West Palm Beach leaders advanced a new development plan for the city’s downtown over residents’ objections but removed a controversial provision that allowed 25-story buildings along the waterfront.
The city’s Downtown Action Committee voted 3-1 on Sept. 9 to support the city’s overhaul of the downtown master plan despite protests from neighborhood groups that it was being rushed and that Mayor Keith James reneged on a vow to give them time to provide feedback.
But many residents also applauded city leaders for dropping the proposal to allow 25-story buildings along Flagler Drive, a provision that had prompted months of opposition from downtown residents.
“Based on the feedback from the community, we are removing that incentive,” Ana Maria Aponte,
the city’s development services director, told committee members before the vote.
Though celebrated by many residents, the change was greeted with dismay by the leader of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, which had proposed to build a condo tower on its premises near the waterfront, a plan that angered residents of nearby condo towers.
The Rev. R-J Heijmen, the church's rector, called the change "frustrating" for the church's plans.
“It’s going to prevent us from continuing to grow," he said.
The downtown master plan allows denser neighborhoods throughout much of the downtown, including 25-story buildings on properties in other parts of the downtown. But to build to such heights, developers would have to provide substantial benefits, such as price-controlled workforce housing.
Overall, Aponte estimated that the overhaul of the downtown master plan would permit 6 million square feet more of development than the downtown's current rules allow.
It does not, however, include any provision that would close a stretch of Flagler Drive to create a waterfront park, a controversial plan that James was pursuing this year.
As part of the downtown master plan, the city wants to extend the boundaries of the downtown to include a 2.5-acre property at the corner of Okeechobee and South Dixie Highway that currently holds Jaguar and McClaren car dealerships.
Including the property in the downtown plan would allow a building of up to 25 stories on the lot. Representatives for the property owner, Myers Auto Group, argued that rezoning it as part of the city’s urban core would benefit the city by requiring wider sidewalks and shade trees and active storefronts along the ground floor.
Harvey Oyer, an attorney representing Myers Auto, said the owner agreed to a provision that would require the owner to pay to extend one southbound lane of Quadrille Boulevard through the property in order to build higher than five stories.
That road extension would connect Quadrille directly to South Dixie, reducing the number of vehicles that use that increasingly congested stretch of Okeechobee.
Committee members supported the rezoning proposal unanimously.
Leaders of two influential neighborhood groups asked members of the Downtown Action Committee not to approve any part of the downtown plan before their groups had time to fully analyze it and give feedback to city leaders.
“This is a little bit putting the cart before the horse,” Jessica Swift, chairperson of the West Palm Beach Residents Coalition, told committee members.
The committee voted 3-1 to endorse the plan, with one member opposing on the grounds that the city had not taken enough time to answer residents’ questions.
Committee members agreed to include a recommendation that James meet again with the neighborhood group before the city commission votes on the plan.
The plan is scheduled to be considered Sept. 15 by the city’s Planning Board and then be considered by the city commission for preliminary approval on Oct. 26.
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm nixes 25-story towers on Flagler as downtown plan advances
