The Lantana Town Council is discussing plans to renovate the aging boardwalk and pavilion at Lantana Beach Park. The work will be done in phases to control costs. Photo provided
By Patrick Sherry
The Lantana Town Council agrees Lantana Beach Park’s old, deteriorating boardwalk and pavilion need to go. Local leaders are supportive of a major renovation project there and are trying to alleviate concerns of wary residents that the plans are too grandiose.
They are prioritizing replacing the boardwalk and removing the pavilion as the first renovation steps. The council discussed staff’s latest proposals at their workshop meeting on Aug. 10.
Earlier this year, the council held a community workshop and released a survey the town did that revealed residents want to maintain the small-town character for which the beach is known.
With that feedback in mind, town staff developed a multiphase plan with a “less is more” approach. The first phase, estimated to cost about $9.5 million, would include replacing the boardwalk, building a new two-story restaurant and event space, constructing a new northern restroom facility, and demolishing the Dune Deck Café and pavilion. Later improvements have yet to be decided.
The town has no debt, but financing a project of this scale would still be difficult, especially with uncertainty over property tax reforms on the ballot this November. Instead of waiting for additional funding to become available, staff proposed completing the renovations incrementally, even if it may cost more. Building a new Dune Deck Café is still a top priority, but the pavilion and boardwalk may need to come first.
“Ideally, we would like to do everything simultaneously, but it’s just not financially feasible to do that,” Town Manager Brian Raducci said. “If you wait for perfect timing, you’re never going to get there.”
Original plans were to build the new boardwalk in two phases, with a new extension reaching north toward the Imperial House condos. But the council wanted it all to be done at once, seeing the boardwalk as a safety issue because of its deterioration.
“Safety is the first issue in my mind and go from there,” Council member Kem Mason said. New restrooms and rinse facilities included in the revised plan have yet to be designed.
“I think when people see it, hopefully they’ll embrace it,” Raducci said of the plan. “They’ll embrace the project, and they’ll see that we’re not overdeveloping the beach.”
At previous workshops, staff suggested that extending the town’s ability to lease property for more than five years and selling town-owned property were possible ways to help fund projects like the beach redevelopment. However, the town’s existing charter language makes it difficult for these deals to happen in a timely fashion because they need voter support to move forward.
The council supported continuing to look into creating a charter referendum that would ask voters to make it less complicated for the council to lease or sell town property.
For now, town staff will revise parts of the beach redevelopment plan with the council’s feedback in mind and return with updated costs at a future meeting.
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