permit - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T13:08:40Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/permitBoca Raton: Gumbo Limbo deal clears way for Coastal Stewards to apply for turtle permithttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-gumbo-limbo-deal-clears-way-for-coastal-stewards-to-ap2023-05-03T17:46:24.000Z2023-05-03T17:46:24.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11063071671,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11063071671,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="11063071671?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></strong>It could take months before turtles are back at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.<strong> File photo</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Letters to the Editor: </strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/letter-to-the-editor-nonprofit-chair-hails-exciting-times-ahead-f">Nonprofit chair hails ‘exciting times’ ahead for Gumbo Limbo</a>|<a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/letter-to-the-editor-retired-leader-of-turtle-facility-laments-bl">Retired leader of turtle facility laments ‘black eye’ for city</a>|<a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/letter-to-the-editor-former-volunteer-saddened-by-lapses-at-gumbo">Former volunteer saddened by lapses at Gumbo Limbo</a></p>
<p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong></p>
<p>Eight weeks and counting since Gumbo Limbo Nature Center lost its permit to treat ailing sea turtles, the big question — when will its marquee rehab program get going again? — remains unanswered.</p>
<p>The Boca Raton City Council approved an agreement April 25 letting the nonprofit Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards take over all responsibility, operation and financing of the nature center’s sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, research and release efforts.</p>
<p>But before voting, council member Yvette Drucker wanted to know, “How quickly are we going to bring the turtles back to the center?”</p>
<p>No one could say for sure.</p>
<p>“The first step is getting the permit. That might be where we see some time,” Assistant City Manager Chrissy Gibson said. “It’s my understanding it could take a couple of months, and then once we have it,” the Coastal Stewards “will start the process to get the turtles back or be open for rehabilitation.”</p>
<p>The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wanted the city and the Coastal Stewards to sign the agreement before the nonprofit group could apply for a turtle research and rehabilitation permit, Gibson said.</p>
<p>Another sticking point to resuming the rehab might be the search by the Stewards, formerly known as the Friends of Gumbo Limbo, for veterinarians to replace Gumbo Limbo’s longtime vet Maria Chadam and her backup, Mike Chouster.</p>
<p>Chadam, who was paid by the Stewards, on Feb. 13 gave 30 days’ notice of her intention to resign, citing her diminished optimism for the future of the rehabilitation program. The nonprofit ended the contract the next day.</p>
<p>At the council meeting, John Holloway, president and CEO of the Stewards, said the search was continuing.</p>
<p>“The team that has already been hired is in the process right now of interviewing veterinarians. … The role of the veterinarians is to be placed on the permit. Those positions are currently being hired,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to hire one when you don’t have a facility or a permit to go for it. So we’re in that process right now.”</p>
<p>Chadam’s resignation set off a downward spiral for Gumbo Limbo’s turtle rehab unit. Whitney Crowder, the program’s coordinator, and her assistant, Emily Mirowski, were put on administrative leave on March 13, and the next day under FWC orders nine sea turtles were moved to other facilities.</p>
<p>It appears likely that few of those turtles will return to Boca Raton. The Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, which took in six, has already nursed four back to health and released them in the ocean. Another one, a baby with extensive eye damage, was euthanized.</p>
<p>A 10th turtle, taken to Juno Beach on March 26 after being hit by a boat propeller in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Spanish River Boulevard bridge, sustained a wound that was listed as “looking good” by early May, but the turtle’s prognosis was “still guarded.”</p>
<p>Also still at the Marinelife Center is Morgan, one of Gumbo Limbo’s two “resident” sea turtles that are not able to survive in the ocean. Cane, the other resident, was taken to the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart.</p>
<p>And one of the two turtles transported to Zoo Miami died from post-surgery complications, a spokeswoman said, but the other is doing well.</p>
<p>Manjunath Pendakur, a Florida Atlantic University professor emeritus who chairs the Coastal Stewards board of trustees, hailed the written agreement between his organization and the city as a “historic change.”</p>
<p>“We’re committed to doing everything in our power to succeed in this effort as we like to say, one turtle at a time,” he told the City Council.</p>
<p>The agreement also permits the Stewards to charge fees for special experiences and programs. The city took over the door donations that used to go to the Stewards on Jan. 1.</p>
<p>Admission to the turtle rehabilitation tanks will continue to be free.</p>
<p>Also unchanged is the sea turtle conservation program, which is managed under a separate FWC permit held by city staffer David Anderson. The program includes the turtle nesting survey, turtle walks to see mother turtles lay their eggs, and hatchling releases.</p>
<p>“Like in the past, nonprofit members (and city residents) get a discount and the opportunity to get tickets a week early,” Anderson said in an email.</p>
<p>Reservations for the turtle walks opened in April; some spots were still available May 2 when The Coastal Star went to press. Reservations for the hatchling releases will begin May 9 for residents of the city and the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, and members of the Coastal Stewards, and on May 16 for all others. Details are online at <a href="http://www.myboca.us/2133/Turtle-Walks-Hatchling-Releases">www.myboca.us/2133/Turtle-Walks-Hatchling-Releases</a>.</p>
