - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T08:44:45Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/atlantic+avenueDelray Beach: CRA moves toward putting four more police officers downtownhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-cra-moves-toward-putting-four-more-police-officers-d2024-01-31T17:34:27.000Z2024-01-31T17:34:27.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Anne Geggis</strong></p>
<p>In response to Delray Beach residents’ complaints about how the downtown vibe is disrupting their lives, a proposal is advancing to add four new police officers to the area’s current team of 10.</p>
<p>The City Commission, meeting Jan. 23 as the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, appeared mostly in agreement when discussing the addition of $640,000 to the agency’s budget to put more police downtown. The actual vote will come at the next CRA meeting, scheduled for Feb. 27, said Commissioner Adam Frankel, the CRA chairman.</p>
<p>It would be the first expansion of downtown police personnel in 10 years, Frankel said. That dates back nearly to a time when he said the city was still known as “Dull-Ray.”</p>
<p>“If you look at 10 years ago versus today, there’s a big difference in the number of people who live downtown, come downtown,” Frankel said.</p>
<p>But Arlen Dominek, a downtown resident who led a parade of neighbors complaining about club and street noise at a Jan. 18 City Commission meeting, doesn’t think there’s much of a mandate from city leadership to quiet the hubbub that’s disrupting the peace and enjoyment of their homes.</p>
<p>While some residents think the added police might help with disturbances attributed to panhandlers and others on the streets, Dominek doesn’t expect the new personnel will address the traffic issues he and his neighbors find most vexing.</p>
<p>“There’s someone who zips down the avenue at 12:45” every night, said Dominek, who came to the city as an IT worker for a health care software company in 1997. “This has been an ongoing pet peeve of mine for a very long time. I don’t think the City Commission has any real conviction to see that its noise ordinance is enforced.”</p>
<p>Claudia Willis, a resident of the downtown’s Marina Historic District for 40 years, says the vaunted “vibe” of the area is giving her a headache.</p>
<p>“Particularly bothersome are the motorcycles that gun it and the cars that seem to be drag racing on Federal Highway at night,” she said.</p>
<p>She said she really doesn’t want to see taxpayers’ money going to fix the problem, though, and is unconvinced that more police will make a difference.</p>
<p>Frankel said noise is just one facet he sees improving with more police dedicated to downtown. He recalled an evening in October spent dining at an outdoor table. Within the space of 30 minutes, he said a stranger aggressively approached him demanding money, another passer-by took the drink from his restaurant table and he witnessed what he believed was a drug deal in progress. </p></div>Editor's Note: How about we chill with some great summer memories?https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-how-about-we-chill-with-some-great-summer-memories2023-06-28T16:31:40.000Z2023-06-28T16:31:40.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p>What are your favorite summer memories from our little corner of humid paradise?</p>
<p>The piano player, bartenders and grouper at Busch’s Seafood on A1A? Date night at the Wildflower or Tequila Willies in Boca Raton? Partying at Shooters on the Intracoastal in Boynton Beach? Dancing to the live bands at the Phoenix in Delray Beach? Reggae night at Boston’s? The Backyard Blues Bar on Atlantic Avenue or the Dive Bar in the old Boca Mall? Patio Delray, the Arcade Tap Room, The Frog?</p>
<p>Maybe you have fond memories of the ferns at Boca’s Elephant Walk and the crowds at the nearby Bounty Lounge. Or were cold beer and rock shrimp at Dirty Moe’s more your style? Do you still have a taste for the summer dining specials at Le Vieille Maison (I know I do), beachside dinners at the Seahorse in Gulf Stream, Volcanoes at Boynton’s Sun Wah?</p>
<p>Maybe your favorite memories involve beach bonfires and watching sea turtles and square groupers wash ashore. Or the simple pleasure of finding a parking space anywhere near Atlantic Avenue at night.</p>
<p>At least in Boynton Beach you can still find longstanding restaurants (Hurricane Alley, Banana Boat, Two Georges), and in Lantana what better place to watch a thunderstorm blow through than at the Old Key Lime House? And for simply having a drink with friends, we’re lucky to still have The Duck and The Sail Inn, right?</p>
<p>Yes, I know there are free concerts at Mizner Park and Old School Square, but the bands (although filled with talented musicians) all pretend to be someone else — tribute bands, they’re called. The same for much of the programming at the few other live music venues scattered around. At least Arts Garage mixes it up a bit and sometimes books live jazz.</p>
<p>Jazz. That’s what I miss most. For me, the highlight of the “off season” was the Summer Jazz Series at Erny’s in what was then called Dull-Ray. Jazz players drove up from Miami to perform to a packed house. The musicians were excellent, the drinks well-mixed, the ambience exactly what you’d want on a hot South Florida night.</p>
<p>Oh, I miss that. Summer leaves me longing for a cold martini and a simmering jazz act.</p>
<p>What do you miss the most from summers past? Write us at news@thecoastalstar.com. We’ll share these either in our August (can you say hot and humid?) print edition or online.</p>
<p>Please help us out by keeping your memories to 500 words or fewer.</p>
<p>And if you know of a place reachable for a $10 Uber ride with live jazz in a cool bar this summer, please let me know at editor@thecoastalstar.com.</p>
<p style="text-align:right;"><em>— Mary Kate Leming, Editor</em></p></div>Obituary: Bruce Gimmyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/obituary-bruce-gimmy2023-05-31T15:59:03.000Z2023-05-31T15:59:03.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Rich Pollack</strong><br /> <br />DELRAY BEACH — For 32 years, until he retired in 2017, Bruce Gimmy’s name was synonymous with the Trouser Shop, a unique business he ran on Atlantic Avenue that evolved with the times, yet never quite changed enough to lose its “old Delray” charm. </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11197272069,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11197272069,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="100" alt="11197272069?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Mr. Gimmy, whose personality was at times as colorful as the slacks and sports jackets he showcased in the Trouser Shop, died May 1. He was 80 years old. </p>
<p>“He was a true downtown force,” said Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Laura Simon. “Although he was the owner of a teeny space, his impact on the community was huge. He was larger than life.”</p>
<p>Even as trends moved away from the flashy to the practical, Mr. Gimmy never surrendered the past and continued to offer slacks and shorts with bright prints, patches and plaids.</p>
<p>In a bit of a contrast, for many years the Trouser Shop was one of the few places in the area customers could find tailored tuxedos, with Mr. Gimmy often working the sewing machine.</p>
<p>A fixture in downtown fashion shows during Delray Fashion Week and during January Art and Jazz Fashion Nights before that, Mr. Gimmy was one of the most impressive models on the stage and one of the few men on the runway. </p>
<p>“He wore the craziest things he could find in the shop,” Simon said. “He loved it and he got the biggest applause.” </p>
<p>Often Mr. Gimmy would be accompanied at the fashion shows by his longtime customer and friend, Steve Miskew.</p>
<p>“I have such fond memories of our walking the runways of Delray Fashion Week — intercepting odd gazes in the wings from the ‘other models’ — and Bruce hamming it up at every turn,” Miskew said.</p>
<p>A character who never missed the chance to find the spotlight if it could benefit the Trouser Shop, Mr. Gimmy was also a serious business owner who was an early champion of Delray Beach’s small downtown businesses. </p>
<p>“He was there from the very beginning of the transformation of downtown Delray Beach in the early ’90s,” said Marjorie Ferrer, who held several downtown marketing leadership roles and was a driving force for its revitalization. “He was part of the dream team, dreaming about what downtown could be and did become.” </p>
<p>A member of the Downtown Development Authority board of directors and the city’s parking board for 25 years, Mr. Gimmy was a fierce advocate for local merchants and for making sure that congestion and parking problems didn’t hamper the downtown’s success. </p>
<p>“He was very passionate about the revitalization of downtown,” Simon said. </p>
<p>A champion for his 400 block of East Atlantic Avenue, Mr. Gimmy was a good neighbor to businesses nearby, welcoming them and offering support. </p>
<p>He was also a good neighbor in Ocean Ridge, where he and his wife, Joanne, had found a home in the 1980s that they lived in — while helping to raise two grandsons — until they sold and moved to Boynton Beach in 2021. “He was a nice person and an excellent neighbor,” said former neighbor Betty Bingham. “He was a character, but he was a good man.” </p>
<p>Bingham said that Mr. Gimmy wore many of his collection of slacks at home, not just in the store. </p>
<p>“I always enjoyed the different pants he wore,” she said. “I guess it was quasi-advertising for his store.” </p>
<p>Mr. Gimmy grew up in suburban Reading, Pennsylvania, and Stone Harbor, New Jersey, attended Michigan State University and held several jobs in the hospitality industry before coming to Florida and taking over the Trouser Shop from then-owner Nick Vitale. </p>
<p>Even though he had retired, Mr. Gimmy continued to own the property where the store sat and continued to support the community. </p>
<p>In a 2010 interview with<em> The Coastal Star</em>, Mr. Gimmy — who loved wordplay — said that one of his favorite phases was “press on.” </p>
<p>“He was a kind, colorful — pun intended — character,” Miskew said.</p>
<p>Private services were held last month.</p></div>Along the Coast: Picturing a better way to preserve historyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-picturing-a-better-way-to-preserve-history2022-09-28T17:05:48.000Z2022-09-28T17:05:48.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10829804685,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10829804685,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10829804685?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>Delray Beach may include Sazio Express and some other old buildings along Atlantic Avenue east of the Intracoastal in a future historic district, one separate from a district now in the works on the avenue west of the waterway. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Atlantic Avenue ideas bet on value of designated districts</span></p>
<p><strong>By Larry Barszewski</strong><br /> <br /> A century-old home was demolished in Boca Raton’s downtown this year. Some downtown Boynton Beach office buildings of the same era face a similar fate in the not-too-distant future. But a move is afoot to save what remains from the past along downtown Delray Beach’s history-laden Atlantic Avenue.<br /> Boynton Beach’s downtown still has its historically designated Boynton School and Old Boynton High School. And Boca Raton’s has its 1927 Historic Town Hall that recently completed a $3.5 million renovation. Yet preservationists say those isolated buildings should be part of something bigger — historic districts that give a true taste of each city’s history.<br /> “Walking into a historic district, you feel like you’re walking into a different place and time,” says Claudia Willis, a member of Delray Beach’s Historic Preservation Board.<br /> That’s a feel Delray Beach wants. It has its own downtown landmarks — the Old School Square buildings and the Colony Hotel, for instance — but it also sees a larger history worth preserving. Proponents of a proposed Atlantic Avenue Historic District, which would run from Swinton Avenue to the Intracoastal Waterway, say the district would protect more than 40 other historic buildings there and maintain the character that tourists, residents and visitors find so appealing.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related:</strong> <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-atlantic-avenue-s-place-in-history-on-verge-of-forma">Atlantic Avenue’s place in history on verge of formal recognition |</a> <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-hand-s-covered-archways-to-disappear-from-atlantic-a">Hand’s covered archways to disappear from Atlantic Avenue </a></p>
<p>“It’s a climate. It’s a vibe — the feeling that if you go to downtown Delray, it’s authentic. It’s not Disney-like,” says John Miller, also a member of the city’s preservation board, whose ancestors first settled in the city in 1903. “Not everything is homogenous. Everything is a little quirky and I think people look for that.”<br /> There hasn’t been a new historic district created in South Palm Beach County in more than 20 years, and Delray Beach and Boca Raton are the only South County cities with such districts. Preservationists say they’re racing against time as new developments threaten the past on behalf of the future.<br /> Susan Gillis, curator for the Boca Raton Historical Society, knows how difficult preservation can be. She has watched what little is left of her city’s small historic downtown disappear to development.<br /> “We’ve had this burst since 2016, with all these new, very tall buildings,” Gillis says. “It’s just like Fort Lauderdale. It has changed so dramatically in 20 years. I can’t believe it.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">History’s economic benefits</span><br /> When talk of a new historic district surfaces, many affected owners fear a loss of control over what they can do with their properties. They dread increased restrictions and see only obstacles to any potential future renovations. <br /> However, proponents of historic districts say there’s a case to be made for them, one that makes economic sense for communities and property owners.<br /> “Historic districts can become centers of heritage tourism that help spur economic vitality,” according to the Atlantic Avenue Historic Resources Survey, prepared for Delray Beach by R.J. Heisenbottle Architects in December. “Historic districts have proven to retain more stable and higher property values than surrounding neighborhoods that are not protected, even in the face of harsh economic downturns.”<br /> Delray Beach and Boynton Beach also offer property tax breaks to owners who improve historically designated properties — a 10-year waiver of city and county property taxes on the increased assessed value brought about by their renovations. If a district is on the National Register of Historic Places — such as the Old School Square and Marina districts in Delray Beach — owners of investment properties deemed historical can deduct 20% of their renovation costs from their federal tax payments.<br /> It also can be easier for historic properties to get variances from the city for items such as setback distances for their renovation work.<br /> For the Atlantic Avenue district, the city is considering additional incentives, such as the possibility of matching grants for some improvement and repair costs — or transfer of development rights that would allow more intense development elsewhere for an owner keeping to a smaller scale downtown.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">In Gulf Stream and Briny</span><br /> In the small communities that dot South County’s barrier islands, the emphasis is less on preserving history than it is on using other tools to protect a feel and atmosphere consistent with the community histories.<br /> In Gulf Stream, it took an act of the state Legislature back in 1992 to turn a stretch of State Road A1A into a State Historic Scenic Highway, protecting the canopy of Australian pines that has defined the town since the 1920s. <br /> Soon after the designation, the town also beefed up its architectural reviews, concerned that it would be overrun by mega-mansions that would destroy the town’s character.<br /> “We don’t have historic districts. We have districts that have a historic look, but it’s for the whole town, from one end to the other,” says Bob Ganger of Gulf Stream, a past vice chairman of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and head of the local Florida Coalition for Preservation. “We are establishing a basis in the town for it remaining more like when it started than what it might become.” <br /> Next door to Gulf Stream, the town of Briny Breezes stands out for its unique character — a coastal community of mobile homes that developed from Northerners setting up vacation trailers on a one-time strawberry farm in the 1930s. <br /> Gillis says a district could help Briny Breezes protect its way of life and preserve elements of its history.<br /> “I think Briny Breezes should be a historic district,” Gillis says, “and then I’m going to retire there. It’s so novel.”<br /> Susan Brannen, president of the mobile home park’s corporate board, doesn’t know if her town should be a historic district — or how such a designation would affect the town — but says it is unique.<br /> Ganger says the mobile homes in Briny Breezes may not survive climate change or the pressures of development, but he hopes there will be ways to preserve the character that makes it so different from other nearby towns. His coalition would like to see the trailers gradually give way to small homes that are better protected from rising seas and hurricanes.<br /> “You could redesign Briny with smaller homes,” Ganger says. “We’ve been working with Briny to maintain what the folks who live there want, though we’re well aware that a developer will come along someday with an offer that will be difficult to turn down.