square - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T11:40:50Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/squareBoca Raton: Neighbors object to size of proposed West Camino Real projecthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-neighbors-object-to-size-of-proposed-west-camino-real-2019-01-30T13:14:30.000Z2019-01-30T13:14:30.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Mary Hladky</b></span></p>
<p class="p2">Residents who live near a proposed 350-unit luxury apartment project and retail buildings turned out in force on Jan. 14 to tell city leaders they should not greenlight it.</p>
<p class="p3">“This particular project is very dangerous,” said J. Albert Johnson, president of the 2,000-member Camino Gardens Association in Boca Raton. “It is an invitation to a disaster.”</p>
<p class="p3">“I hope you on the City Council will realize this is a grave mistake,” said Roslyn Goldstein, who lives in Camino Gardens Villas.</p>
<p class="p3">FCI Residential Corp., a subsidiary of sugar producer Florida Crystals Corp., has proposed redeveloping a blighted, 9.1-acre shopping center site at 171 West Camino Real, where a Winn-Dixie operated for years before closing in 2010.</p>
<p class="p3">The first phase of the Camino Square project would be two, eight-story apartment buildings and two parking garages on the eastern portion of the site, just west of the Florida East Coast Railway tracks.</p>
<p class="p3">The second phase, on the western portion, would have two retail buildings and surface parking.</p>
<p class="p3">Nearby residents want to see the derelict shopping center redeveloped, but they strongly oppose FCI’s plans. They say the development is too big and will worsen already clogged traffic on Camino Real and other streets in the area.</p>
<p class="p3">FCI attorney Ele Zachariades contended that Camino Square would bring a much-needed transformation of the area. She also said that the city’s downtown development ordinance allows FCI to build 100 additional units, but the developer opted for fewer units to limit density.</p>
<p class="p3">“We are hoping to be just like Mizner Park,” she said, referring to the project that revitalized the moribund downtown in the 1990s. “We too hope to be the catalyst for redevelopment of this area as well.”</p>
<p class="p3">The project has a troubled history with the city. In January 2018, the Planning and Zoning Board unanimously rejected it, and city staff opposed it.</p>
<p class="p3">Since, FCI made numerous changes to its plans and city staffers acknowledged that the project is much improved. Even so, they remained concerned that Camino Square would worsen already bad traffic congestion.</p>
<p class="p3">But the Community Appearance Board unanimously recommended approval last year and the planning board agreed in a 4-1 vote Nov. 8.</p>
<p class="p3">After listening to a long line of speakers who opposed the project, City Council members, sitting as Community Redevelopment Agency commissioners, postponed a decision until their April 8 meeting.</p>
<p class="p3">In the meantime, staff will get answers to three key questions council members have about the project: Will road improvements proposed by FCI improve traffic flow? Will the county agree to reimburse the city for the cost of road improvements using impact fees the county collects? Does a city ordinance allow council members to approve residential development at the site?</p>
<p class="p3">FCI’s plans call for a southbound left turn lane from Southwest Third Avenue onto eastbound West Camino Real, and a northbound right turn lane into Camino Square to eliminate traffic jams at the West Camino Real and Southwest Third Avenue intersection. They also propose another through-lane on the west side of Dixie Highway.</p>
<p class="p3">The developer has proposed using impact fees paid by developers to pay for road improvements. But city officials do not know if the county would be willing to use that money to reimburse the city.</p>
<p class="p3">Some are uncertain whether residential can be built at the site. The downtown development ordinance says retail and office can be built there. City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser said residential is not prohibited and the City Council can convert the usage to residential if it wants.</p>
<p class="p3">A number of residents speaking at the planning board and City Council meetings blamed city officials for causing traffic congestion because they canceled plans to improve the intersection of Camino Real and Dixie Highway in 2015.</p>
