By Mary Thurwachter
If you’ve driven by — or through — Water Tower Commons lately, you know the once empty lots have been filled with residential apartments and commercial buildings, including Aldi, Wawa and Chick-Fil-A.
A car wash (El Car Wash) is under construction and Dunkin’ Donuts has been approved and is wading through the permitting process, according to Sandra J. Megrue of Urban Design Kilday Studios, WTC’s architectural firm.
The development’s newcomer will be Fifth Third Bank at Main Street and Lantana Road. In order for the financial institution to be constructed there, Urban Design Kilday and the bank had to amend the site plan, which had pegged that space for an 1,800-square-foot restaurant.
At its Aug. 14 meeting, the Town Council modified the use to allow for a 1,900-square-foot bank with a drive-through and an ATM drive-through.
Megrue said the number of parking spaces on the lot will be reduced from 34 to 13 and two EV charging stations will be installed.
WTC occupies 73 acres east of Interstate 95 on Lantana Road on what used to be A. G. Holley State Hospital. The tuberculosis hospital was built in the early 1950s on state-owned land and sold in 2014 for $15.6 million to Lantana Development, developers of the land.
In other action:
• The council authorized paying $109,592 to Baxter & Woodman, Inc. for engineering services to perform a sea level rise assessment and an Ocean Avenue vulnerability assessment.
“The assessments are an effort to determine what the likely impact of sea level ri se will be to the Ocean Avenue corridor, to include the businesses, roadway, parks and other infrastructure that is important to the municipality,” said Eddie Crockett, director of operations.
“Discussions on a regional level have been ongoing for several years,” Crockett said. “The assessment will assist us in identifying where to expend resources to protect from or mitigate the impact of rising sea levels.”
• The council awarded a $1,841,942 contract for residential waste and recyclable materials collection and disposal services to Coastal Waste and Recycling of Florida. The five-year contract begins on Oct. 1. The new contractor will provide new garbage trucks and containers for customers and will make a $50,000 special event contribution.
• Council members heard from Town Manager Brian Raducci that the town of Palm Beach wants to hold off on a planned dune restoration project until November 2024 because of other priorities.
Lantana is part of an interlocal agreement with Palm Beach, South Palm Beach and Palm Beach County for the project, already delayed twice. The project involves transportation of sand from Phipps Ocean Park and placement on the beaches of South Palm Beach and Lantana.
Raducci said he would call for a meeting among the partner municipalities to discuss the project further. Town officials had hoped the restoration would be completed by the end of this year.
Comments