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Delray and Boca districts</span><br /> Even if Delray Beach approves the Atlantic Avenue district, it’s up to the individual property owners whether to apply for historical designation for their contributing properties.<br /> Lack of owner support doomed Boynton Beach’s 2016 attempt to create a historic district on Northwest First Avenue between Northwest Third Street and Northwest Second Street, a block south of Boynton Beach Boulevard.<br /> Delray Beach currently has five historic districts within its borders:<br /> • Old School Square, including the restored Delray Beach Elementary School at Swinton and Atlantic avenues.<br /> • Marina, on the south side of Atlantic Avenue east of Federal Highway.<br /> • Nassau Park on the barrier island to the south of the Sandoway Discovery Center.<br /> • Del-Ida, on the east side of Swinton north of Lake Ida Road.<br /> • West Settlers, around Northwest Fifth Avenue, in the city’s historically Black section.<br /> Boca Raton has two historic districts: <br /> • Old Floresta, a grouping of Addison Mizner-designed homes from the 1920s and ’30s to the north of Palmetto Park Road around Northwest Ninth Avenue.<br /> • Pearl City, the city’s first historically Black neighborhood, south of Glades Road between Federal and Dixie highways.<br /> Self-preservation can be a goal of historic designation in areas that aren’t architecturally significant, as in Pearl City.<br /> “The reason those neighbors wanted to become a district is because they felt threatened by the outside world,” Gillis says; they feared the community’s prime property along Federal Highway would be taken up by developers. “It’s the history of the site itself, rather than architectural significance, that makes that district important.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Losses and struggles</span><br /> Preservationists in March lost a battle in Boca Raton, when developers demolished the Cramer House, a 1925 Mediterranean Revival structure on East Boca Raton Road. <br /> In Boynton Beach, the former Oyer-family buildings on Ocean Avenue, built nearly a century ago, are to be demolished as part of a Community Redevelopment Agency project to create a mixed-use development. Hurricane Alley Raw Bar and Restaurant, currently located in one of the buildings, will be moved to the north along Boynton Beach Boulevard.<br /> “We struggle along,” says Barbara Ready, chair of Boynton Beach’s Historic Resources Preservation Board. “We’ve lost so many historic things that were demolished willy-nilly.”<br /> The city actually has a “Historical Cottage District,” a community on the west side of Federal Highway south of Woolbright Road. However, it’s just a name the residents got the city to approve for their community of older homes — many from the 1940s and 1950s — more than 20 years ago. They hoped having “historical” in the community’s name would boost property values, even if the homes aren’t designated or architecturally significant.<br /> The city also continues to see homeowners who want their individual homes designated.<br /> The preservation board has oval plaques in the works — “a badge of honor,” Ready says — to place on locally designated houses. Ready hopes the city will pay for an update to the historical resources survey done in 1995. So much has been lost since then, while other buildings may need to be added, she says.<br /> “Commitment is the key word,” Ready says. “Unfortunately, in Boynton it took a lot, lot longer to get any kind of commitment, and even then, it’s a half-hearted commitment.”</p></div>Delray Beach: Hand’s covered archways to disappear from Atlantic Avenuehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-hand-s-covered-archways-to-disappear-from-atlantic-a2022-09-28T17:01:12.000Z2022-09-28T17:01:12.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10829800084,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10829800084,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10829800084?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>The covered walkway in front of the Hand’s building may soon be gone. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>As Delray Beach considers a proposal for a new historic district downtown, the city continues to lose potentially historic properties along Atlantic Avenue.<br /> In August, the new owner of the Hand’s building at 325 E. Atlantic Ave. sought approval to remove the building’s arcade and the angled entranceways of the storefront to make them flush, and the City Commission unanimously allowed the changes.<br /> The building, constructed in the Masonry Vernacular style in two phases, dates to 1921 and 1948, according to an R.J. Heisenbottle survey of historical buildings recently completed for the city.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related:</strong> <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-picturing-a-better-way-to-preserve-history">Picturing a better way to preserve history |</a> <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-atlantic-avenue-s-place-in-history-on-verge-of-forma">Atlantic Avenue’s place in history on verge of formal recognition </a></p>
<p>The arcade — the covered walkway in front of the building that provides shelter from the weather and has arched openings along the ends and facing the street — had been one of the models for the city’s 2015 downtown zoning changes, based on community input. Residents valued the pedestrian experience the arcade provided in terms of shelter while it contributed to the street’s character.<br /> To take such a “drastic” step to remove the arcade “takes away the charm of the street,” resident Alice Finst said at a July 27 city board meeting. “What we will have is one more set of awnings. What does that do for us?”<br /> But Steven Cohen, who paid $11.5 million for the property in April 2021, questioned the structure’s value at the Aug. 16 City Commission meeting.<br /> “The arcade is fine for when it rains,” Cohen said. “But it’s not conducive to retailers who want good sales.<br /> “I can, by right, knock the building down and replace it with a three-story building and put two stories of offices above it,” he said.<br /> His architect, Gary Eliopoulos, a former city commissioner who has restored many historic buildings in the city, said, “The elephant in the room is the arcade.” The arcade was added in 1974 and is not historic, he said.<br /> Eliopoulos planned to apply for a building permit in late September that would include the demolition.<br /> The arcade’s removal will increase the building’s non-conformity with the current setback requirements of at least 10 feet, Anthea Gianniotes, the city’s development services director, said in an Aug. 26 email. The proposed setback is slightly under 8 feet.<br /> “The arcade has a value to our community,” she wrote. <br /> Will the Hand’s building still be considered historic without its recessed windows and having a flat front façade?<br /> “This does not seem possible,” Gianniotes wrote.</p></div>Delray Beach: Atlantic Avenue’s place in history on verge of formal recognitionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-atlantic-avenue-s-place-in-history-on-verge-of-forma2022-09-28T16:57:11.000Z2022-09-28T16:57:11.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10829793472,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10829793472,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10829793472?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></strong><em>The Atlantic Avenue district would run from Swinton to the Intracoastal Waterway on both sides of Atlantic.<strong> BELOW:</strong> The Ocean Park district would run from Gleason to the beach south of Atlantic Avenue. <strong>Maps provided by the City of Delray Beach</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10829793863,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10829793863,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10829793863?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="315" /></a></strong><span style="font-size:12pt;">Special district near beach also is studied</span></p>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Eager to preserve the heart and soul of its downtown, Delray Beach is poised to create its sixth historic district — and the first since 1997 — early next year. <br /> The Atlantic Avenue Historic District would start at Swinton Avenue and continue east to the Intracoastal Waterway. It comprises eight blocks of 67 properties, with 43 considered historic. <br /> That 64.2% ratio is a “solid historic district,” consultant Richard J. Heisenbottle said at a July 19 City Commission workshop. “The district meets the criteria for local and national designation.”<br /> Heisenbottle also recommended studying the historic properties in a proposed Ocean Park Historic District on the barrier island — along Atlantic from Gleason Street to Ocean Boulevard and south to Miramar Drive. <br /> A survey of properties there has not been completed. Money for the survey might be included in the city’s new budget.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related:</strong> <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-picturing-a-better-way-to-preserve-history">Picturing a better way to preserve history |</a> <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-hand-s-covered-archways-to-disappear-from-atlantic-a">Hand’s covered archways to disappear from Atlantic Avenue</a></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Delray’s history tied to Atlantic Avenue</span><br /> Heisenbottle’s Coral Gables-based firm is steeped in historic preservation projects and was hired by the city last year to study the Atlantic Avenue corridor from Interstate 95 to the ocean. <br /> Mayor Shelly Petrolia has pushed for the downtown historic district since she was a second-term commissioner in 2015. <br /> “The buildings on the Atlantic Avenue corridor are what makes Delray Beach so inviting,” she said at the workshop, referring to their low scale. “It’s an invitation to come and buy here.”<br /> The proposed district includes a few buildings that are already part of either the Old School Square or Marina historic districts. Many of the homes in the Marina district, to the east of Federal Highway and south of Atlantic Avenue, were built between 1922 and 1943 in many architectural styles. <br /> The Old School Square district, which straddles Swinton Avenue north and south of Atlantic Avenue, contains the 1913 Delray Elementary School that is now the Cornell Art Museum. The 1902 Sundy House, built by Delray Beach’s first mayor, John Shaw Sundy, also is in the district, to the south of Atlantic Avenue.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10829797097,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10829797097,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10829797097?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>The Colony Hotel and Cabana Club, designed by an Addison Mizner associate and built in 1926 at the corner of East Atlantic Avenue and Northeast Sixth Avenue in Delray Beach, is on the city’s Local Register of Historic Places. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Local and national historic designations</span><br /> Other than where the proposed district overlaps the existing Old School Square and Marina districts, only one building in the district — the Colony Hotel — is currently on the Local Register of Historic Places. The hotel, at 525 E. Atlantic Ave., was designed by an associate of Addison Mizner and built in 1926 in the Mediterranean Revival style. The current Atlantic Avenue bridge, built in 1952, also is listed.<br /> In addition, Delray Beach has seven sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Marina and Old School Square districts.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size:14pt;">Suggested Ocean Park barrier island district</span><br /> Heisenbottle suggested the city consider creating the Ocean Park Historic District once more research is done.<br /> He did not want to include the area in the overall Atlantic Avenue district because there are too many non-contributing buildings between the bridge and Gleason Street. <br /> The Ocean Park district would include the Epic Surf Shop building at 1218 E. Atlantic Ave. Built in 1939, it was constructed in the Streamline Moderne style. Also of historic value is the Snappy Turtle building at 1100 E. Atlantic Ave., built in 1954 in the Masonry Vernacular style. Neither is listed on the city’s local register.<br /> The proposed district’s survey cost might be included in the city’s new budget that started Oct. 1, said Gina Carter, city spokeswoman. Then, the commission’s planning priorities for development services will dictate when the survey will be done.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Atlantic Avenue district timeline and incentives</span><br /> For the Atlantic Avenue district, “staff is anticipating taking the overlay to the city’s Historic Preservation Board by the end of 2022,” Anthea Gianniotes, the city’s development services director, said in an Aug. 26 email.<br /> With the board’s expected approval, the proposed district would then go to the City Commission as an ordinance in early 2023. The second reading will include a public hearing. <br /> But first, the city needs to hold a workshop on possible incentives available for the owners of historic properties to nudge them to consider adding their buildings to the Local Register of Historic Places and possibly the National Register of Historic Places. <br /> The local register offers property tax abatements on the improvements made to historic buildings and the national offers federal tax abatements on restored properties that are not owner-occupied homes.<br /> In Florida, buildings are considered historic after they reach 50 years of age and have a definable architectural style. <br /> Petrolia directed staff at the workshop to see what else the city can do to persuade commercial property owners to designate their buildings. Other incentives could include transferring density and development rights outside of the historic district. <br /> “Ask other cities what they have done when setting up their historic districts,” she said, “but be sensitive to the residents who live in the non-historic areas.”</p></div>Letter to the Editor: Development ruining Delrayhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/letter-to-the-editor-development-ruining-delray2022-05-04T16:42:46.000Z2022-05-04T16:42:46.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p>About 15 years ago, my wife and I fell in love with Delray Beach and purchased a condo nearby, which my family enjoys so much. Unfortunately, the ongoing development projects are destroying what was once a wonderful respite from busy city life. You can no longer easily drive down Atlantic Avenue at night, particularly if in search of a parking place. On a recent evening a restaurant valet waved me on, unable to park my car.<br /> The city is becoming way overcrowded and yet the building projects continue to mushroom in quantity and size.<br /> What is the City Commission thinking? Are they beholden to the developers? What we once loved about Delray Beach is being destroyed. <br /> I beg the City Commission to wake up. Enough is enough!</p>
<p style="text-align:right;"><em>Christopher S. Sargent</em><br /><em>Gulf Stream</em></p></div>Delray Beach: Commission majority wants local operator of Cornell, rejects Boca offerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-commission-majority-wants-local-operator-of-cornell-2022-05-04T16:39:39.000Z2022-05-04T16:39:39.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Delray Beach city commissioners switched course in early April and rejected a plan by the Boca Raton Museum of Art to run operations at the Cornell Art Museum.<br />Instead, the commission will hold a workshop May 17 at City Hall and invite other arts groups to give their ideas for the future of the Cornell, one of five venues at the Old School Square campus in the heart of downtown.<br />Vice Mayor Adam Frankel and commissioners Ryan Boylston and Shirley Johnson voted against the Boca museum takeover at the April 5 meeting, Frankel said he did not like the idea of having an out-of-town group run a Delray Beach showpiece.<br />“If a Delray museum were to come to Boca, there would be marching in the streets,” Frankel said. <br />The city needs new management for Old School Square because commissioners voted 3-2 last August to end the lease with the longtime operators of the 4.5-acre campus when it ran out Feb. 9. The city took over some programming on the campus even before the lease officially ended.<br />City officials were concerned about how the former operators — the Old School Square Center for the Arts — were spending city dollars. Financial problems plagued the former operators for at least the past six years, according to a city internal auditor review done in August. <br />Boca museum leaders became interested in running the Cornell following the commission’s August vote, but they waited until the lease ended before meeting with City Manager Terrence Moore on Feb. 14 to discuss their idea.<br />That set up the commission’s 3-2 vote April 5 against the Boca museum offer. Johnson, who led the charge to end the lease last year, became the swing vote in rejecting the Boca museum plan.<br />Johnson said the proposal was not clear about the museum’s duties for the $125,000 it would receive from Delray Beach to run the Cornell. The money would have lasted until Sept. 30, and the Boca museum then would have needed to go through the city’s normal budget process to get further funds.<br />After the meeting, Johnson fielded calls from residents who complained her vote would allow the former operators room to reorganize and put together a plan to return next year, but she denied that was her intent.<br /> “I’m hoping one of the local nonprofits will step up. I’m looking for one group to run the entire campus,” she said.<br />The spokeswoman for the former operators declined to comment when contacted about the commission’s vote. <br />Boylston said he wants to see a “Summer of Delray Arts” on the campus. He met with Moore on April 29 to review the format for the May 17 workshop.