<p class="p3">But city officials explained that, at the time, the expensive improvements were not needed because studies showed a decrease in traffic there. The reduction was the result of new residential development sprouting up downtown, rather than office buildings that generate more traffic. </p></div>Behind Our Bank: A Timelinehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/behind-our-bank-a-timeline2011-03-31T19:19:42.000Z2011-03-31T19:19:42.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331081,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331081,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960331081?profile=original" /></a><em>The Bank of Boynton building, on the south side of Ocean Avenue. <strong>Photos courtesy of the Boynton Beach City Library Archives</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p>
<p>1915 — Bank of Boynton opens on the south side of Ocean Avenue between the FEC railroad tracks and Federal Highway. The first floor of the building also houses Newland’s Pharmacy and Harold’s Barber Shop. Upstairs is the Boynton Hotel, later known as Jones Hotel. Wooden ties from the Celestial Railroad, which carried passengers between Jupiter and Juno from 1889 to 1895, were used in construction of the building. <br />1928 — Following the 1928 hurricane, the building is sold to the city for use as the City Hall. The Bank of Boynton moves to the southeast corner of Federal Highway and Ocean Avenue. <br />1929 — Wall Street crashes and the Bank of Boynton fails.<br />1948 — The bank is reorganized as the Boynton Beach State Bank and opens for business in the same building.<br />1953 — The bank moves to larger quarters across Federal Highway in what is now the Congregational United Church of Christ.<br />1958 — The bank adds service area, growing from 1,200 square feet to 10,500 square feet, including three drive-in windows and a second floor.<br />About 1963 — The bank develops “a correspondent relationship” with First National City Bank in New York City (a precursor of Citicorp) and is renamed the First Bank of Boynton Beach with the tagline: “A progressive bank in a progressive community.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331253,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331253,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960331253?profile=original" /></a><em>The bank, now called First Bank of Boynton Beach, added a landmark cube-shaped clock in 1969.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><br />1969 — Bank adds a revolving cube-shaped clock on top and is now fondly called “The Bank With the Clock on Top.” Trust services are added and the bank is renamed First Bank and Trust of Boynton Beach. (The bank would later be named First Bank and Trust of Palm Beach County.)<br />1974 — Bank moves into the new two-story building between Boynton Beach Boulevard and Ocean Avenue on the east side of Federal Highway (114 N. Federal Highway). This new First Bank and Trust is a square building with round protrusions on each side and three fountains along the street. People joke that the bulges are caused by all the cash inside. A satellite office opens in Sunshine Square, offering round-the-clock banking for the first time.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331094,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331094,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="264" alt="7960331094?profile=original" /></a><em>The bank, known as First Bank and Trust of Palm Beach County, moved to its latest location in 1974, offering banking in the round.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331663,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331663,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="230" alt="7960331663?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960331663,original{{/staticFileLink}}"></a>First Bank and Trust added a satellite office at Sunshine Square, near where Bank of America has built a new office, scheduled to open this month.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><em> </em>March 1981 — The Florida Coast Banks Inc., a bank holding company based in Pompano Beach, acquires controlling interest in the First Bank and Trust for $8.6 million in cash. The bank is renamed Florida Coast Bank of Palm Beach County.<br />1983 — Florida Coast Bank of Palm Beach County merges with the Broward County affiliate of Florida Coast Bank. After the merger it’s called Florida Coast Bank.<br />1984 — Barnett Banks acquires Florida Coast Bank. And the bank “with the clock on top” is now part of Florida’s bank, Barnett.<br />1997 — Barnett is purchased by NationsBank and the bank changes its name.<br />1998 — NationsBank merges with San Francisco-based Bank America in a $57 billion deal to create a new entity, Bank of America, whose name now appears on the Boynton Beach bank.<br />April 2011 — The Bank of America moves from its location at 114 N. Federal Highway to 574 E. Woolbright Road, a new location in Sunshine Square. Property owner Washington Investment Partners joins with the Patrinely Group to develop the vacated land into high-end multifamily rental units that could be the catalyst for downtown development.<br /><em> — Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</em></p></div>