comprehensive plan - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T10:35:09Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/comprehensive+planDelray Beach: Coastal portion of comprehensive plan approvedhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-coastal-portion-of-comprehensive-plan-approved2019-01-02T16:04:10.000Z2019-01-02T16:04:10.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Jane Smith</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Delray Beach city commissioners unanimously approved the revised Coastal Management segment of their comprehensive plan on Dec. 11.</p>
<p class="p3">The Coastal Management element is one chapter of the city’s plan, which acts as a wish book to guide the city over the next decade. With the help of a branding firm, Delray Beach planners dubbed the plan update “Always Delray.”</p>
<p class="p3">On Dec. 11, commissioners learned that the Coastal Management area is now larger by nearly 157 acres, or 25 percent, because it includes more of the western areas along the Intracoastal Waterway that are prone to flooding.</p>
<p class="p3"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The addition came from the Development Services staffers who used a consultant and a steering committee of city residents to review the current comprehensive plan and suggest changes.</p>
<p class="p3">The coastal segment takes into account the low-lying land along the Intracoastal Waterway that saw tidal flooding only with the highest of tides in the past, but now sees “nuisance flooding more often,” said barrier island resident Andy Katz. He was part of the Always Delray steering committee and worked on the Coastal Management segment of the plan.</p>
<p class="p3">The city also recognizes that sea level rise, from melting ice on land masses and warmer waters, is coming more quickly than scientists predicted, Katz said.</p>
<p class="p3">While it’s hard to assign an exact year to the sea level rise scenarios that will be submitted with the plan, Katz said that nearly all scientists agree that Delray Beach could see 2 feet of sea level rise in the 2060 decade.</p>
<p class="p3">Natural disaster planning was removed from the Coastal Management segment, said Tim Stillings, Development Services director. “It’s a citywide initiative and was moved to the Conservation, Sustainability and Resiliency segment,” Stillings wrote in an email after the meeting.</p>
<p class="p3">Another change is the availability of better mapping techniques to show potential flooding and elevation of the various city streets, Stillings wrote.</p>
<p class="p3">The City Commission will have a chance to review the entire plan in the spring before it is sent to the state.</p>
<p class="p3">The state requires a comprehensive plan update every 10 years. Delray Beach submitted the current update in March 2008. </p></div>Boca Raton: Lawsuit alleges waterfront vote was improperhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-lawsuit-alleges-waterfront-vote-was-improper2017-02-01T16:29:12.000Z2017-02-01T16:29:12.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br /> A group led by a former Chamber of Commerce president wants a judge to overturn Boca Raton’s new ordinance reserving city-owned land along the Intracoastal Waterway for public uses only.<br /> ForBoca.org Inc., which in a lawsuit said it is committed “to social welfare and protecting private property rights,” claims the ordinance limits the use of such city land — and the Wildflower property in particular — in a way that is “wholly and patently inconsistent” with Boca Raton’s comprehensive plan.<br /> The group also says the ordinance violates a state law that prohibits using an initiative or referendum process to change zoning.<br /> The litigation stopped in its tracks a City Council discussion of the ordinance planned for Jan. 9.<br /> “I was informed … we got served [notice of the lawsuit] regarding this issue so I suggest that maybe we delay this discussion until you’ve had an opportunity to talk to your legal counsel,” City Manager Leif Ahnell said.<br /> The next day City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser asked council members to talk about what legal strategy they wanted her to take in an executive session closed to the public on Jan. 17.<br /> “The essence of the lawsuit is to challenge that ordinance, to say that that ordinance ... procedurally was not a proper subject for an initiative,” Frieser said.<br /> ForBoca.org was created in March and is headed by Mike Arts, who led the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce for two decades and sat on the City Council from 2006 to 2009.<br /> “We will strive to promote real solutions that keep our community prosperous and appealing,” Arts says on the not-for-profit group’s website.