Stet NewsTrick or treat, Stetters? For you today, a new view for West Palm Beach’s northern gateway, Riviera Beach vs. its No. 1 nemesis on a three-peat, where the county’s opioid settlement cash will go, progress on saving natural areas and a ghost in the kitchen.
🪟 Vision for Broadway: 6 stories not 30
Planners rolled out proposed new rules last week for future construction along West Palm Beach’s distressed Broadway corridor.
Why it matters: If the march of redevelopment reaches the busy street, it has the potential to destroy its urban character.
What’s happening: The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency hired planners Dover Kohl of Coral Gables to modify the development code for the area from 26th Street north to the city limit.
Goals include:
- Redesigning Broadway to make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Encouraging affordable housing.
- Attracting and marketing businesses.
What they’re saying: “Our goal is to make the ordinance to guide the neighborhood to what you want it to be,” Joseph Kohl of Dover Kohl told about 100 people who gathered Wednesday at Manatee Lagoon to review the draft that will be submitted to the city for approval.
- The meeting was the fifth community session about the corridor plans.
The key features for new buildings facing Broadway would be:
- A requirement that buildings be set back 17 feet from the curb. That allows for landscaping, a clear pedestrian path and room for outdoor seating and shade.
- The nominal building height limit would be three stories.
- The height could be increased to six stories for residential buildings if half of the additional units created by the greater height are devoted to affordable housing.
- A developer can stretch that rule to seven stories if the building is no taller than 76 feet.
In addition, the code would limit the types of businesses permitted to operate in the Broadway corridor. (Permitted uses are on Page 66 of this PDF.)
Also new: The proposed code would expand the Broadway district to include requirements for the redevelopment of property just east and west of the road.
- The rules would limit the height and use of that land (residential only) to buffer nearby neighborhoods.
Once a revised code is in place, the CRA intends to seek proposals for a project that would demonstrate the new rules and, ideally, spark more development, Executive Director Chris Roog said at the meeting.
What’s next: The rules must be approved by the West Palm Beach Planning Board and City Commission.
- The planning board hearing is 6 pm Nov. 19 at City Hall.
- The commission’s first reading is expected to be at 5 pm Dec. 9 at City Hall.
For more: You can read the proposed Broadway corridor code and view the presentation slides here.
– Carolyn DiPaolo
🌊 Appellate court sides with Riviera Beach vs. Lozman
Could twice-charmed Riviera Beach gadfly Fane Lozman get an unprecedented third chance to face off against the city before the U.S. Supreme Court?
Catch up quick: The self-made millionaire is convinced his return flight is guaranteed after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals this month rejected his $50 million lawsuit, claiming the city robbed him of the use of 7.5 acres of mostly submerged land he owns at the north end of Singer Island.
What they’re saying: “I got my ticket to go back to the big dance a third time and I’m going to punch it,” Lozman said after an Atlanta-based appeals court panel on Oct. 16 ordered the lower court to dismiss his suit.
- While the city’s attorney couldn’t be reached, city leaders have celebrated court victories over Lozman only to see the Supreme Court twice rule on his behalf.
So, is history likely to repeat itself? In contrast to Lozman’s previous legal battles, the appellate court didn’t decide whether Lozman or the city was right or wrong.
It sidestepped the question of whether the city had taken Lozman’s land when it updated its comprehensive land-use plan in 2021 and passed a law that took away his one-unit per acre zoning and designated his property for preservation.
The court ruled that because Lozman hadn’t asked the city for permission to build on his land, the case wasn’t “ripe.” Until Lozman seeks a permit, Chief Judge William Pryor wrote, there is nothing for the court to decide.
Yes, but. Lozman claims that asking the city for permission to fill the land and build eight houses would be a waste of time.
“Life is full of uncertainties,” Lozman’s attorney, Kerri Barsh wrote. “But whether Riviera Beach will give Fane Lozman special permission to build a house — candidly, that’s not one of them.”
What’s next? Lozman is betting Justice Clarence Thomas will urge his fellow jurists to hear this lawsuit because the conservative firebrand has argued that clarity is needed on the issue of government rules destroying land value.
Read the full story from Jane Musgrave here.
— Jane Musgrave
❤️🩹 Millions of dollars to heal people with addiction
More than $120 million from pharmaceutical companies and distributors is pouring into Palm Beach County coffers.
After months of deliberation, the county now has a 15-year plan for spending it.
Catch up quick: The money is from legal settlements to compensate governments across the nation for costs of the opioid epidemic. The aim is to help people with substance abuse disorder return to substance-free lives. It will be reviewed annually.
How it works: It means helping them find a safe place to live; overcome seemingly innocuous obstacles, such as obtaining a driver’s license; and get a job.
Here’s the county’s plan on spending $7.7 million a year for the next 15 years:
- Community education and training: $3 million. Focused on family support, community engagement, drug disposal, public awareness and screening.
- Housing, transportation, employment and recovery: $1.89 million. The county has created recovery community centers to provide “one-stop shopping” for “person-centered, recovery-oriented care.”
- Neutral care coordination, $1.59 million. That means a single point of entry for assessment referrals, initial level of care determination, coordination across clinical and non-clinical care and payment for some care.
- “Deep End” in-patient long term care for women, pregnant women and women with children: $775,745.
- Syringe exchange expansion: $500,000.
- 5 percent goes to county administrative costs.
How we got here: The ease of obtaining opioids made Florida a starting point for distribution of pills throughout the nation until Florida changed the laws and cut off the spigot around 2010. Palm Beach County became a haven for treatment centers, many illicitly overcharging insurance companies for unneeded care.