<br />Boylston would like leaders of his first tier of nonprofits — Arts Garage, Arts Warehouse, Delray Beach Historical Society and Spady Cultural Heritage Museum — to speak at the workshop. The public can’t offer input at the workshop unless a commission consensus allows it.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Vote surprises Boca director</span> <br /> The commission’s vote was unexpected for the Boca museum’s executive director, Irvin Lippman. He said he had spoken to most of the commissioners ahead of the meeting and the majority supported his museum’s taking over the Cornell’s operations, including Johnson.<br />“It came as something of a surprise,” he said of the final decision. “The political maneuvering seems to have taken sway. I can’t explain how.”<br />Lippman told commissioners his team had been on a “listening campaign” for the past month and wanted to create a welcoming environment for the diversity that exists in Delray Beach.<br />He wasn’t aware of the upcoming workshop. “They want to go in another direction,” he said. “We have plenty to do in Boca Raton to keep us occupied.”<br />Mayor Shelly Petrolia, who supported the Boca museum proposal, was embarrassed for Delray Beach. <br />“We had tasked Moore to give us options. At the March 1 meeting, he said the Boca museum leaders had contacted him about running the Cornell.<br />“We gave him consensus to move forward with the discussions,” Petrolia said. “It’s embarrassing to the city when someone comes in to operate a closed museum and they are denied from moving forward. We had the money and would not be dipping into our reserves.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Concerts and finances</span><br />In other actions regarding Old School Square:<br />• The city has resumed holding semi-monthly concerts on the Pavilion stage on the OSS campus.<br />• The law firm representing the former operators responded April 8 to the Community Redevelopment Agency’s demand that the group return $187,500 in funding. It rejected the demand, saying the CRA had given the money after the operators had met the requirements for the first quarter of the 2020-21 financial year.<br />• The CRA staff is trying to obtain financial records the former operators used to receive a paycheck protection loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The first $309,735 loan was given in 2020 and later turned into a grant.<br />The CRA is trying to find out if the operators used any of the federal money to pay staff salaries. It is concerned about double-dipping, if some of its money went to pay for salaries already covered by the paycheck protection loan.<br />The CRA first requested the information from the USSBA, which said it does not have those records, and is now seeking them from the former operators’ lender, which does have them. </p>
<p><em>Mary Hladky contributed to this story.</em></p></div>Delray Beach: Broken bridge puts second whammy on neighborshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-broken-bridge-puts-second-whammy-on-neighbors2022-03-30T18:10:07.000Z2022-03-30T18:10:07.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">Businesses, church determined to press forward after construction on George Bush Boulevard first forced them to adapt</span> </span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Profiles by Jane Smith and Rich Pollack</strong><br /> <strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10249310297,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10249310297,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10249310297?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><span style="font-size:12pt;">The Sail Inn, 657 George Bush Blvd.</span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt;">Bass Raams, manager</span></p>
<p>“Happy hours have not been as happy” at the Sail Inn since George Bush Boulevard construction work moved east of Federal Highway in January, Raams says.<br /> The $2 million project includes a road resurfacing, utility and drainage improvements and adding 5-foot sidewalks and bike lanes. Work started in July and is expected to go until the summer of 2023.<br /> If that wasn’t enough, the bar was hurt again when the nearby bridge broke in the open position March 3.<br /> “We had a great flow from the city’s St. Pat’s Parade in the past,” Raams said, referring to before the pandemic hit. “But this year, the customers just could not reach us.”<br /> Bicyclists and walkers used to come to the Sail Inn on weekends from the beach, but they can’t get to the bar while the bridge is not usable, Raams says. <br /> “I love the beautification of George Bush Boulevard,” he says. “I just wish there was a way to have the bridge be closed in the down position permanently. That way, the traffic could travel across and the bicyclists and walkers could use it. And let the boaters find another way.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related stories: </strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-stuck-again">Delray Beach: Stuck again</a><span style="font-size:10pt;">; </span><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-pelosi-visits-broken-bridge-says-infrastructure-bill">Pelosi visits broken bridge, says infrastructure bill could help</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10249311479,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10249311479,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10249311479?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><span style="font-size:12pt;">Gulfstream Travel Inc., 800 Palm Trail Suite 1</span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt;">Alice Meiners, owner, right, with </span><span style="font-size:12pt;">Julie Kessman, agency manager</span></p>
<p>At Gulfstream Travel, with all the surrounding traffic confusion, Meiners says “we do not try to explain how to get here.”<br /> Besides the road construction work and bridge closure on George Bush Boulevard, sometimes Palm Trail from Bond Way is not passable because of condo and home construction, Meiners says. <br /> The travel agency does most of its work online to assist clients who do not have easy access to the office, she says. It delivers tickets and other items to about 20% of its clientele, she says. <br /> Since construction moved in front of the office, on the corner of Palm Trail and George Bush Boulevard, Meiners has had an up-close view of the road work. <br /> “It’s been challenging,” Meiners says. But Kessman says they have endured worse.<br /> “If we lived through COVID, we can survive anything,” Kessman says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10249311292,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10249311292,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10249311292?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></strong><span style="font-size:12pt;">800 Palm Trail Grill, 800 Palm Trail</span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt;">Darin Chelsea, manager</span></p>
<p>The George Bush Boulevard construction affected the 800 Palm Trail Grill “somewhat,” but the unusable nearby bridge “is costing us greatly,” Chelsea says.<br /> Diners from Gulf Stream were flocking to the new restaurant when the bridge became stuck in the upright position. Chelsea estimates his restaurant, which had been open Tuesday through Saturday, has lost between $3,000 and $4,000 each day since the bridge became impassable March 3.<br /> “We have free parking and it’s not on Atlantic Avenue,” features he says add to the restaurant’s appeal. It can be a slog to drive on Atlantic, where parking meters are in effect in the evenings. <br /> Chelsea isn’t thinking about changing anything in an attempt to bring in more diners, saying it would be too confusing, though the restaurant was to begin Sunday brunches starting March 27 and will open on Mondays starting April 4.<br /> Instead, the restaurant’s website lists detour info about the road construction with the phone number and email address of the project’s community outreach specialist. Along Bond Way and Palm Trail, Chelsea has posted signs for the restaurant.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10249337852,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10249337852,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10249337852?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, </span><span style="font-size:12pt;">840 George Bush Blvd.</span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt;">Deacon Bob Laquerre, parish manager</span></p>
<p>Just when Laquerre thought the worst of George Bush Boulevard construction would be finished soon, the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway became stuck in the open position. <br /> Parishioners have still been finding their way to church, says Laquerre, but the road mess and bridge closure are presenting problems for others. <br /> “Visitors are not finding us,” he says. “We count on their attendance.” <br /> Even so, collections were up between 15% to 20% when compared to similar weeks in 2019, the year before the pandemic struck and the church was forced to close, Laquerre says. <br /> St. Vincent did not have a parish festival in February 2021 because the vaccines were not widely available. This year’s has been rescheduled to April 29-May 1 because of the road construction. <br /> “We will have more rides but not the indoor flea market,” Laquerre says. “We are also transitioning away from running our own food booths to providing food trucks. This provides more variety and helps reduce our need for volunteers.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10249312685,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10249312685,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10249312685?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><span style="font-size:12pt;">Second Time Around, 801 George Bush Blvd.</span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt;">Jen Davis, owner</span></p>
<p>George Bush Boulevard construction work is “inconvenient … the price you pay for progress,” says Davis, owner of Second Time Around.<br /> The roadwork, overseen by the Florida Department of Transportation, will add sidewalks to her block, making the street safer for walkers and bike riders.<br /> But Davis says it hasn’t stopped sales at her upscale consignment shop, which features women’s clothing and accessories — including designer names — from going “through the roof.”<br /> She credits pent-up demand for in-store shopping after the pandemic began to ease.<br /> Her clients are not affected by the closed bridge, which broke March 3. They find her business by doing Google searches for consignment shops, she says.<br /> Davis also sees more tourists visiting the area and more people moving to Delray Beach. “It’s no longer the sleepy village by the sea,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10249313085,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10249313085,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10249313085?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><span style="font-size:12pt;">Bella Reina, 815 George Bush Blvd.</span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt;">Nancy Reagan, owner</span></p>
<p>For Reagan and her spa, the closing of the George Bush Boulevard bridge has been something of a blessing in disguise. <br /> Before the bridge got stuck in the up position, two-way traffic on George Bush Boulevard during roadway construction made it difficult for customers to navigate their way into the spa’s parking lot. <br /> Now, with the bridge out and traffic coming only from the west, fewer cars mean customers have less congestion — and fewer headaches — to contend with.<br /> “We’re really lucky the bridge didn’t break when it was in the down position,” Reagan says. Most of Bella Reina’s clients make appointments, so the staff has the opportunity to let them know that the bridge is out before they arrive.<br /> “The bridge being out hasn’t hurt our business because we’re a destination,” she says. <br /> “We’ve been very proactive in telling them how to get here,” Reagan adds, recommending barrier island clients use either the Woolbright Road bridge or the Linton Boulevard bridge and avoid the congestion of Atlantic Avenue.</p></div>Delray Affair: Glad to be backhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-affair-glad-to-be-back2022-03-29T20:10:11.000Z2022-03-29T20:10:11.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10247028100,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10247028100,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10247028100?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Crowds are expected to return by the thousands for the Delray Affair as it resumes along Atlantic Avenue. <strong>Photos provided</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">After a 2-year hiatus, the Delray Affair is returning — and so are the gladiolus bulbs</span></p>
<p><strong>By Rich Pollack</strong></p>
<p>For the thousands of people who have made an annual pilgrimage to Atlantic Avenue for three days each spring, the Delray Affair is more than just a street festival. <br />It is a tradition — one that evolved from a flower festival with parades and beauty queens — and one that has endured for six decades. <br />After a two-year pandemic-related hiccup, the Delray Affair is returning to the Avenue April 8 through 10, bringing with it a few of the icons that have defined the event for 60 years. <br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10247043057,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10247043057,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="180" alt="10247043057?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Once again this year, there will be entertainment, a kids zone and yes, conch fritters, a staple of the event. More than 500 booths of artists and crafters as well as vendors with a wide array of items for sale will line the streets along 12 city blocks. <br />To celebrate the gala’s 60th anniversary, there will be a ’60s theme, with some participants dressing in ’60s attire, and, of course, plenty to eat and drink. <br />More than anything else, however, there will be tradition. <br />“There’s something in all of us that likes to hang on to tradition and the Delray Affair is probably the first and oldest tradition that still exists in Delray,” said Nancy Stewart, whose Festival Management Group produces the event for the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10247034666,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10247034666,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="300" alt="10247034666?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a>For many, the return of the Delray Affair means a chance to gather with friends and family for a yearly visit and perhaps run into acquaintances they might not have seen since the last festival. <br />“The Delray Affair was founded to help the business community but has grown to become a beloved event that brings the community together,” said Stephanie Immelman, the chamber’s CEO. “We need that now more than ever.” <br />It is that sense of community that brings artists like Deborah LaFogg Docherty — a Delray Beach resident who paints wildlife images — back every year. “The Delray Affair is like coming home to family and friends,” says LaFogg Docherty, who has been a regular at the show for at least 30 years. “It gives you that warm feeling that this is where you belong.” <br />This year, the Delray Beach Historical Society will give visitors a chance to stroll down memory lane via photos from Delray Beach’s Gladiola Festival, a precursor of the Delray Affair.<br />The historical society will sell gladiolus corms (bulbs), with the hope that residents will plant a little reminder of the community’s history in their yards. <br />“It is our vision to have this iconic, perennial flower growing in everyone’s backyard,” says David Cook, the Delray Affair chairman for the historical society.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10247035453,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10247035453,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10247035453?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></em></span><span style="font-size:10pt;"><em>Workers harvest gladiolus in the fields west of Delray Beach. </em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Miles of color</span> <br /> The bulbs are the closest thing you will see to the grown gladiolas that the festival used to sell. With the disappearance of the last gladiola farms in the area — and in most of the U.S. — several years ago, organizers discovered it was too costly to import them from overseas. Gladiolas, according to longtime resident Roy Simon, considered by many to be the founder of the Delray Affair, were once so plentiful that gladiolus fields stretched from Military Trail to U.S. Highway 441, creating a miles-long splash of many colors when the flowers bloomed. <br />“It was just a beautiful thing to see,” Simon said. <br />In all, there were believed to be 11 nurseries growing as many as 14 varieties of gladiolas, according to the historical society archives. <br />During the early 1950s, Delray was the nation’s leading producer of gladiolas, with about 1,600 acres under cultivation. </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10247036073,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10247036073,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10247036073?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>A float at the 1986 Delray Affair transported the 1948 and 1986 Gladiola Queens.</em></p>