<br /> The group’s address is the Tallahassee office of lawyer Mark Herron, who is also listed as a ForBoca.org director. Herron successfully represented City Council member Robert Weinroth and Deputy City Manager George Brown last year in an ethics complaint about their appointments to the Airport Authority Board. The city paid Herron’s $10,000 legal bill.<br /> ForBoca.org’s other director is former City Council member Al Travasos.<br /> The city bought the 2.3-acre Wildflower parcel, on Palmetto Park Road at the northwest corner of the bridge over the Intracoastal, for $7.5 million in 2009. It had been negotiating for several years with the Hillstone Restaurant Group to put a restaurant there along with a waterside walkway open to the public.<br /> A citizen-launched petition drive to overrule the plan gathered over 1,700 valid signatures, far more than the 1,030 required, and put the referendum question on the November ballot. It won by a 2-1 margin.<br /> James Hendrey, who chaired the initiative effort, called the ForBoca.org lawsuit “ridiculous.”<br /> “I’m totally amazed,” said Hendrey, who with his wife, Nancy, hired an attorney to review the pertinent case law and forward his findings to Frieser.<br /> “We aren’t sure that the City Council, which tells the city attorney what to do, will represent the will of the people,” Hendrey said.<br /> The council in July changed the land-use designation of the northern part of the site from residential to commercial and rezoned it from single-family residential to local business district. The southern portion was already zoned local business. <br /> The former Wildflower nightclub got special permission to put a parking lot on the then-residential portion, something that would not be allowed today, city officials said.<br /> The city has not removed fences surrounding the property.</p></div>Briny Breezes: Town Council approves new land use planhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-town-council-approves-new-land-use-plan2013-04-03T19:00:00.000Z2013-04-03T19:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Tim O’Meilia</strong><br /> <br /> For the first time since the $510 million Ocean Land sale collapsed in 2007, the town of Briny Breezes took a careful first step toward allowing the town to be more than a mobile-home park.<br /> After four public hearings and questioning by residents, the Town Council unanimously approved, in a series of votes, a new comprehensive land use plan that would allow traditional one- and two-story single family homes, a commercial corridor of small businesses and low-rise multi-story condos and rental units on the west side of State Road A1A.<br /> But only if Briny Breezes Inc., which owns the park, wants to make changes in the future. The corporation is a co-operative of residents who own voting shares based on the size and location of their lots. <br /> “The provisions set forth in the plan are simply suggestions and permissions to the corporation so that, if it chooses to make changes in the business district or replace their housing units with some other type of housing, it could,” said Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Jerry Lower at the March 28 meeting.<br /> Much of the four public hearings was spent trying to dispel rumors that the plan required the mobile-home park to change. All four were held in the park’s community center rather than the smaller Town Council chambers. More than 60 residents attended the first hearing, but attendance dropped gradually until the conclusive vote on March 28.<br /> “It’s still an entirely corp-oration decision to make these changes. There is no mandate to make the changes,” Lower said.<br /> Any changes are not likely to come soon, according to three members of the corporation’s recently revamped board of directors who were among the dozen or so residents who attended the final meeting.<br /> New board President Joe Coyner said the directors have not discussed any zoning changes and are first concentrating on updating corporation operations and procedures and considering maintenance and repair projects in the park.<br /> “We’re interested in bringing Briny back to the jewel it has been,” said board member Michael Gallacher. “Before we can look at the big picture of what the future holds, we need to stabilize a solid foundation.”<br /> All three were supportive of the town’s effort. “I personally am grateful to the Planning and Zoning Board for putting this forward. It can only help,” said board member Marcia Malchuski.