While other communities have been criticized for misspending the proceeds from the class-action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies and retailers such as Teva, Walgreens and CVS, an advisory committee led by the recovery community spent two years here developing a person-centered approach that aimed to end the “treat and street” approach of sending recovering addicts into the community after a few weeks of treatment with no support.
At a May 21 County Commission meeting, commissioners shared their own tragic family stories as they supported the plan. On Oct. 22, they endorsed the spending approach.
Update: Stet News reported in May that the county would have $148 million to spend over 20 years based on a county chart that showed $25.5 million in hand from years one and two and $122.5 million to come in the next 18 years. The county has updated its calculations to show that it will be getting $122.5 million over 15 years.
— Joel Engelhardt
🌿 Preserving preserves
After the uproar over building golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the public demanded that preserved natural areas remain preserved.
To that end, Palm Beach County commissioners last week approved a proposal to add another layer of protection to county conservation lands.
What they’re saying: “This really is a monumental thing,’’ said Lisa Interlandi, policy director for The Everglades Law Center. “The pressures conservation lands are facing are only going to increase as time passes.’’
Why it’s important: With a 7-0 vote, commissioners agreed Oct. 22 to pursue conservation easements, which would protect the land in perpetuity. The easements would be held by an independent nonprofit, in this case Conservation Florida.
What it means: Future county commissions could never vote to allow development in the preserves without the agreement of the nonprofit group.
“It removes any ambiguity about what these lands will be in the future,” Environmental Resources Management Director Deb Drum said. “There is no question that these lands will be anything but natural areas moving forward.”
Catch up quick: ERM sought the measure. It manages more than 31,000 acres of undeveloped, natural land, much of it in north county. Most of the money to buy the land came from voter-approved bond issues in the 1990s totalling $150 million.
“This is a significant form of protection going forward,’’ said Commissioner Maria Marino, whose north-county district is home to popular natural areas like the Loxahatchee Slough, Pine Glades and Cypress Creek. “We’d be remiss in not allowing this to happen.”
To read the rest of the story at ByJoeCapozzi.com, click here.
In other county commission news last week:
- Commissioners approved the donation of $46 million worth of downtown land to Vanderbilt University.
— Reported by Joe Capozzi
🍊 The Juice
📰 The Palm Beach Post unveiled its new approach to the Sunday newspaper, devoting the front page to a single story and offering new sections, including one devoted to inspirational news. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🔎 A comprehensive review of the new state condo law shows that it’s getting a lot harder to sell units in older condos facing years of deferred maintenance. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🐴 Mark Bellissimo is taking back the helm of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, the 111-acre Wellington hub of the Winter Equestrian Festival. He and partners Marsha Dammerman, Lisa Lourie, and Roger Smith are buying it back from the Global Equestrian Group, which bought it in 2021 from a group that included Bellissimo, Smith, Lourie and Dammerman. Terms of the deal, which has not yet closed, are undisclosed. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
🖼️ A deeper dive into Arthur Wiener, the Brooklyn developer behind a $60 million plan for a museum-apartment project in downtown Lake Worth Beach. (ByJoeCapozzi)
🎨 The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County unveiled a new mural last week at its Lake Worth Beach headquarters. It replaces a beloved mural of Martin Luther King Jr. that was beyond repair. (Cultural Council)
📍 The postponed meeting about an African American Museum and Research Library has been reset for 6 pm Wednesday. Stet told you about the plans for the museum at the historic Roosevelt School site in West Palm Beach. (Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties
🕯561NSIDER: Seeking the supernatural at The Sims House
Call it a spirited restaurant.
“I don’t like to use the word ‘haunted,’” said Ernie Fidanza, owner of The Sims House in Jupiter — a historic property.
What’s happening: He did, however, have the 100-year-old Mission-style house spiritually cleansed before moving in three years ago.
Why it matters: The restaurant, set in a home built in 1924 and owned by the daughter of Jupiter’s first postmistress, had a presence that prevented him from entering when he bought it, he said.
- Fidanza rescued the dilapidated property in 2016, saving it from the wrecking ball with a goal of sharing its history.
What he’s saying: “Too much of Jupiter has been demolished. Only a few original houses from the town remain.”
Details: The 69-seat restaurant serves dinner only, Tuesday through Saturday, by reservation only. Prices range from moderate to expensive, and there’s a wait list in season, Fidanza said.
Flashback: His pursuit of the preservation of the town’s buildings led him to form the Jupiter Historical Society in 2016, which he leads today.
- But before taking on all the construction to turn the house into a restaurant, he had to get rid of what he said was “something off” that was blocking him from going inside.
“It didn’t feel right,” he said, after attempting a walk-through. “I had a bad feeling about it.”
Still skeptical about mediums and spirits, he called Michael Verdan, who says he has spirit contacts routinely.
To find out what Verdan says he found in The Sims House, keep reading.
The Sims House Restaurant, 322 Center St., Jupiter, FL 33458. Phone 561-431-4336. Find it online here.
– Jan Norris
Scientists took center stage Thursday as the Palm Health Foundation launched its proposed Brain Coast for South Florida vision at Florida Atlantic University’s Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute in Jupiter. The four scientists who addressed the crowd of 130 didn’t just talk about molecules, they explained what drew them to brain science. Stet told you about the proposal first, here.
Your Stet team is looking forward to the walk Saturday morning for the Palm Beach County chapter of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. We will have a Stet News table at NAMIWalks in John Prince Park at 4759 S. Congress Ave. Come by and say hello. And beware: 6th Avenue South remains closed by the park.