<p>The gladiolas were so important to Delray Beach that from 1947 to 1953 the community held an annual Gladiola Festival with parades through the then relatively small town. <br />The Gladiola Festival eventually faded away as vegetable farming all but replaced the floral industry, but it was reinvented in 1960 to recognize the shift after Simon saw a street festival while visiting relatives in the Central Florida town of Winter Park. “I came home and said, ‘We ought to have this in Delray,’” he said. <br />A committee was formed and an agricultural exhibition was created, showcasing everything grown in Delray Beach including vegetables, flowers and citrus. There were even cows on the Avenue. <br />At the time, Delray Beach was known as a haven for artists, cartoonists and writers and by 1962 community leaders decided to expand the festival by inviting them to be part of the event, transforming it into a street festival that became the Delray Affair. <br />Even then, the party stretched from Swinton Avenue to the Intracoastal Waterway, with artists painting in Veterans Park.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10247040077,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10247040077,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10247040077?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a> <em>Joyce Totterdale Murphree (center) serves punch during an early Gladiola Festival.</em></p>
<p>Soon, vendors asked to take part but Atlantic Avenue was strictly for writers and artists. A Thieves Market, where all sorts of merchandise was sold, was opened in the parking lot north of Atlantic just east of the railroad tracks and remained for many years. <br />“The ultimate goal was to show off our town,” Simon says. “If you want to show off your town, you need an attraction to bring people in.” <br />Back then, the Delray Affair helped keep businesses afloat after the end of the tourist season. And it remains an important fundraiser for the chamber, while at the same time helping merchants.<br /> “I’m happy that it’s still going on and that we’re still showcasing our city and drawing people from all over,” Simon said. <br />Some traditions, it seems, are worth keeping. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>If You Go</strong></span><br /><strong>What:</strong> The 60th annual Delray Affair <br /><strong>Where:</strong> Downtown Delray Beach <br /><strong>When:</strong> 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. April 8-9, 10-5 April 10. <br /><strong>Admission:</strong> Free <br /><strong>Info:</strong> 561-278-0424 or <a href="http://www.delrayaffair.com">www.delrayaffair.com</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10247038294,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10247038294,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10247038294?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Visitors look at a display of historic photos at a past Delray Affai</em>r. <em><strong>Photo provided by Delray Affair/Julia Rose</strong></em></p></div>Delray Beach: Chess, anyone? A beachfront game of strategyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-chess-anyone-a-beachfront-game-of-strategy2022-03-02T18:10:47.000Z2022-03-02T18:10:47.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10165345897,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10165345897,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10165345897?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></strong><em>Tristen Willis, 10, studies the board as he competes with Deb Peters at the Delray Beach Pavilion. It’s part of James McCray’s effort to teach chess, mainly to young players. <strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Ron Hayes</strong></p>
<p>By 9 a.m. on a recent Saturday, well before the parking lots filled and beachgoers crowded State Road A1A and Atlantic Avenue, James McCray and Samuel Spear Jr. were busy preparing the Delray Beach Pavilion. They arranged a basket of bananas, apples and mandarin oranges. Filled a bucket with bottles of iced tea and purified water. Displayed the T-shirts neatly. <br /> Then they positioned seven small folding tables and chairs along the Pavilion’s rail and placed a chessboard and hand sanitizer on each. <br /> Finally, McCray hung the banner. “Community That Plays Together Stays Together/James Chess Club, Est. 2020.” <br /> “The appeal of chess is love,” he said. “When you learn to love a game, you learn to love yourself.”<br /> Since June 2020, James McCray has taught twice-weekly chess games for boys and girls at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum on Northwest Fifth Avenue. The children think they’re learning how to play a game. <br /> McCray, 72, believes they’re learning how to live a life. “In both chess and life, the only opportunity for growth comes from experience,” he reasons. “With experience, you get better at both chess and life.” <br /> On Dec. 29, McCray arranged to set up at the Pavilion, his first effort at spreading his love of chess, and life, to the larger community. This Feb. 19 event was his second downtown gathering.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10165350677,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10165350677,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10165350677?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>James McCray plays chess with Samuel Spear Jr.</em></p>
<p><br /> <span style="font-size:14pt;">Chess vs. life decisions</span><br /> Tables set, refreshments ready, McCray and Spear waited for players to appear. <br /> “It’s all in the hand of God,” McCray said. <br /> And they waited some more. James McCray’s fledgling effort to make chess a public pastime in Delray Beach has noble predecessors. <br /> In 2017, a chess enthusiast in the Netherlands named Jesus Medina Molina set up three chess sets in a public park in the city of Utrecht, and “The Urban Chess Project” was born. To date, more than 40 cities throughout the Netherlands have followed Utrecht’s example and placed games in their public parks. New York City’s Washington Square Park is famous for its outdoor chess tables, where fabled master Bobby Fischer once played, and Chicago offers chess tables in four of its public parks. <br /> The most famous outdoor chess game dates to 1454 in the northern Italian city of Marostica. Sept. 12, 1454, to be exact. According to the story, two noblemen fell in love with Lionora, a daughter of the local lord, Taddeo Parisio, and challenged each other to a duel for her hand. <br /> However, Parisio was a peaceful man, so he decreed that they would play a game of chess rather than risking bloodshed, with the winner winning Lionora and the loser her younger sister, Oldrada. The moves of that game, and the winner, are lost to history, but on Sept. 12 in even-numbered years, thousands gather in Marostica’s town square to watch human chess pieces re-create that legendary game on a chessboard 58 feet long on each side. <br /> McCray is happy if he can keep his Pavilion tables busy with his students and passersby enjoying a game he’s played for 50 years. <br /> “Same old story,” he says. “We had neighborhood games, and chess was different from basketball and baseball. I went for chess because I don’t like to be hit.” <br /> Eddie Rodgers, 69, a West Palm Beach native, has been playing chess with McCray for 40 years. <br /> “James uses chess for his life decisions,” says Rodgers, whose father taught him the game. “To me, it’s a game first, but I realize its importance in making life decisions. Some pieces are more or less important in your life, just as some decisions you make are more or less important.” Samuel Spear Jr. is a relative newcomer, having played only 11 years. <br /> “It brings people together,” he says, “and you can pause a minute. You can just sit there and study the board. It’s not like some games, where you have to go crazy.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">‘It’s a mindset game’</span><br /> Shortly after 10 a.m., Mary McKinzy of Riviera Beach arrived with her grandchildren, Tristen Willis, 9, and Taya Willis, 6. <br /> Tristen, a third-grader at Trinity Christian School, is the chess player. Taya nibbled an apple. <br /> “I play golf, too,” he announced. “I like both. With golf, I get to play with people, and when I get bored I can play chess alone.” <br /> This Saturday morning, he played chess with Deb Peters, a retired elementary school teacher from Long Island who taught computer chess to 500 kids. Chin in hand, he studied the board. He frowned. He moved. She frowned. She moved. They moved. <br /> Does he smell victory? <br /> “I sure do,” he said, and his sense of smell proved true. They shook hands. Peters was gracious in defeat.<br /> “Did you let him win?” a cynical spectator asked. <br /> “Absolutely not!” she exclaimed. <br /> “It’s fun to win,” Tristen said in a postgame interview, “but even if I lose I’m happy because I got to play. And even if you lost, you can always win the next one.” <br /> This is one of the life lessons McCray wants to impart.<br /> “I try to teach the little ones you don’t have to always be successful to be happy,” he says. “And you will lose sometimes. But make sure you don’t give up.” <br /> Now Thomas Norris arrived with his son, Ethan, 9, a third-grader at Boca Raton Elementary School. <br /> “James taught me to play,” Ethan said. “It’s a mindset game, not like video games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. I play those games, but not as much. I get bored. I never get bored with chess.” <br /> What he’s learned, Ethan said, is that chess has three kinds of moves: dumb moves, great moves and reasonable moves. <br /> “Never make a dumb move or a bad move,” he said. “Don’t give your pieces away, and don’t rush. Take your time.” <br /> Patience is another life lesson McCray teaches through chess.<br /> “Be patient and appreciate every moment,” he tells young players, “both in life and in chess. And either way, you’re going to lose someday.” <br /> Ethan played until his father returned with a burger and fries to interrupt the game. Ethan ate the burger and fries, then fell asleep on a bench.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10165347073,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10165347073,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10165347073?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>William Horan and Matthew Heles play chess at the Delray Beach Pavilion. They walked up from the beach and found the chess event in progress. <br /> </em></p>
<p>As morning turned to afternoon, a few more players appeared, a few kids, and even more adults, passersby who stopped for a quick game in the Pavilion’s shade. <br /> Among them was a large pink flamingo named Matthew Heles, 19. <br /> Climbing the Pavilion steps from the beach, Heles wore one of those inflatable flamingo costumes, cleverly tricked out to make it appear he’s riding the giant flamingo. He was accompanied by his friend William Horan, 27, dressed like a normal human being. <br /> “Chess is great for learning patience,” Heles said, “and learning to think ahead. I’m very impulsive — obviously, I’m wearing a pink flamingo costume — so it’s good for me to sit down.” <br /> Heles and Horan sat down and played a game. <br /> The flamingo won.</p>
<p><em>The James Chess Club meets Thursdays 5-7 p.m. and Saturdays noon-2 p.m. at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, 170 NW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach. Lessons are for children, but all ages are welcome to play. For more information, call 561-352-7145.</em></p></div>Delray Beach: Appeals court upholds 3-story height for downtown East Atlantic Avenuehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-appeals-court-upholds-3-story-height-for-downtown-ea2022-03-02T15:50:33.000Z2022-03-02T15:50:33.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Delray Beach won in appellate court the ability to keep its downtown height cap at three stories.<br /> “It’s a big win for the city,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said Feb. 16, the same day the ruling was announced. The appeals court ruled that the city could limit its height to three stories in part of its downtown. <br /> Property owner Billy Himmelrich and his business partner had sued the city in May 2018, claiming they were not informed in writing about the zoning change, as the Bert Harris Act requires. The Harris Act protects individual property rights. <br /> In February 2015, following 18 months of meetings, the City Commission placed a three-story height limit in its downtown. <br />Residents wanted to preserve the small-town look of East Atlantic Avenue, between Swinton Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway. <br /> Himmelrich, though, did speak at the zoning hearings before the cap was placed in early 2015.<br /> He could not be reached for comment following the court ruling.<br /> He and his partner own two parking lots and two buildings, just east of the Old School Square grounds. <br />They sought $6.9 million in damages. <br /> They wanted to build a four-story hotel, but they did not submit formal plans.<br /> They lost at the circuit court level because their plans were not formalized and then appealed that loss to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in May 2019.</p></div>Delray Beach: End to Old School Square lease unveils history of controversyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-end-to-old-school-square-lease-unveils-history-of-co2021-09-29T16:28:50.000Z2021-09-29T16:28:50.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9624440289,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9624440289,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9624440289?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>The Cornell Art Museum has been the centerpiece of Old School Square for decades. </em><strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-nonprofit-s-pattern-of-accounting-flaws-at-heart-of-" target="_blank">RELATED STORY: Delray Beach: Nonprofit’s pattern of accounting flaws at heart of city’s decision</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>The decision to terminate the long-standing city lease with the Old School Square Center for the Arts board came swiftly, but the seeds of discontent were sown years ago.<br /> Tired of excuses and missed deadlines for submitting fiscal audits — to show how the $1.7 million given Old School Square over the past three years had been spent — three city commissioners on Aug. 10 gave the center’s managers six months to vacate the historic premises. <br /> “If not today, when,” Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson said after making a motion to end the 32-year-old lease, which was supported by Mayor Shelly Petrolia and Commissioner Juli Casale. <br /> Deputy Vice Mayor Adam Frankel and Commissioner Ryan Boylston disagreed. <br /> “To cut off a multiyear relationship over personality conflicts,” Frankel said, “that’s what I see is on the table.” <br /> The city and the Old School Square board have been at odds for years, according to Petrolia. Her predecessor, Cary Glickstein, tried to rein in the Old School Square managers in 2016 with a tighter lease. Glickstein declined to comment.<br /> The sour feelings came to a head when city commissioners learned that a $1.6 million renovation to the interior of the Crest Theatre, mostly underwritten by a private donor and undertaken by a board member, was underway without their knowledge.<br /> Old School Square managers countered that they had gone to City Hall to secure the necessary permits, which should have served notice that the work was underway.<br /> And they pointed to the lease, which specifies Old School Square managers’ financial reporting obligations, but does not specify how the city is informed about renovations. Frankel argued that the building permits approved by city staff would hold up in court as notice given to the city.<br /> The tipping point for Petrolia was when she learned in early August the construction bond for the renovation protected Old School Square managers, not the city, which owns the building. When they refused to change it, “that’s what threw me over to the other side.” <br /> She said Old School Square managers acted as if they —not Delray Beach taxpayers — owned the buildings. As examples, twice their executives signed the renovation permits as the owner of the Cornell Art Museum and more recently the Crest Theatre.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Outpouring of protest</span><br /> After the 3-2 vote, Old School Square dug in its heels. Board members, staffers and volunteers mounted a strident social media campaign to force the commission to reconsider. Staff sent supporters commissioners’ email addresses and cellphone numbers, which generated a flood of emails and phone calls. <br /> They took to Facebook, telling friends that three commissioners were trying to destroy the “heart and soul” of the city.<br /> A Change.org petition, citing the city’s “unethical voting process, lack of due diligence and reliance on inaccurate information,” secured more than 10,000 signatures, although not all the signers were city residents.<br /> In late September, managers canceled the popular series of fall art classes, saying they were forced to, in part, because of fallout from bad publicity from termination of the lease. <br /> Tom Rutherfoord signed up for a four- week photography class in October. The instructor called him in late September and told him all classes were canceled.<br /> “I paid about $200 for the class,” he said. “I’m sure they will return the money.”<br /> Yet Old School Square’s website says it is not offering refunds.<br /> “Why are you stopping a money generator?” asked Petrolia.<br /> And when the city attorney tried to amend the lease in late June by adding a clause that any renovations over $65,000 would have to be approved by the City Commission, Brian Lipshy, the Old School Square managers’ attorney, balked. He said that kind of oversight was not required by the current lease. <br /> Five days before the commission’s Aug. 17 meeting, Old School Square managers sent a six-page letter notifying the city of its intent to sue over the lease termination.<br /> Just before the meeting, supporters held a rally outside City Hall. They wore black T-shirts with Old School Square logos and spoke passionately about their love of the arts center.<br /> Scott Porten, a former Old School Square board chairman, said during the meeting, “You decided without notice and took the nuclear option.”