<p>The Stewards had said they would announce in early April the new hires for the rehabilitation team. In a separate interview with The Coastal Star the day before the council meeting, Holloway said he had hired a full-time program manager, full-time biologist, part-time volunteer specialist and, contrary to what he told council members, a part-time veterinarian. But he declined to name them, saying the hires were probationary.</p>
<p>“While they’re in that 90-day period of probation and onboarding, we’re going to hold off on that anticipating that once we do get the FWC permit and the turtles are back, we intend to have a kickoff and an introduction of all of those folks,” Holloway said.</p>
<p>While the circumstances are different, it took the Loggerhead Marinelife Center almost five months after it lost its FWC permits in April 2022 to resume treating turtles.</p>
<p>The city owns Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and the surrounding Red Reef Park; tax dollars from the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District cover all salaries, operations and improvements except for the turtle rehab costs that the Coastal Stewards will now pay.</p></div>Boca Raton: City cracking down on garage sale ‘businesses’https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-city-cracking-down-on-garage-sale-businesses2018-10-31T15:01:59.000Z2018-10-31T15:01:59.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong></p>
<p>Starting next spring, homeowners will be able to hold only two weekend garage sales a year, or four days in all, and must get a free permit beforehand from the city.<br /> Brandon Schaad, Boca Raton’s development services director, said issuing permits would let the city keep track of how many times a particular resident holds a garage sale.<br /> “There’s been some complaints received by the city regarding excessive numbers of garage sales held on some properties, to the extent that on some properties they essentially constitute a business operation,” Schaad told City Council members at their Oct. 10 meeting.<br /> The frequent sales cause parking problems and noise for neighbors, Schaad said. Council members unanimously approved an enabling ordinance.<br /> Schaad said his department would spend the next six months educating residents on the new requirements. After the outreach program ends, violators will receive one warning and face a $150 fine for a second occurrence. Permits will be available online and at City Hall.<br /> “The whole point is not to make it difficult for regular residents,” Mayor Scott Singer said.<br /> Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers asked if Development Services could publish the list of garage sale permits so shoppers could plan their trips.<br /> “It gives a way to publicly advertise for free in the city what yard sales are going on. … In that way we’re adding value I think,” Rodgers said. <br /> <strong>In other business</strong>, council members authorized the sale of $36.7 million in capital improvement bonds to be paid back with proceeds from the county’s 1-cent sales tax. The bond money will finance projects that include Lake Wyman Park, Wildflower Park and Silver Palm Park.</p></div>Boynton Beach: Permit filed with federal agency as mangrove donation proceedshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boynton-beach-permit-filed-with-federal-agency-as-mangrove-donati2018-05-02T15:14:56.000Z2018-05-02T15:14:56.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960781090,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960781090,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="414" alt="7960781090?profile=original" /></a><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />The Riverwalk Plaza owner is going through the approval process to donate 5.7 acres of mangroves, promised in March 2017, to Boynton Beach.<br /> To make the donation, Isram Realty of Hallandale submitted a permit application in December to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency that regulates land fronting the Intracoastal Waterway. The stated purpose of the permit was for “construction of a waterfront multifamily residence.”<br /> The Corps mailed notices about the application to six nearby property owners in late January. Isram Realty is one of the six. But four of the remaining five said they never received the notice.<br /> The lack of information has increased the tension between waterfront residents and Isram. <br /> “We had to state the highest and best use of the land, that’s why it says ‘waterfront multifamily residence’ on the permit application,” said Shaul Rikman, Isram founder. “Maybe in 50 years, it could be developed.”<br /> The mangrove parcel carries a multifamily zoning with a height limit of four stories or 45 feet, according to Michael Rumpf, the city’s planning and zoning director. He also said the city has not received any plans for the site.<br /> “Nothing has changed [about the donated mangroves] since March 21, 2017,” said Rikman. “We are giving the city exactly what we promised.”<br /> Isram plans to hold onto an adjacent interior 3.2-acre parcel along Federal Highway for construction staging of its proposed 10-story apartment complex in Riverwalk Plaza. <br /> The Corps technically ended public comment for the application on Feb. 16, said Nakeir Nobles, Corps spokeswoman in Jacksonville. But the Corps can accept comments up until the time it makes a decision on the permit application, she said. <br /> That date is not known, she said. The Corps is waiting on responses from the National Marine Fisheries, the Habitat Conservation Division, the Environmental Protection Agency and possibly the Corps’ regulatory archaeologist for potential historic property concerns, Nobles said. <br /> “We are also awaiting the applicant’s response to a request for additional information,” she said.<br /> Luke Therien, whose family owns the Prime Catch restaurant in Riverwalk Plaza, was on the notice list, but his company did not receive the notice. After reviewing Isram’s permit application on the Corps website, Therien said, “It seems reasonable to me. This is private property and Isram paid to get this property. <br /> “I guess that the only thing one could argue is to work within the existing zoning codes.”