<br /> The planning and zoning board worked five years on the 117-page document after being ordered by the state to update the town’s 1989 plan. <br /> The planning board focused on two primary goals: increasing the property values and enhancing hurricane protection for mobile homes that are uninsurable for storm damage.<br /> “One of my goals was to have the opportunity to have a safer environment for everybody,” said planning board member Ira Friedman during the March 7 hearing. <br /> More traditional single-family homes might allow owners to obtain windstorm coverage.<br /> Board members concluded that a narrow corridor of businesses such as a barber shop, an ice cream shop or an urgent care center catering to local residents would increase land values without attracting too much traffic. <br /> “Hallelujah,” exclaimed Alderwoman Nancy Boczon after the final vote.<br /> State planning officials have 60 days to evaluate the plan and suggest any changes. It was the opposition of the state and neighboring towns that killed Ocean Land’s plans to buy out the 43-acre park and erect 20-story towers, a 350-room beachfront hotel and rows of three-story condos. Many residents would have become millionaires.<br /> The revamped comp-rehensive plan is not likely to draw the ire of neighbors in Ocean Ridge and Gulf Stream. <br /> “You have been thorough, investigative and innovative in looking outside the box,” Kristine de Haseth, executive director of the Florida Coalition for Preservation, told the planning board at the March 7 meeting. The coalition opposed Ocean Land’s plans six years ago.<br /> Ocean Ridge architect Digby Bridges told the board, “You are absolutely on the right track in concentrating on your corridor. Briny Breezes has an absolute gem sitting here. You can really make a first-class development here and help your property values.” <br /> <br /> <em>Editor’s Note: Jerry Lower is publisher of The Coastal Star.</em><br /> </p></div>Briny Breezes: Plan would allow houses, more commerce in townhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-plan-would-allow-houses-more-commerce-in-town2013-01-02T17:30:00.000Z2013-01-02T17:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>NOTE: The January 17 public hearing on the Briny Breezes Comprehensive Plan has been postponed until early March based on revisions requested by the town attorney.</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Tim O’Meilia</strong><br /> <br /> More than six years ago, Briny Breezes residents voted to remake the town into a resort including 20-story towers, a 350-room beachfront hotel and rows of three-story condos.<br /> That half-billion-dollar dream would have created dozens of instant millionaires of modest mobile home dwellers. That deal collapsed in 2007 of its own ambition — state regulators said it was too big for its own good.<br /> Now, the 43-acre town/trailer park is taking its first steps toward designing a more modest future.<br /> The town’s Planning and Zoning Board has unveiled a new comprehensive land use plan that would allow more than mobile homes in town. The plan would allow traditional one- and two-story single-family homes, a commercial corridor of town-serving businesses and low-rise multi-story condos and rental units on the west side.<br /> “Our mission is to give Briny permission to evolve if it chooses to,” said planning board Chairman Jerry Lower.<br /> The board has scheduled a Jan. 17, 4 p.m. public hearing on the plan at the Town Hall.<br /> Whatever is recommended will go to the Town Council for approval later. The town has an April 2013 deadline to complete the land use plan, which hasn’t been changed since 1989.<br /> The land use plan is more concept than hard-and-fast requirement. The plan does not specify building types or heights and refers to stores and businesses only in general terms. <br /> Regardless of what the Town Council eventually endorses, the shareholders of Briny Breezes Inc., the mobile home co-op that owns the entire area of the town, control any change that actually occurs. Mobile home owners hold shares in the corporation based on their size of their lots. <br /> “This is a blueprint to permit the corporation to do what it wants, to deviate from just a trailer park, if it wants,” said Mayor Roger Bennett.<br /> The key component of the plan allows “owners to have the ability, with the corporate board’s approval, to replacing existing mobile homes with one- or two-story residential units that are more storm-worthy and insurable than a mobile home,” Lower said.<br /> The town has survived the hurricanes and tropical storms of 2004 and later with relatively minor damage.<br /> Briny Breezes was founded in the mid-1950s as a destination for people who drive travel-trailers to Florida on vacation. The town remains a largely seasonal area.