News

By Dan Moffett

    Nobody will confuse Manalapan with Hollywood when it comes to movie and video production.
    The town’s last brush with show biz came in 2014 when the reluctantly remembered rapper Vanilla Ice, aka Robert Van Winkle, announced plans to shoot a home renovation project for the DIY Network at a South Ocean Boulevard mansion.
    The plans fell through, and most Manalapanians didn’t lament the loss.
    Mayor Keith Waters is concerned that the town may not be as lucky the next time. He thinks Manalapan needs a new ordinance that puts some restrictions on how film and video companies can operate in the town.
    Naturally, Palm Beach is the model for how to handle this. Years ago, Manalapan’s neighbor implemented a law that requires commercial filmmakers and production companies to obtain a permit, pay a nominal fee and adhere to rules for operation — much like construction companies, landscapers and other businesses do.
    “The intent is just to have knowledge of what’s going on so we don’t get blindsided,” Waters said during the Oct. 24 town meeting.
    For constitutional reasons, the ordinance cannot control content. But it can place restrictions on noise, traffic issues and hours of activity — what Town Attorney Keith Davis calls “the physical impact” that the production work has on the town.
    Davis said the ordinance would not deal with the live coverage of news events. The attorney told Waters and commissioners he would draft a proposed ordinance based on the Palm Beach model and present it for consideration at their Nov. 28 meeting.
    In other business:
    • Town Manager Linda Stumpf said Palm Beach County environmental officials have postponed a briefing on a proposed beach stabilization project in South Palm Beach until Manalapan’s November meeting.
    The question-and-answer session with commissioners was scheduled for October. The county wants to install a system of seven concrete groins along the coastline north of Manalapan to deter erosion in South Palm Beach.
    Waters and the commissioners say they will vigorously oppose the project because of the possible damage to their town’s beaches.
The county hopes to change minds in Manalapan during the meeting with the commission and begin the groin construction a year from now.
    • Commissioners unanimously decided to move the starting time for their meetings to 10 a.m., beginning in November. Waters said the time change makes commission meetings consistent with other board and committee meetings in the town.