<br /> Equally passionate was Elise Johnson Nail, another former Old School Square board chair. She chided the commission for its decision, made without talking to the Old School Square board. “Why would anyone donate their hard-earned money to any nonprofit in this city, subject to the whims of the commission?” Nail asked.<br /> None of the protests persuaded the three commissioners to revisit their votes. They said they were waiting for the full report from internal auditor Julia Davidyan.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">Contractor’s dual role questioned</span><br /> The decision to end the lease, seen as hasty to some, was a long time coming, others say.<br /> Johnson, elected in 2017, said she wanted “to wean the nonprofits off the city dole.” <br /> Johnson was invited to tour the Crest Theatre after she found out in late June that the theater renovation, which included a commercial kitchen, was underway. <br /> She said she had no idea of the extent of the work.<br /> Old School Square board member and project contractor Bill Branning nudged her and said, “Well, you do now,” Johnson recalled.<br /> Philanthropist Margaret Blume, who underwrote $1.4 million of the renovation, said that because Branning is “a board member and a general contractor, I trusted him to represent my interests better than another general contractor. You go with people you have confidence in their work.”<br /> Blume also scoffed at the contention that the City Commission was in the dark about the restoration. “For them to claim that they didn’t know about it is really ludicrous. In order to do any kind of improvement of property in the city of Delray Beach, or any city, you have to pull a permit” describing the nature of the work. “The city has to approve. The commissioners weren’t watching their own chickadees.” <br /> Branning was part of the Old School Square team that came to the July 13 City Commission meeting to ask for retroactive approval for the Crest Theatre renovation. <br /> Casale asked why the Crest renovation project wasn’t put out to bid. <br /> “The renovation was brought to the Old School Square board” in February, Branning said. To avoid a conflict of interest, “I left the meeting while it was discussed. The board approved the contract unanimously.”<br /> City Attorney Lynn Gelin questioned Branning’s dual role as an Old School Square board member and contractor. <br /> “Because of our ethics rules and the reason the commission is struggling to understand how this can happen … it doesn’t pass the smell test,” she said to Branning. “It’s not enough just to step out of the room while the vote is taken.”<br /> Still, commissioners unanimously agreed to let the renovation proceed. <br /> They asked Davidyan to review the financial documents received and report back in 60 days. <br /> The work was stopped on Aug. 5 by city inspectors. <br /> “The representatives for Old School Square did not provide a performance bond that would properly protect the city’s interests regarding the completion and quality of the work,” Gina Carter, the city spokeswoman, wrote in a Sept. 14 email. <br /> Although rumors abounded that the buildings would be torn down if the city severed the lease, the nearly five-acre campus — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — is deed restricted. It must remain an arts and cultural center. If it doesn’t, the property reverts to the Palm Beach County School District. <br /> The campus consists of three historic buildings: the Crest Theatre (the restored 1925 Delray High School); the Cornell Art Museum (the restored 1913 Delray Elementary School); and the Fieldhouse (formerly the 1925 Vintage Gymnasium). An outdoor pavilion was added in 2002.</p>
<p><br /> <span style="font-size:14pt;">What’s next for campus?</span><br /> The commission asked City Manager Terrence Moore to find a nonprofit to run the Old School Square campus. <br /> He published his plan Aug. 27 on the city website and estimated it would take about five months to find a new operator. Old School Square Center for the Arts will be allowed to compete for a new lease if managers can fix discrepancies in their financial records and finish the renovation, Petrolia said.<br /> Old School Square board Chairwoman Emelie Konopka said the board has not decided whether to apply for a new lease.<br /> “We were planning for a workshop (with the city) to address the city’s concerns, but we were not afforded the opportunity,” she wrote in a Sept. 26 email to The Coastal Star.<br /> The city funds nonprofits through its Community Redevelopment Agency. Johnson is the chairwoman of the CRA board, made up of the five city commissioners and two appointed board members.<br /> The Old School Square managers received only the first-quarter payment of their annual request of $750,000 for the 2020-21 budget year.<br /> The CRA requires an annual audit of any nonprofit before it can apply to receive tax dollars for the next fiscal year. Even with the ongoing pandemic, six other Delray Beach nonprofits supplied the necessary audits to the CRA in May with their money requests.<br /> The CRA held back the other payments because the Old School Square managers have not supplied audits for the past two budget years and used the pandemic as an excuse. <br /> The Old School Square managers should not receive the rest of their $582,500 from the CRA, even after the two audits are complete, Johnson told The Coastal Star on Aug. 25.<br /> The first auditing firm, Holyfield & Thomas, dropped Old School Square as a client after Robert Steele resigned in May 2018 as the nonprofit’s chief executive and chief financial officer. The firm’s auditor left as well. Holyfield & Thomas then determined there was no one “with enough experience to work with Old School Square given their needs,” Renee Jadusingh, CRA executive director, wrote to CRA board members in mid-August.<br /> The second auditing firm, Daszkal Bolton LLP, could not meet the Old School Square deadlines, Latoya Lawrence, the center’s CFO, said at the July 15 CRA board meeting. She promised the board that the 2018-2019 audit would be done by July 31. <br /> But when Jadusingh called Daszkal Bolton after the deadline to find out why that firm no longer had Old School Square as a client, Michael Daszkal indicated that OSS was not in a position to complete audits for fiscal years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, Jadusingh wrote. <br /> “After months of not receiving adequate information, Daszkal Bolton LLP withdrew from the engagement.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;">City auditor cites lack of info</span> <br /> On Sept. 10, two of Old School Square’s attorneys met with the city attorney and the city manager. <br /> After some back and forth, Moore finally told them that they can apply to remain operators of Old School Square.<br /> At the Sept. 13 commission meeting, Davidyan said the Old School Square managers were not in compliance with the city lease. She cited the lack of a strategic plan, no recent annual budgets, no recent outside auditing reports and no recent forms filed with the IRS.<br /> The CRA budgets do not give the complete picture of what is happening at Old School Square, Davidyan said. “None of the items related to the capital improvements at the Crest Theatre building or by the donor were listed,” she said. “I’m told OSS has a separate construction budget.”<br /> Discussions between Davidyan and the Old School Square staff ceased after the city received the notice of intent to sue.</p>
<p><em>Larry Keller contributed to this story.</em></p>
<p> </p></div>Celebrations: 100-year anniversary celebration; Periwinkle, Delray Beach — Sept. 16https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/celebrations-100-year-anniversary-celebration-periwinkle-delray-b2021-09-28T15:33:19.000Z2021-09-28T15:33:19.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9621313287,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9621313287,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9621313287?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Periwinkle owner Carrie Delafield, building owner Robert Brewer and Periwinkle President Megan Mignano. </em><strong>Photo provided</strong></p>
<p>The women’s contemporary resort-wear boutique partnered with the Delray Beach Historical Society to celebrate its location at 339 E. Atlantic Ave. turning one century old. The building originally was constructed as a bank and has housed an insurance company and an import store through the years. Its history was remembered during a cocktail party featuring a photo exhibit. Guests shopped in support of the society, with a portion of all sales going to the organization. </p></div>Delray Beach: Amber lights chosen for turtle-safe beach areahttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-amber-lights-chosen-for-turtle-safe-beach-area2021-06-02T17:44:08.000Z2021-06-02T17:44:08.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Before the next sea turtle nesting season, the busy beachside intersection of State Road A1A and Atlantic Avenue will be lit with amber LED lights that can stay on throughout the year, even during the turtles’ eight-month nesting season.<br /> The rest of Delray Beach will switch to white LED lights as a sustainability measure — the equivalent of taking 172 cars off the road — Missie Barletto, Public Works director, said at the May 18 Delray Beach City Commission meeting. The lights will be brighter than those on Christmas trees and likely will improve public safety, she said. <br /> The five commissioners gave their consensus to proceed. <br /> The A1A change has been about three years in the making. <br /> The city had its amber lights on Florida Power & Light poles for years. But the utility decided in 2018 that it would no longer allow customer-owned fixtures on its poles between George Bush Boulevard and Casuarina Road. <br /> That’s when the city scrambled between the safety of nesting sea turtles balanced against the concerns of residents and visitors near the bustling intersection. <br /> The Beach Property Owners Association had asked FPL to work with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to approve amber LED lights to quell concerns about darkness on the 1.1-mile municipal beach. In addition to meeting the FWC standards to protect nesting sea turtles March 1 through Oct. 31, FPL has its own technical and reliability standards.<br /> Instead of choosing red LED lights that could stay on during the turtle-nesting season, the city opted for white LED lights that would go dark for eight months. It will take another five months until the amber LED lights are installed.<br /> “Thank you to the city, FPL and FWC for making our streets more safe for residents and traffic,” said Bob Victorin, BPOA president, “while preserving the safety of nesting sea turtles.”<br /> The city will pay about $7,300 to switch out the lights on 34 poles along A1A. <br /> For the rest of the city, FPL will change the 3,800 sodium halogen lights to white LED lights at no cost to the city. <br /> “Some streetlights are not working in the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods,” said Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson, “so it will be bright” after the white LED lights are installed.</p></div>Delray Beach: City delays moving valets off Atlantic Avenuehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-delays-moving-valets-off-atlantic-avenue2019-10-02T17:18:38.000Z2019-10-02T17:18:38.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>City Commissioners gave downtown restaurant owners who offer valet parking a six-month reprieve on Oct. 1, allowing the valet stands to remain on Atlantic Avenue.<br />They want to see the traffic flow improve on Atlantic Avenue between Swinton Avenue and Federal Highway. <br /> Todd Herbst, whose Big Time Restaurant Group just opened Elisabetta’s Ristorante, said, “Without the valets, we would never make it.”<br />Sophia Theodore, who owns Taverna Opa with her husband, said her restaurant needs the valet in front as “a convenience factor. Moving it will hurt my business a lot.”<br /> Staff had recommended moving valet stands off Atlantic Avenue, west of the Intracoastal Waterway, to allow public safety vehicles to get into the downtown, ease congestion, improve the pedestrian experience and allow cafe patrons to enjoy their meals.<br />Deputy Vice Mayor Bill Bathurst said, “We want to be a safe town, but we also are a hospitality town. We need to carefully consider anything that breaks the system.”<br />Commissioners asked staff to come up with a list to improve traffic flow. Those items would include finding a side-street location for drop-offs and pick-ups of shared-ride services and the free ride service the city recently started. Also, the commission wants to stop valets from allowing drivers of upscale cars to park all night in a valet space. Restaurants will pay the city $168 per month for each space, up from $165. Valets must make the operation open to all, although each restaurant can offer discounts or free parking. The maximum valets can charge is $10 for four hours west of the Intracoastal and two hours east of the waterway. Caffe Luna Rosa, east of the Intracoastal Waterway, will be able to keep its seven spaces on the barrier island.</p></div>Delray Beach: Free rides in electric cars return to downtownhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-free-rides-in-electric-cars-return-to-downtown2019-09-04T21:21:14.000Z2019-09-04T21:21:14.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Free rides in electric cars are returning to downtown Delray Beach.<br /> Freebee vehicles are set to take to the streets in September, offering point-to-point service that starts or ends in the city’s downtown core. BeeFree Holdings, based in Miami, operates under the Freebee name. <br /> Because the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board members did not want advertising on the vehicles in the first six months, the CRA will have to pay $90,000 extra for the six vehicles, which will cost $401,560 annually. <br /> The Freebee vehicle wraps will have four Delray Beach themes, said Ivan Cabrera, CRA project manager. All will have white lettering that says: Welcome to Delray Beach.<br /> “Frogs will represent Frog Alley, pineapples for Pineapple Grove, the Crest Theatre building for Old School Square and palms for the beach,” Cabrera said at the Aug. 13 CRA workshop.<br /> Operating hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.<br /> Freebee rides serve only the CRA district. <br /> That area has the interstate as its western boundary, the beach as its eastern one. It straddles Atlantic Avenue and goes north to Lake Ida Road and south to Southwest 10th Street. <br /> On the barrier island the district covers two blocks north and south of Atlantic. <br /> The limited coverage area concerns Shelly Petrolia, the CRA chairwoman. <br /> “When the Downtowner operated, it served the Lake Ida area and the north and south areas of the beach,” she said at the Aug. 13 workshop. Residents living there may be disappointed, she added.<br /> Cabrera said the CRA staff would track the calls and let the CRA board know the results in six months.<br /> In addition, the fixed-route, free service continues to serve the Tri-Rail station, west of the interstate, with a stop at the beach.<br />Its new route was to start Sept. 3. <br />The gas-powered minibus will go east on Atlantic Avenue to Swinton Avenue where it will turn north, then east on Northeast First Street and stop at the Old School Square garage. The vehicle will continue east on Northeast First and then turn south on Northeast Fourth Avenue and then east on Atlantic to the beach. <br /> That route was selected to avoid the congested traffic of Atlantic Avenue.<br /> The minibus has two vehicles, operated by First Transit. The first runs 6 a.m. through 7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends. The second vehicle runs 6:45 a.m. through 11:15 p.m. weekdays and noon to 11 p.m. weekends. <br /> The white minibuses each have a blue wrap that depicts palms and white lettering that says: “Welcome to Delray Beach.”<br /> Riders using either transportation option can use the Freebee app for smartphones to call for a Freebee ride or find the schedule for the minibus.<br /> The electric car and minibus services operate under the brand Connect Delray. <br /> At the Sept. 10 CRA meeting, board members will decide whether they want to rebid the fixed-route portion to get electric-powered vehicles and will hear about an upcoming $900,000 federal transportation grant and the types of vehicles it covers.</p></div>Delray Beach: CRA hits road bumps in negotiating details of free transportationhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-cra-hits-road-bumps-in-negotiating-details-of-free-t2019-07-03T15:22:42.000Z2019-07-03T15:22:42.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960883499,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960883499,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960883499?profile=original" /></a><em>Freebee, Delray Beach’s selected point-to-point transportation provider, plans to have vehicles that carry</em> <br /><em>advertising. Service is set to begin Sept. 3. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Delray Beach is still waiting on the new vehicles it contracted for to replace the downtown trolley, and officials aren’t happy with some details of contract negotiations.<br />First Transit, the city’s fixed-route operator, has not yet ordered the new propane-powered vehicles, Community Redevelopment Agency board members learned at a June 11 workshop. The company is waiting until it has a signed contract with the city before ordering the vehicles, and that could be months away.<br /> “It will take 14 days from when we sign the contract to get the new vehicles,” said Shannon Borst of First Transit, based in Cincinnati with local offices in Boynton Beach. The new mini-van vehicles will take between 120 to 160 days to have their engines changed from diesel power, Borst said. <br />First Transit will work with Freebee, the selected point-to-point operator, to use its smartphone app to allow riders to know where the minivan is and to find the nearest stop.