<br /> The A1A commercial corridor leaves much to the imagination. The only businesses in town now are a hairdresser and a family-run drug store. Suggestions have included a barber shop, an urgent care center and an ice cream shop, all requiring little parking. <br /> Briny’s high-rise plans of the mid-2000s drew harsh criticism from neighboring towns fearing increased traffic and congestion.<br /> “I applaud their efforts. They’re giving themselves the chance to grow and change,” said Kristine de Haseth, chairwoman of the Florida Coalition for Preservation, which vehemently opposed the previous plan.<br /> De Haseth has attended many of the planning and zoning board’s meetings. “The plan absolutely makes sense to us. We’re delighted they’re actually, after 23 years, starting to self-evaluate and plan for the future.”<br /> Lower said he sees support from officials in surrounding towns. “I‘ve talked to people in Ocean Ridge and Gulf Stream and they’re excited about the idea of Briny evolving over time, especially the idea of more storm-worthy buildings.” <br /> The plan has been several years in the making. Rather than hire an outside consultant, the Town Council commissioned Town Attorney Jerome Skrandel, who also has a corporate background, to help craft the plan with the Planning and Zoning Board. <br /> “I’m very pleased with Mr. Skrandel’s work,” Bennett said. “He has an understanding of the town that an outside firm wouldn’t have.”<br /> Briny is basing its plan on housing and population figures that are at odds with the 2010 census. While the U.S. Census counts 601 residents and 800 homes — a nearly 50 percent increase of both over 2000 — Briny claims only 417 permanent and 488 homes. The town figures a seasonal population of 924 which could expand to 1,161 by 2015. <br /> The town has filed an appeal of its housing and population figures. <br /> <br /> <em>Editor’s Note: Jerry Lower is the owner/publisher of The Coastal Star and a property owner in both Briny Breezes and Ocean Ridge.</em></p></div>Briny Breezes: Town readied Q&A for residents’ querieshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-town-readied2011-02-03T18:20:17.000Z2011-02-03T18:20:17.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p>By Emily J. Minor</p>
<p><br />About 50 residents packed the Briny Breezes Town Council’s January meeting to listen to a civics lesson on why the town handles its money the way it does.<br />“Many people don’t understand what we are forced to spend money on,” said Mayor Roger Bennett.<br />Although the turnout for the meeting was far above average, most residents just listened. Few spoke.<br />Relying on a written Q&A that she had prepared in advance, Clerk Kathleen Bray went through the town’s money matters step by step, explaining everything from the timing of the budget hearings to why the town hires someone to read the meters.<br />(All Palm Beach County municipalities start their budgets in the summer, and the town uses someone to read the meters because when the corporation handled it, there were too many equipment problems and errors.)<br />The January meeting was moved to the roomier community center after questions arose at the December meeting about the timing of the budget hearings. Most residents are gone when town officials debate the budget during the summer, but Bray encouraged residents to write in their comments. “In the past, they (residents) have seldom sought to do so,” Bray wrote in the Q&A.<br />Still, the presentation was for information only. Bray said she put the report together at the request of the town’s corporate side. “The town has passed its budget,” Bray told the crowd. “There’s no going back.”<br />In addition to the timing of the budget hearings and the meter reader question, Bray also addressed things like Town Hall rent, the millage and improving communication between town and corporation officials. <br />A copy of the entire Q&A is available at Town Hall.<br /><strong>In other business</strong>, officials and residents:<br />• Listened to an update on the state-required Evaluation and Appraisal Report recently filed with the Department of Community Affairs. After comments from state officials and nearby towns, the Planning and Zoning Board now begins work on the Comprehensive Plan. <br />The revisions to the town’s existing plan would allow for changes in what kind of homes can be built in Briny Breezes, something considered crucial for weathering future hurricanes. Now, the town’s residential units are limited to mobile homes.<br />• Heard from Mayor Roger Bennett that he will be running for re-election. Bennett had said earlier he would step down for health reasons, but told residents he was feeling better. The town election is <br />March 8. </p></div>