<br /> The mangrove donation was orchestrated by Commissioner Justin Katz as a way to make the project more palatable to the residents of the Seagate of Gulfstream condominiums. The 55-and-older community sits south of the mangroves.<br /> Katz envisioned a boardwalk through the mangroves, ending at the northern border of Seagate.<br />But its residents don’t want a walkway, even if it is gated, because they can’t control who comes through, said Terry Owens, president of the Seagate condo board. They’re concerned about liability of their two waterfront swimming pools and break-ins, he said.<br /> Seagate used to have an entrance into the mangroves to allow residents to go bird-watching, Owens said. But it is now locked because the condo community experienced break-ins, he said.<br /> The board did not receive a written notice of the application, according to Owens. “Rikman came in late February to the Seagate clubhouse and talked generally about his plans to the Boynton Intracoastal Group meeting,” he said. <br /> Deborah Corvey, co-owner of Boynton Billiards, and Steve Marouf, owner of the Troy’s Bar-Be-Que building on Federal Highway, said they also did not receive notices. Both properties are west of the parcels. The owner of the adjacent McDonald’s branch could not be reached.<br /> After the mangroves are donated, Boynton Beach would maintain them, said Andrew Mack, the city’s development director. “This is similar to the existing mangrove park the city currently maintains,” he said. That park is along the Intracoastal Waterway just north of Boynton Beach Boulevard.<br /> The Riverwalk project secured six extra stories after the city created transit-oriented development nodes at certain intersections along Federal Highway. City planners want to have the density to prepare for an anticipated Tri-Rail Coastal Link commuter line stop on the Florida East Coast train tracks. The Brightline express passenger rail uses the tracks but does not have a stop in the city. <br /> Nearby residents had wanted only four stories for the former Winn-Dixie parcel. That was what had been allowed in the original zoning. Riverwalk Plaza sits at the southwestern base of the Woolbright Road bridge to the barrier island.</p></div>Boca Raton: Hillsboro Beach protests Boca Raton beach renourishment planhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-hillsboro-beach-protests-boca-raton-beach-renourishmen2017-03-01T15:54:28.000Z2017-03-01T15:54:28.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960708485,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960708485,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960708485?profile=original" /></a><em>Beachgoers walk by dredging equipment on South Beach Park. The beach renourishment project</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>between the Boca Raton Inlet and Red Reef Park has resumed after a nine-month hiatus.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Steve Plunkett<br /><br /></strong> City officials hope to move sand that has shoaled in the Boca Raton Inlet back north to the partially renourished beach it came from, but Hillsboro Beach officials claim the state mistakenly issued a permit for the work. <br /> The town, just south of Deerfield Beach in Broward County, says Boca Raton’s plan will disrupt the natural flow of sand south and wants the Department of Environmental Protection to revoke its approval.<br /> Boca Raton City Council members at their Feb. 14 meeting approved spending $2.4 million to move 80,000 cubic yards of sand north to the renourishment area between the inlet and Red Reef Park, and 100,000 cubic yards south between the inlet and the Broward County line. <br /> City Manager Leif Ahnell asked council members to waive normal purchasing procedures so he could hire Weeks Marine Inc. to do the inlet dredging without going out to bid. Weeks returned in February to finish the central beach renourishment project it started in March 2016 but stopped in late April. The city’s permit does not allow dredging between May 1 and Nov. 30 to protect nesting sea turtles.<br /> “This is not original work intended for the contractor,” Ahnell said. “Sand has flowed down from the central beach project to the inlet and this is to remove a large portion of that.”<br /> Hurricane Matthew contributed to the erosion, he said.<br /> Councilman Scott Singer elaborated.<br /> “So, it’s right to say that we had sand fill up in the inlet faster than expected, we’re taking steps to remediate that quicker than expected, we have to spend more money and that was all because of weather events and the waves and tides pushing sand where we didn’t expect it,” Singer said. <br /> The central beach renourishment will cost about $11.3 million. The state and county will pay about $4 million. The city and the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District agreed to split the remainder, about $3.7 million each. The project will make about 1.45 miles of beach between Red Reef Park and the inlet 170 feet wider.<br /> Jennifer Bistyga, the city’s coastal program manager, said Weeks would finish the 2015 renourishment project first, then work on the inlet shoaling provided the DEP permit stands. All work must end April 30.<br /> Boaters have been complaining since last summer about the Boca Inlet being dangerously shallow.<br /> “The use of the ebb shoal for beach renourishment aids the boaters in addition to renourishing the beaches,” Bistyga said.<br /> Ken Oertel, a Tallahassee-based attorney for Hillsboro Beach, told that town’s commissioners their protest would stop Boca Raton from moving the sand dredged from the inlet north.<br /> “It’s pretty well-known that Hillsboro Beach doesn’t believe Boca Raton is passing enough sand,” Oertel said.<br /> The Department of Environmental Protection dismissed Hillsboro Beach’s petition on Feb. 23 but gave the town 15 days to refile its challenge. The petition did not explain how Boca Raton’s proposed dredging would affect the town’s environmental interests, the DEP said.</p></div>