<br />The CRA board members had talked about wanting wooden bench seats in the new vehicles like the old trolleys had to give visitors an old-time experience. But the white minivans already on the streets have individual bus seats and have replaced the trolleys, Borst said.<br />“We were underwhelmed,” Shelly Petrolia, CRA chairwoman and Delray Beach mayor, said after the workshop. “Why would we pay [more] for them if they are going to be exactly like what we have?”<br />The board members agreed to extend First Transit’s contract to operate two diesel minivans for another six months while the exact type of vehicles, the style of vinyl wrapping and other details are negotiated.<br />The minivans can be wrapped to look like a Woody — a 1960s era station wagon that had wood panels on doors or roof, Renée Jadusingh, CRA assistant director, said at the workshop. <br />Meanwhile, Freebee has ordered its vehicles for the point-to-point system, said Jason Spiegel, managing partner of Freebee. The service will begin on Sept. 3.<br />“We’re excited to be in Delray Beach,” Spiegel said at the workshop. The five electric-powered vehicles will be wrapped and carry advertising, in addition to the city and CRA logos. <br />The CRA board members didn’t like the idea that the point-to-point vehicles would be promoting businesses as they drove through the downtown.<br />Without the advertising, Freebee would need to charge the CRA an additional $180,000, Spiegel said.<br />“It’s a little disappointing,” Petrolia said after the workshop. “I feel snake-bitten by these transit contracts.”<br />Separately, Patrick Halliday is operating a pedicab service from 8 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, weather permitting. His drivers service the area between Swinton Avenue to the ocean and north to Fourth Street and south to Third Street. <br />Halliday, a bicycling advocate, has wanted to start the pedicab service for years. He received Florida Department of Transportation approval, which said pedicabs should be treated as bicycles and are allowed on the street. <br />The pedicab ride is free and operates on a “generous gratuity” to the driver. Four pedicabs will run each evening, Halliday said.<br />Riders who want to summon a pedicab should call 288-4511 and press 1.</p></div>Delray Beach: Commission looks into effects of busy nightlife on Atlantichttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-commission-looks-into-effects-of-busy-nightlife-on-a2019-07-03T15:08:51.000Z2019-07-03T15:08:51.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960883074,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960883074,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960883074?profile=original" /></a></b><em>Patrons wait outside Tin Roof around midnight on a Saturday in June. Tin Roof is among nightspots that have paid fees to the city because the fire marshal monitored occupancy levels, but it is pressing for change. <span class="s1"><b>Photos by</b> <b>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</b></span></em></p>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Jane Smith</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">On a balmy Saturday evening last month, families strolled along East Atlantic Avenue after dining at some of its many popular restaurants.</p>
<p class="p3">But around 10 p.m., the street took on a rowdier atmosphere. </p>
<p class="p3">By midnight, young adults packed the five blocks between Swinton and Fifth avenues, creating an electric party vibe.</p>
<p class="p3">Lines formed outside The Office and Tin Roof. In some cases, revelers spilled onto sidewalks, forcing pedestrians into the street.</p>
<p class="p3">Loud techno music poured out of The Office, a restaurant with doors opening to East Atlantic and Northeast Second Avenue. A little to the west, a live band cranked out tunes on the patio of Tin Roof.</p>
<p class="p3">“It’s fun. There’s a younger crowd,” said Nicole Rogers, 23, of Boca Raton. She and her sister were standing in line to get into The Office around 11:30 p.m. “We come to socialize.”</p>
<p class="p3">But is that late-night reputation as a fun “bar town” one that Delray Beach’s elected leaders want to cultivate?</p>
<p class="p3">They are grappling with how to have a vibrant downtown that attracts residents and visitors yet provides a safe experience all around.</p>
<p class="p3">“I am seeking the sweet spot that makes sense for our city to have a vibrant nightlife downtown,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said last month. “And that takes into account our long-standing businesses while being safe for all.”</p>
<p class="p3">She wants to talk with the established restaurant owners to see how they’ve been affected.</p>
<p class="p3">About one-third of East Atlantic Avenue restaurants push aside their tables and chairs to create dance floors on weekend nights. Problem is, nightclubs are not allowed in the city.</p>
<p class="p3">In December, city fire marshals began counting late-night patrons after an anonymous tipster alerted the Fire Department about potential overcrowding problems with the Dec. 18 SantaCon pub crawl, said interim City Manager Neal de Jesus, who was fire chief at the time. </p>
<p class="p3">At a March 28 City Commission workshop, commissioners were asked whether they wanted to allow “hybrid model” establishments, transforming from restaurant to nightclub after their food service ended. Four of the commissioners balked.</p>
<p class="p3">The commission told the Fire Department to bill downtown restaurants for the cost of monitoring them to make sure none exceeded capacity. Downtown restaurants and bars were each hand-delivered a letter explaining the change.</p>
<p class="p3">The fees are based on fire marshals’ hourly overtime pay and the number of weekend nights worked. There is a four-hour minimum. </p>
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<p class="p2" style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960883272,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960883272,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960883272?profile=original" /></a><em>J. Moran, Delray Beach Fire Rescue, counts club patrons as they leave The Office. Fire marshals have been assigned to ensure that establishments comply with occupancy limits after food service ends at night.</em></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s2"><b>A ‘bar town’?</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Restaurant owners and managers have appealed to the Downtown Development Authority, a taxing district that markets and promotes the downtown area. It acts as a liaison with local businesses and city officials. </p>
<p class="p3">To make city leaders aware of the value of a nighttime economy, the DDA will host a town hall at 10 a.m. July 10 at the Old School Square Fieldhouse. Jim Peters, president of the California-based Responsible Hospitality Institute, will be the guest speaker.</p>
<p class="p3">“Vibrant social options like bars, restaurants, live music venues and nightclubs attract entrepreneurs, visitors, residents,” Laura Simon, DDA executive director, wrote in an email. “They create jobs and drive economic development within the city and business district.”</p>
<p class="p3">Petrolia said she wants to keep the existing rules. If the city lets the restaurants turn into nightclubs after a set time, she’s concerned that Delray Beach’s downtown — with restaurants concentrated in a five-block area — would be known as a “bar town.”</p>
<p class="p3">During the second half of July, while the City Commission takes a break, City Attorney Lynn Gelin will research how nearby cities handle their nightlife issues and compile a memo for commissioners to consider.</p>
<p class="p3">“Even if hybrids are allowed, the restaurants would get only a slight bump in their occupancy limit,” Gelin said, “not the double and triple number of patrons they are packing in.”</p>
<p class="p3">Case in point: On April 7, The O.G., a bar on Southeast Second Avenue, was shut down by fire marshals with the help of city police. Its occupancy limit is 59 people. The fire marshals counted 267 patrons, according to de Jesus. It has paid bills totaling $12,390.55 for April and May.</p>
<p class="p3">De Jesus likened the occupancy problem to speeding every day and not getting caught. It’s still illegal. He said he doesn’t worry about fires. He’s more concerned about potential violence and the city’s liability if it looked the other way.</p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s2"><b>Big bills</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Some restaurant managers are upset by the bills.</p>
<p class="p3">Victor Korobka, general manager of Buddha Sky Bar, told commissioners in May that he’s “feeling not wanted.” Korobka said he has helped feed homeless people on Thanksgiving and participated in the annual Savor the Avenue outdoor dining event that raises money for charity.</p>
<p class="p3">Buddha can appeal its bills of $7,842.25 for April and $10,203.56 for May, according to the city attorney’s office. Appeals will be heard by the acting fire chief and then move on to the city’s Board of Adjustments.</p>
<p class="p3">As of June 28, no appeals were filed.</p>
<p class="p3">Johnnie Brown’s is another unhappy restaurant. The 10-year-old, open-air eatery features live classic rock music.</p>
<p class="p3">“Many of our regular customers are maturing boomers, and at least 70 to 75 percent of them are locals from the surrounding community,” manager Bruce McDonald wrote in an email in mid-June.</p>
<p class="p3">Restaurants are working with the city to count their patrons and keep occupancy within the limits set by state law. As a result, Johnnie Brown’s is no longer monitored since it has been able to show it can maintain legal occupancy levels on its own without the help of the fire marshals. But it did receive bills for April and May, which “are under analysis,” McDonald wrote.</p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s2"><b>Pros and cons</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Tin Roof management would like to pursue a “hybrid model” to increase late-night occupancy, said manager Christina Godbout.</p>
<p class="p3">The restaurant, which features live music, paid a $7,220.13 bill in April. Its May bill of $6,106.67, due by July 3, will be paid, Godbout said.</p>
<p class="p3">The city will consider the pros and cons of allowing hybrid businesses with late-night crowds. Increased trash and public safety concerns are at the top of the issues list. Other issues include what effect permitting this operational change might have on other established businesses and the overall quality of life for city residents.</p>
<p class="p3">“Safety is the main concern,” said Christian Prakas, a restaurant broker who fills Atlantic Avenue spaces. “But if a restaurant is paying $100 a square foot, it can’t afford the rent if it has to pay a monthly fee” for occupancy monitoring.</p>
<p class="p3">At least one restaurant, though, has found a way to profit from the nightlife without being charged a fee.</p>
<p class="p3">Sazio, an Italian restaurant on East Atlantic, closes before midnight, manager Hector Zuluaga said.</p>
<p class="p3">But it keeps a window open to sell slices of pizza and bottled water until 3:30 a.m. on weekends.</p>
<p class="p3">“The nightlife is good for us,” Zuluaga said. </p></div>Delray Beach: Downtowner drops bid to return to Delray, citing liability costshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-downtowner-drops-bid-to-return-to-delray-citing-liab2019-05-29T15:33:54.000Z2019-05-29T15:33:54.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />The Downtowner open-air vehicle company has officially parted ways with the City of Delray Beach.<br /> The transportation company rankled the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency when it reduced the number of vehicles it would provide for its point-to-point service from nine to seven and pulled its bid for the fixed operator contract that would replace the current trolley system.<br /> The reason? The $5 million liability insurance policy that the CRA required for the transportation service.<br /> “I feel like I’ve been had,” said Adam Frankel, CRA board member and a city commissioner. “The commission received a lot of criticism last September that we had run you out of town, when it was you who had changed your business model.”<br /> CRA Chairwoman Shelly Petrolia agreed. “I thought the cars were already ordered,” she said. <br /> “Our other contracts in Florida require only $1 million in insurance,” said Mike Monaco, chief technology officer for the Downtowner. “We underestimated the cost of the $5 million policy.”<br /> For example, the Downtowner’s contract with the Tampa Downtown Partnership requires a $1 million policy, said Karen Kress, transportation and planning director for the group. <br /> The Downtowner uses Teslas and Chevy Bolt electric vehicles in Tampa because their charges last longer than in the global electric motorcars that are popular in Delray Beach.<br /> Because the Downtowner changed the terms of its $591,985 point-to-point bid, the Delray Beach CRA board members voted 6-0 to award that service to BeeFree Holdings. Board member Ryan Boylston had left the meeting before that vote was taken. <br /> The BeeFree firm, based in Miami, operates under the name Freebee. The company had been ranked first by the selection committee when the original bids were considered. <br /> The company provides point-to-point service in Coral Gables, where its contract calls for $3 million of liability coverage. <br /> Jason Spiegel, managing partner of Freebee, declined to comment until the firm has a signed contract.<br /> Like the Downtowner did in Delray Beach, Freebee will use GEM vehicles. The two firms also offer apps for smartphone users that promise to say when the vehicles will arrive. <br /> But unlike the Downtowner, Freebee will have to find a place near downtown to store and charge its vehicles. The firm’s bid was $401,560 annually for five GEM vehicles with a sixth that will be wheelchair accessible. <br />The Downtowner has four electric vehicle charging sites adjacent to its offices on Northeast Fourth Avenue. Downtowner open-air vehicles have not operated in the city since October 2018.<br /> With the Downtowner pulling out of the fixed-route proposal, the CRA voted 6-1 to award that contract to the competitor, First Transit, with Frankel voting no. He is opposed to the large vehicles.<br /> First Transit, which provides drivers for the city’s diesel-fueled trolleys, will offer two Starcraft Allstar Ford vehicles that carry 20 passengers and are powered by propane gas. A backup vehicle will use diesel fuel, considered more polluting than propane gas. <br /> The mini buses each will have a DriveCam running to record both sound and video, but First Transit wants to charge $70,000 extra to equip the vehicles with passenger counting and other technology. The firm’s initial $512,606 bid was accepted. The advanced technology system costs will be decided separately. <br /> The departure of the Downtowner and subsequent agreement with First Transit for fixed-route transportation means the CRA will likely have its current diesel-fueled trolleys running past June 30. The point-to-point service, set to begin Sept. 1, also is delayed.<br /> “That means another 100 days,” said Petrolia, also the Delray Beach mayor. “I’m not happy.”</p></div>Delray Beach: Diesel trolleys to hang on for another two monthshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-diesel-trolleys-to-hang-on-for-another-two-months2019-05-01T16:44:10.000Z2019-05-01T16:44:10.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Delray Beach city commissioners conceded in mid-April that the diesel-spewing trolleys would have to operate on Atlantic Avenue for another two months. If they hadn’t, First Transit would have stopped driving the city trolleys on April 30. <br /> The reason: The fixed-route contract with the Delray Downtowner won’t be ready until mid-May at the earliest. The cost: $80,000, which will be paid by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to First Transit.<br /> The free trolleys have operated every year since 2006. Two trolleys operate on one route, which has 23 stops between the Tri-Rail station on Congress Avenue and the municipal beach. The route travels through Delray Beach’s downtown business core of Atlantic Avenue. <br /> When the trolley service abruptly stopped last fall, city commissioners received complaints about employees not being able to get to work, according to the backup materials provided to the commission for its April 16 meeting. <br /> The Downtown Development Authority and business community stressed that tourists would not have access to free trolley services previously provided, the backup material also stated.<br /> The extra time granted in April is needed to allow the city’s CRA staff to finish negotiating the contract with the Downtowner team. That group promised three vans with 14 seats for the fixed-route service. The vans, which would be powered by propane gas, would be decked out to look like surfboards with a fin on each roof.<br /> The vans will stop at the Old School Square garage to pick up passengers who want to go east and eventually to the beach.<br /> That stop would create a park-and-ride situation for passengers from outside the city, a Downtowner principal said in March. <br /> That route will not travel east on Atlantic into the often-clogged downtown core. Instead, the vans will go north on Swinton Avenue, make a right at Northeast First Street, stop at the OSS garage and then continue east on Northeast First Street to Federal Highway. <br /> The city also wants to provide a marketing/transition plan for the new vehicles and the stops, according to Laura Simon, the DDA executive director. She spoke about the plan at the DDA’s Downtown Town Hall on April 17.<br /> The Delray Downtowner team was also awarded the point-to-point shuttle service contract in March.<br /> Under that contract, the firm will lease nine global electric motorcar vehicles, with four picking up passengers in the CRA area at any one time while the others recharge.<br />That area includes Atlantic Avenue from Interstate 95 east to the beach and one block north and south along A1A.</p></div>Delray Beach: Occupancy limits in restaurants will get more enforcement at nighthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-occupancy-limits-in-restaurants-will-get-more-enforc2019-04-03T18:11:14.000Z2019-04-03T18:11:14.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Starting April 1, the Delray Beach Fire Department began sending letters to East Atlantic Avenue restaurants reminding them of city rules. <br /> The owners will be required to comply with set occupancy limits and follow a city code provision that does not allow a restaurant to become a nightclub after food service ends. The city approves only restaurants or stand-alone bars, not hybrid operations.<br /> Repeat offenders will have to pick up the cost for the fire inspectors’ time to make sure the restaurant follows the occupancy rules, said Neal de Jesus, the interim city manager. Up until March 31, the city taxpayers paid for the fire inspectors’ time.<br /> The city has five inspectors already trained to look for problems that arise when a restaurant changes over to become a club after hours. In April, 65 fire-rescue department paramedics will be trained to assist, de Jesus said. Repeat offenders could lose their city operating licenses, he said.<br /> The cost charged to restaurants will vary by the inspectors’ overtime rate and will be for a minimum of four hours. Inspections will be done from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., primarily on Friday and Saturday nights, acting Fire Chief Keith Tomey wrote in an email. <br /> At least two inspectors will be sent for each establishment’s inspection. Thursday and Sunday inspections may be included, he wrote. <br /> This situation “has been going on for a few years,” de Jesus said at the March 28 City Commission workshop. He likened it to speeding every day: Even if you don’t get caught, it’s still illegal. <br /> Commissioners gave him approval to enforce the city rules about occupancy and not allow the restaurants to transition to nightclubs by pushing the tables against the walls, in the kitchen or alleys.<br /> Some even have put the tables in hallways leading to the exits, said Capt. Joe Cafone, who is a fire inspector and works weekend nights. <br /> “We’ve seen restaurants with double the occupancy than allowed,” Cafone said. <br /> The fire inspectors started working in the downtown area in January. They had not been authorized to inspect in the downtown area in past years.<br /> Restaurants are coming into compliance, Cafone said. Most of them don’t understand that the occupancy also includes their staff.<br /> “I see this as two different issues,” Vice Mayor Adam Frankel said. “There’s a capacity issue that you have to enforce. … But the morphing has been going on a long time. I can point to the now-closed Tryst restaurant, next to the Bull Bar, which used to do it all the time.”<br /> Frankel stressed that it’s changing the nature of Atlantic Avenue on weekend nights.<br /> “It’s turning into a show, like on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and Clematis Street in West Palm Beach,” he said. “No one wants that.” <br /> De Jesus said managers and owners of restaurants have told him that it’s been going on for years. “Now that we know, we can’t turn a blind eye to the occupancy problems,” he said.<br /> The latest problem erupted during the SantaCon pub crawl, held Dec. 18 on Atlantic Avenue, de Jesus said. For $25, patrons received free drink coupons to five restaurants and bars. The crawl ended at 2 a.m. <br /> The crowds pushed the restaurants and bars beyond their capacities and police had to be called.<br /> Commissioner Ryan Boylston talked about a recent change in Boca Raton that allowed restaurants to change over to nightclubs after a certain time.<br /> That idea was quashed by the four other commissioners, who said they wanted to protect Atlantic Avenue as a valuable economic driver to the city. The restaurants are spread out in Boca Raton, not concentrated in a five-block strip like Delray has, Mayor Shelly Petrolia said.<br /> “We are in the known economic cycle of a destination location,” Commissioner Bill Bathurst said. “We have to manage it well.” <br /> He talked about the Doxey Irritation Index, which says residents initially like tourists coming into their city. Then they become apathetic, after which irritation grows and is often followed by downright hostility. Canadian economics professor George Doxey created the index in 1975 when he was studying tourist economies in Canada and the Caribbean.<br /> “If you do it the right way, you will make more money,” Bathurst said to the two rows of restaurant owners and their representatives in the commission chambers.</p></div>Delray Beach: Downtowner rides to return May 1 with two new serviceshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-downtowner-rides-to-return-may-1-with-two-new-servic2019-04-03T17:00:00.000Z2019-04-03T17:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960859490,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960859490,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960859490?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br /> The Downtowner open-air vehicles will return to Delray Beach streets in May. <br /> The same company received a fixed-route contract to replace the downtown trolley at the March 28 Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. The two contracts carry a total value of slightly more than $1 million in the first year. <br /> For the fixed-route service, the Delray Downtowner will supply three, 14-passenger vans.<br /> Eventually, these vans will be powered by propane. The current trolleys run on diesel fuel, more efficient than regular gas but more polluting. The CRA wants to switch to a clean-burning fuel, such as propane.<br /> It might be difficult to get customized propane vans by May 1, said Steve Murray, chief executive officer of the Downtowner. In that case, gas-powered vehicles would be used for the first month or so.<br /> For its point-to-point service, the Downtowner firm will lease nine global electric motorcars, or GEMs, enabling four to be on the street and picking up passengers within the CRA area — including the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods. <br /> Since the CRA is paying for the service, it can operate only within the CRA boundaries. An exception is made for the fixed-route pickup from the Tri-Rail station, since those riders are transported into the CRA district and are seen as providing an economic benefit.<br /> When the Downtowner ran its free service, it was subsidized by ads, Murray said. Its advertisers wanted only to be on the main streets in Delray Beach, such as Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. <br /> The electric vehicles will not carry ads in the first year, Murray said. If the CRA wants to continue with the program and allow ads on the vehicles in future years, it will split the advertising revenue with the Downtowner’s advertising partner, Vector Media, based in New York. Vector serves transit companies in six Florida cities, according to its website. <br /> Residents supported the Downtowner offerings at the March 28 CRA meeting. <br /> “We are a resort town. I like the look that the Downtowner is providing,” said Mavis Benson, who runs the Avalon Gallery on Atlantic and serves on the Downtown Development Authority’s board.<br /> The Downtowner firm wowed most of the CRA board members with its woody-look vans that can carry up to 14 passengers. Two wheelchair-users also can ride.<br /> It’s a fresh concept, said Mike Monaco, chief technology officer for the Downtowner. “We took the 1950s woody and reimagined it,” he said. “It’s not the old trolley.”<br /> The vans, each decked out to look like a surfboard with a fin on the roof, will stop at the Old School Square garage after leaving the Tri-Rail station to pick up people who want to go east and eventually to the beach.<br /> “That will create a park-and-ride for passengers from outside the city,” Monaco said.<br /> That route will not travel east on Atlantic into the often-clogged downtown core. Instead, the vans will go north on Swinton Avenue, make a right at Northeast First Street, stop at the OSS garage and then continue east on Northeast First Street to Federal Highway. <br /> Angie Gray cast the lone vote against the Downtowner’s receiving the fixed-route contract. She preferred First Transit, the current trolley operator, and its focus on safety. Its drivers have commercial licenses needed for carrying more than 15 passengers. <br /> The company’s proposed Starcraft Allstar Ford vehicles would carry 20 passengers each and have a camera running to record sound and video. The two vans would be powered by propane. <br /> One proposed route went to Publix on Federal Highway, which Gray thought would be useful to residents of the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods.<br /> The Downtowner was ranked first by the CRA’s selection committee because it submitted the lowest price of three bidders.<br /> The trolley contract with First Transit ends April 30. The city owns the trolleys.<br /> For the point-to-point service, the Downtowner won over Miami-based BeeFree Holdings, which was ranked first by the selection committee. Its transit offerings are operated under the name Freebee. <br /> Both proposals offered GEM vehicles. The Downtowner’s won’t have windows; BeeFree’s offered roll-up windows. <br /> Both companies offered apps for smartphone users that promise to say when the vehicle will arrive. The Downtowner folks said their app is better because it provides updates, has a list of popular locations based on drop-offs inside the app and reduces the wait times.<br /> The Downtowner also held an edge because its principals live in Delray Beach, it has four electric vehicle charging sites adjacent to its offices on Northeast Fourth Avenue, and it knows the streets from six years of operating in Delray, the CRA commissioners said when explaining their votes. <br /> Last fall, the Downtowner stopped offering its free open-air shuttle service in Delray when it changed its business model to require partnerships with the cities it served. <br /> Next year, the city is in line to receive an $860,000 federal grant to cover the cost of four trolleys.<br /> If the grant will cover the alternative vehicles in the Downtowner’s fixed-route service, that will lessen the burden on city taxpayers, CRA Chairwoman Shelly Petrolia said after the meeting.<br /> She also would like to see the point-to-point service expanded to the Lake Ida area and along the beach, north and south of Atlantic Avenue. <br /> Those areas sit outside of the CRA boundaries, so the city may have to pay for the point-to-point service expansion, while the CRA pays for comparably priced items within its taxing district, Petrolia said.</p></div>Delray Beach: Atlantic Avenue paver project put on hold until Mayhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-atlantic-avenue-paver-project-put-on-hold-until-may2018-11-28T17:50:06.000Z2018-11-28T17:50:06.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Construction work to replace the pavers in four barrier island crosswalks on East Atlantic Avenue has stopped for the season and will resume in May, according to a Delray Beach department head.<br /> The four crosswalks at the intersections of Gleason Street and Venetian Drive with East Atlantic have reopened, Susan Goebel-Canning, Delray Beach public works director, wrote in mid-November.<br /> “During the project, we identified a water main leak,” Goebel-Canning wrote. “The leak needed to be addressed prior to construction of the crosswalk, so it appeared that construction ceased.” <br /> The project was on a tight schedule with an anticipated Dec. 3 completion date. Fixing the water main leak pushed the crosswalk work into the holiday season, according to Goebel-Canning.<br /> “As a result, two-thirds of the project was completed before we needed to open the road again,” Goebel-Canning wrote. “You will see fresh asphalt, which allowed the road to be open.”<br /> Some East Atlantic Avenue merchants had complained to the City Commission about the road work during high season.<br />Sales were off about 30 percent compared with the same period last year at C. Orrico Delray Beach, said store manager Sue Vidulich.<br />“We were absolutely affected,” she said. “Customers could not turn left onto Seabreeze Avenue to enter our parking lot. They had to drive down Atlantic and make a U-turn. Guests at the Seagate Hotel could not find a safe place to cross Atlantic to get to our store.”<br />Vidulich is happy the construction ended in time for the Holiday Beachside Stroll on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The women’s clothing boutique, which sells Lilly Pulitzer fashions, planned to make it a festive day.<br /> The Florida Department of Transportation owns Atlantic Avenue on the barrier island. The crosswalk pavers have shifted, creating an uneven surface, and need to be replaced. <br /> FDOT does not permit the use of pavers in its streets, although the department did allow the pavers at the time the crosswalks were installed about 10 years ago, said Barbara Kelleher, FDOT spokeswoman.<br /> Under FDOT rules, cities can use stamped concrete, which looks like pavers.<br /> The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency will cover the $329,965 cost to R&D Paving LLC of West Palm Beach for the upgrade.</p></div>Delray Beach: Trolley service returning to downtown Delray Beachhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-trolley-service-returning-to-downtown-delray-beach2018-10-31T16:37:27.000Z2018-10-31T16:37:27.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Trolley service was scheduled to return to downtown Delray Beach on Nov. 1.<br /> The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board, made up of the city commissioners and two citizens, voted 6-1 on Oct. 22 to pay for three months of the trolley operations along Atlantic Avenue, costing about $120,000. <br /> To allow for flexibility in the season, the contract can be extended another three months, said Jeff Costello, CRA executive director.<br /> During that time, data on the number of trolley riders and stops will be collected to adjust the trolley schedule every 30 days. An existing app, called Transit, will be available for riders with smartphones to find out when the next trolley will stop. And trolleys may have signs that say they’re free.<br /> “Putting the trolley back into service is a Band-Aid,” said Bill Bathurst, a board member and city commissioner. “It won’t be one-size-fits-all with the trolley. … But when we pulled the trolley out and the Downtowner left at the same time, it showed how weak our system is.”<br /> Both services stopped on Sept. 30.<br /> The CRA board will meet with the Downtown Development Authority board for a Nov. 14 workshop to discuss downtown transportation. Members will talk about route changes, other sources of money to pay for the transportation services, natural gas or electric-powered vehicles and other topics related to reducing the number of vehicles downtown. <br /> Board member Adam Frankel, who also is a city commissioner, was the lone no vote. <br /> To ease his concern about whether the numbers provided by the trolley driver can be trusted, the DDA has some money to do a count of the riders at a particular stop, said Laura Simon, DDA executive director.<br /> Four people spoke at the CRA meeting during public comments. All were for the trolley or some other form of downtown transportation.<br /> Scott Roberts, general manager of the Fairfield Inn, told the CRA board members he’s OK with a nominal fee to keep the trolley operating. “If my guests have to use their cars or rental cars, they go to other cities to have dinner and not Atlantic Avenue,” he said.<br /> When commercial real estate agent Christina Morrison sat on the Congress Avenue Task Force, the group wanted to supply transportation to allow workers west of the interstate to travel east to have lunch downtown, without using their cars. “Keep the trolley,” she said. <br /> “Our tourism depends on the transportation system,” said Rick Konsavage, regional operations director for Ocean Properties. In Delray Beach, its holdings are the Marriott and Residence Inn hotels, Boston’s and 50 Ocean restaurants, and the tiki bar called Sandbar — all on the barrier island. <br /> In mid-October, one group that stayed at the Marriott for its annual meeting was disappointed when it arrived, Konsavage said. “They picked our site because their members would not need to rent a car. But when they got here, there was no trolley and no Downtowner,” an electric vehicle ride service.<br /> For the five properties, about 20 percent of the staff relies on the trolley to get to work, Konsavage said.<br /> Even so, the two citizen members on the CRA board, Angie Gray and Pamela Brinson, don’t think the agency should have to pay the entire bill for the trolley’s operating costs. <br /> “That’s a great question for the future,” said Shelly Petrolia, CRA board chairwoman and mayor. Petrolia suggested possible money sources may come from a nominal fee, advertising and the hotels. All will be discussed Nov. 14.</p></div>Delray Beach: Crosswalk work begins on Atlantic Avenue intersectionshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-crosswalk-work-begins-on-atlantic-avenue-intersectio2018-10-03T15:39:11.000Z2018-10-03T15:39:11.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Work is underway at two Delray Beach barrier island intersections to replace the crosswalk pavers. <br />The replacement work at the Atlantic Avenue intersections at Gleason Street and at Venetian Drive will be finished Dec. 3, said Isaac Kovner, city engineer and project manager.<br /> The Florida Department of Transportation owns Atlantic Avenue on the barrier island, Kovner said. The pavers are worn and need to be replaced, but FDOT no longer allows pavers. The department lets cities use stamped concrete, which can look like pavers, Kovner said. <br /> But FDOT pays only for the basics and considers stamped concrete an upgrade, Kovner said. That’s why the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has agreed to cover the $329,965 cost to R&D Paving LLC of West Palm Beach. <br /> The Beach Property Owners’ Association did not push for the pavers to be replaced, said Andy Katz, a trustee of the group. “We did alert our members about the work,” he said.<br /> The pavers will be replaced in two phases, Kovner said, first in the inner two lanes of Atlantic at the Gleason Street and Venetian Drive intersections, then in the outside lanes.<br /> That way, traffic will keep moving on Atlantic Avenue, Kovner said.<br /> All disturbed areas will be restored before the project ends.<br /> For questions or concerns about the project, Kovner can be reached at 243-7341.</p></div>Along the Coast: Work on new I-95 interchange at Atlantic set to begin in Septemberhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-work-on-new-i-95-interchange-at-atlantic-set-to-b2018-08-01T16:00:00.000Z2018-08-01T16:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>To meet growing traffic demands, the state will do a $5.2 million construction project at the Atlantic Avenue Interstate 95 interchange in Delray Beach.<br /> The project will begin in September and is expected to last slightly longer than one year, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960809656,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960809656,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="206" alt="7960809656?profile=original" /></a>The improvements will take place mainly along a 1-mile stretch of Atlantic Avenue from the E-4 Canal, just west of Congress Avenue, to Northwest/Southwest 10th Avenue. FDOT owns Atlantic Avenue in this area.<br /> FDOT predicts the average annual daily traffic to increase from 47,000 vehicles in 2016 to 59,800 in 2040, growing at an annual rate of 1.39 percent. The department will showcase its redesign to the public between 4 and 6 p.m. Aug. 30 at the city’s Environmental Services building, 434 S. Swinton Ave.<br /> While the state talks about traffic capacity and safety of drivers, Delray Beach city commissioners are focused on a multimodal transportation plan that includes walkers and bicyclists.<br /> FDOT representatives said they first met with Delray Beach residents in July 2014. They also heard from Human Powered Delray, a nonprofit group dedicated to bike and pedestrian safety.<br /> The department listened to the group’s suggestions, but FDOT did not incorporate most of them into the redesign because of cost constraints and lack of space, said Guillermo Canedo, FDOT spokesman.<br /> Bill Bathurst, a new commissioner who was designated as the FDOT point person at the July 10 commission meeting, said, “We are getting a little bit more of what we wanted. I’m still concerned that it’s dangerous for walkers and bike riders who live east of the interstate and walk west on Atlantic.”<br /> When his son was in high school and wrestled on the Atlantic High School team, Bathurst picked up his son and teammates daily after practice to drive them home, east of I-95. The high school sits on Atlantic Avenue, west of Congress.<br /> The Palm Beach County School District usually does not provide bus service to students living within 2 miles of the school. But for Atlantic High students who live east of I-95, the district makes an exception and provides bus transportation, according to Shane Searchwell, general manager of transportation services. Bathurst is trying to set up a meeting with FDOT representatives and various community leaders before the construction work starts.<br /> FDOT will upgrade the Interstate 95 on-ramp lanes to be “segregated, exclusive safety lanes” from westbound Atlantic, Canedo said. The lanes, also called turbo lanes, will be separated from the other travel lanes by a 4-inch raised concrete barrier that has 5-foot plastic batons on top, he said, to prevent vehicles from crossing over at the last minute. <br /> “The angle of the southbound on-ramp will be changed to improve pedestrian safety,” Canedo said.<br /> East of the interstate on the north side of Atlantic, walkers will have a 6-foot-wide sidewalk and bike riders will get a dedicated 7-foot lane. West of the interstate, bike riders will share the lane with vehicles from the southbound I-95 off-ramp west to Congress Avenue. <br /> Pedestrians and bike riders must cross over the turbo lanes twice when traveling westbound on Atlantic. Eastbound walkers and cyclists also must cross over the regular traffic getting onto the southbound on-ramp and on the other side of the interstate, traffic lanes for vehicles exiting the northbound interstate.</p></div>Delray Beach: Residents may apply for special annual parking passeshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-residents-may-apply-for-special-annual-parking-passe2018-08-01T15:13:02.000Z2018-08-01T15:13:02.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Two weeks after the parking meters were activated in downtown Delray Beach, the City Commission agreed on July 10 to issue two types of parking passes for residents. One pass is available to any resident who can show a utility bill or a Florida driver’s license with a Delray Beach address. Those residents pay $12 for the annual parking pass that allows three free hours daily between noon and 6 p.m. on the side streets that are metered, west of the Intracoastal Waterway. <br /> City Manager Mark Lauzier told the commissioners that the city’s Parking Management Advisory Board did not support the resident parking pass. But its Downtown Development Authority did and wanted parking on Atlantic Avenue to be included.<br /> “Atlantic Avenue is too prime to be included,” Lauzier said.<br /> The commissioners agreed to exclude Atlantic but expressed support for a resident parking program. “We are inviting our residents back to the downtown,” Mayor Shelly Petrolia said. <br /> Residents had asked for the program because they felt their taxes were used to purchase the meters and for repairing the side streets and city-owned parking lots and garages.<br /> “It’s another benefit to being a Delray resident,” Commissioner Ryan Boylston said.<br /> The other type of parking passes will go to curing what was seen as an oversight. Both will be available around the end of September.<br /> Tenants who live above the stores and offices along Atlantic Avenue used to park on the side streets or in the city-owned lots for free. Some even lost parking spaces to the city and its Community Redevelopment Agency for redevelopment. <br /> About 50 people are in this category. They can now pay $96.30 for an annual parking pass that allows their vehicles to park all day and overnight in the city-owned lots and garages, west of the Intracoastal Waterway. <br /> The city clerk, who oversees the permits, will make sure that residents of the newer condo and townhouse buildings on the side streets do not apply for an extra place to park their vehicles, Lauzier said. They already have garages as part of their condos or townhomes, commissioners said.<br /> Petrolia, who voted against installing the parking meters, thinks the parking management system has become complicated. The city paid for the meters, then had to hire a company to manage them and enforce the parking times, the mayor said.<br /> “If it was really to turn over the spaces on Atlantic Avenue, then we should have increased enforcement of the time limits,” Petrolia said. “But instead, staff is talking about using the meters to make money for the city.”</p></div>Dining: 32 East’s Johnson bids adieu to Atlantic Avenue scenehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-32-east-s-johnson-bids-adieu-to-atlantic-avenue-scen2018-05-02T00:30:00.000Z2018-05-02T00:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960790081,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960790081,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="204" class="align-center" alt="7960790081?profile=original" /></a><em>Butch Johnson pauses outside his Delray Beach restaurant, 32 East, as he nears the end of a 22-year run on Atlantic Avenue. The buyers will make the site a Louie Bossi’s. <b>Thom Smith/The Coastal Star</b></em></p>
<p></p>
<p><span><b>By Thom Smith</b></span></p>
<p>Sometime after Mother’s Day — 22 years after helping to launch the revolution that transformed Delray Beach from quaint beach town into international destination — 32 East will close doors for good. </p>
<p>Once all the papers are signed, all the permits pulled, the “big timers” on Atlantic Avenue — Big Time Restaurant Group — will turn it into the third Louie Bossi’s. </p>
<p>32 East owner Butch Johnson will look for another challenge.</p>
<p>Back in the ’90s, life was much simpler. The mom-and-pops still lined Atlantic Avenue. Bacon and eggs for breakfast at the Green Owl. Key lime and white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry sauce for a mid-afternoon treat at Splendid Blended. Close out the night with blues from Junior Drinkwater at the Back Room. </p>
<p>Johnson was retired, content to manage his investments, run a youth soccer league in Boca Raton and catch a little live music in the evening. As fate would have it, while attending a party for parents of Gulf Stream School students at the oceanfront home of developer Tom Crocker, he met Leigh Gove.</p>
<p>Gove handled much of the construction work for Crocker and was building Carson’s Ribs in Boca. He asked Johnson if he’d like to supervise the project.</p>
<p>“Crocker’s wife owned a children’s clothing store in Crocker Center and my wife paid the rent every month with the [stuff] she bought,” Johnson recalled in 32 East’s cramped second-floor office to explain his acceptance rationale. </p>
<p>Soon after, Crocker brought in Mike Bilton to finish Carson’s, and Bilton suggested that they team up to open a restaurant. About the same time, Johnson learned that the building at 32 E. Atlantic in Delray, home to the Back Room and antiques dealer Polly Noe, was for sale. </p>
<p>“It was the right demographic. It was a two-lane street, plenty of commercial activity, but it was underutilized and it was just plain cheap,” Johnson said. “So it was Mike’s building expertise and Leigh’s building skill, and I did what I normally do, the hookup.”</p>
<p>To run the kitchen, Johnson hired Wayne Alcaide, who put 32 East on the culinary map before moving on to other ventures (now owner-chef of The Provincial in Apex, N.C., a Raleigh suburb).</p>
<p>Enter Nick Morfogen, an exquisitely trained New Yorker, who had come to South Florida to work in the Dennis Max empire. The relationship lasted into 2016, when Morfogen left to become executive chef at Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach. </p>
<p>“Nick gave us 17 years,” Johnson said. “He still owns a piece of the restaurant, but he took the job at Pine Tree.</p>
<p>“You don’t work as many nights in a country club. He can take a golf cart to work. You just have to be good. And on his worst day, he’s better than any of the country club chefs around here. He’s in a good spot.”</p>
<p>Morfogen’s replacement, John Thomas, had worked on and off at 32 East and most recently had held forth at Tryst, the now-closed gastropub a couple of doors west. </p>
<p>Thomas shouldn’t have trouble finding work, Johnson said, even though the scene along Atlantic is changing. </p>
<p>“Five years ago, Nick and I could see what was happening,” Johnson said. “Places were getting more kid-oriented; more alcohol; bigger, more commercial restaurants. We didn’t fit. We were the food destination. We were in the age of the food-driven restaurant and that ain’t the way it is anymore. </p>
<p>“For me, declining revenues were gonna drive us out. We thought about making it a steakhouse, maybe an Italian restaurant, but it still would have been food-driven, and once you establish who you are, then the expectation level is what you do. </p>
<p>“You can’t really say, the price point is gonna drop by half and you’re gonna sell burgers and dogs. That’s not what 32 East is. We could have tried to reinvent ourselves, but I can’t get away with doing a drive-through taco stand.”</p>
<p>Big Time’s “Todd Herbst and Billy Watson came along and we started talking. They’re a $100 million company. We signed the deal in August. This ain’t the little village by the sea anymore.</p>
<p>“They’re trying to make this an urban center, like Fort Lauderdale. They’re building high rises everywhere.” </p>
<p>However, should something come along, Johnson might consider it, but not on Atlantic. Maybe a couple of blocks north or south. Still easy to reach, still good quality and still comparatively easy on the tab.</p></div>Delray Beach: City moving forward on Atlantic Avenue parking metershttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-moving-forward-on-atlantic-avenue-parking-meter2017-08-30T15:51:20.000Z2017-08-30T15:51:20.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br /> After more than 10 years of discussion, city leaders are inching their way toward paid street parking in downtown Delray Beach.<br /> In mid-August, the five city commissioners each presented their wishes for downtown parking on Atlantic Avenue between Swinton Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway. After more than an hour of discussion, here’s what they decided:<br /> • Parking will be free but limited to two hours on Atlantic Avenue, between Swinton Avenue and the Intracoastal, between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. The time limit will be enforced.<br /> • Between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., meters will go into effect at the rate of $2 per hour on that stretch of Atlantic and one block north and south of Atlantic.<br /> • Parking in the two city garages will be free during the days. Users will pay $5 to park Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. Employees can park for free on the top floor of each garage, using a hanging card from the rearview mirror. <br /> • The city’s five surface lots, with approximately 314 spaces, will be free between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. and have a two-hour parking limit. Meters will be enforced between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. at the rate of $2 per hour. <br /> • The Gladiola Lot at 51 SE Fifth Ave., with eight-hour time limit, will not have meters. Its 74 spaces will be free for employees and downtown patrons to use. The Railroad Lot at 25 NE Third Ave., which also has eight-hour spaces, will not have meters installed in those spaces. They will be free. <br /> • City staff did not know how many of the Railroad Lot’s 190 spaces had the eight-hour time limit. <br /> • Even with signs, drivers will be confused and enforcement complicated, said interim City Manager Neal de Jesus.<br /> • Residents can purchase an annual parking permit for $100.<br /> • The valet fee will be increased from $7 to $10.<br /> Using that input, city staff will bring back a parking management proposal to the City Commission in September.<br /> Commissioner Shelly Petrolia worried that the city was pushing drivers into the neighborhoods to find free parking spaces. “Downtown businesses are willing to pay an extra $100 annually, if we don’t put in the meters downtown,” she said, suggesting no changes be made until the city replaces the spaces lost to construction at the iPic project and adds more parking with a garage nearby.<br /> “Meters will generate turnover and generate revenue to keep the area clean and safe,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said. <br /> The mayor also wants city staff to explore building a city garage on the Gladiola Lot using the in-lieu parking fees that downtown restaurant owners have paid. When a restaurant opens where the previous building use was retail, the restaurant owner identifies available parking spaces nearby to follow city rules. When adequate parking is not available, the owner pays a fee per space, called in-lieu parking fees. About $2 million exists in the accounts, Glickstein said.<br /> He also is thinking of the long-term needs of the city. “I suspect the city will lose about $1.5 million when voters agree to the extra homestead exemption in 2018,” Glickstein said. <br /> Vice Mayor Jim Chard began the Aug. 15 discussion by touting the results of three days of enforcement by Lanier Parking staff. “Two hundred citations were issued, and 10 percent were paid in one day,” he said. At that rate, he estimated the annual amount the city would generate from fines would be $416,000.<br /> Before Lanier Parking took over parking enforcement in June, enforcement was done inconsistently by volunteers, de Jesus said. The volunteers worked during the daylight hours.<br /> In June, the city and its Downtown Development Authority seemed to be in agreement on the need for parking meters downtown. <br /> But in early August, after a change in leadership on the DDA board, the new mantra for parking became: Start slow and grow. Just a few hours before the City Commission meeting on Aug. 2, the DDA’s executive director took the opportunity to drop off the organization’s unrequested parking management plan. The DDA recommended putting meters on only 245 spaces, instead of the 2,577 the city staff had proposed. <br /> The commission directed its staff to come back with an analysis of the DDA parking plan.<br /> DDA Executive Director Laura Simon said the central core merchants were concerned about employee parking. She requested the eight-hour parking spaces remain free in the Railroad and Gladiola lots.<br /> Employees can park for free in the garages with a card that hangs from the rearview mirror, the mayor said about his new proposed option for staff parking. <br /> He questioned the DDA’s priorities that put parking for workers before patrons. “You’re far more worried about employee parking than spaces for customers,” he said.</p></div>