Stet NewsWe’re glad you’re here. For you today, a court drama at G-Star school, a Palm Beach Gardens brewer’s lament, Lake Worth Beach has another suitor, two Juno Beach oceanfront lots become one and a salute to cat lovers.
⭐ Existential drama at G-Star
Greg Hauptner is fighting in court to win back control of G-Star School of the Arts, which he founded 20 years ago.
He went so far as to call a board meeting in the school parking lot, dismiss the existing board and appoint three new directors, who promptly voted to fire the management company, Charter Schools USA.
His parking lot powwow prompted the existing board to fire him and file suit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court to ban him from campus and stop him from interfering in school affairs.
Why it matters: The fate of G-Star, the county’s premier charter film school, hangs in the balance.
What’s happening in court? The suit is ugly. The board and Hauptner each accuse the other of all manner of wrongdoing. Hauptner claims, as school founder, he has special powers. The board’s attorney disputes his claims, calling Hauptner’s actions “hostile, false, fraudulent and harassing.”
Catch up quick: Fort Lauderdale-based education behemoth Charter Schools USA since 2019 has been running the school, home to 750 aspiring actors and filmmakers in grades 6-12.
What’s next? Circuit Judge James Sherman approved a preliminary order that bars Hauptner from contacting the Palm Beach County School District or financial institutions about G-Star or to go on campus. While Hauptner initially agreed to the ban, he wants it lifted. He says the school should be put in the hands of a court-appointed receiver. His request, along with others that are hotly contested, is pending.
Learn more about the ongoing drama Jane Musgrave uncovered here.
— Jane Musgrave
🍻 Last splash at Twisted Trunk
Fans of local craft brews likely will be crying in their beer when Twisted Trunk in Palm Beach Gardens shuts down, possibly this week.
The 10-year-old craft brewery started by Fran Andrewlevich and his then-partner Matt Webster announced its closing on social media.
Rising rents forced the shutdown, Andrewlevich wrote.
What’s he saying: “The cost of doing business on PGA Boulevard has pushed us to close our legendary home in the Gardens,” Andrewlevich wrote. “We are in search of an alternate location.”
- A Ritz-Carlton Residences with condos starting at $4 million is under construction across the street from Twisted Trunk.
Andrewlevich, a pioneer in the craft brew industry, helped start several craft breweries in the county. Twisted Trunk, at 2000 PGA Blvd., is a spinoff of Tequesta Brewing Co., which Andrewlevich owns.
Of note: Andrewlevich’s Steam Horse Brewing in West Palm Beach closed last September.
Andrewlevich also is involved in the Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival, held Saturday in Abacoa. He could not be reached last week for comment.
Popular beers brewed for Twisted Trunk — IPGA and the Palm Beach Pilsner — will continue to be distributed by Tequesta Brewing, he said in his post.
“This decision is the hardest of a lifetime,” he wrote. “The sheer level of laughter and humanity shared over the decade has been life changing for all of us at Twisted Trunk Family.”
— Jan Norris
🐴 When gift horses come knocking
What’s a city to do when mega-developers drop an unsolicited bid to redevelop the city’s beach and golf course in one massive $355 million sweep?
If you’re Lake Worth Beach, and you have no rules for handling unsolicited bids, you have to look closely at the city charter, which has protections wary residents pushed to make sure the beach can’t be turned over for commercial use without a referendum.
Catch up quick: A private investment group led by Copperline Partners and golf legend Jack Nicklaus wants to build two Hyatt hotels, one on the ocean and one near the city golf course; redesign the golf course; and replace the closed beachfront city pool with one in a mainland city park.
- Copperline’s partners also include Fortress Investment and Stiles Construction.
- They value the projects at $355 million.
The proposal came to light publicly on Jan. 21, when city commissioners discussed it, just five days after it arrived.
Based on their initial review, city officials said, the proposal could trigger at least five charter changes, each requiring voter approval.
For example: The proposal mentions “a mixture of land lease terms with different lengths and optional renewal periods,’’ but does not offer details. Any lease of city land east of A1A for 30 years or more must go before voters, as required by the city charter.
For details of the proposal, check out the full story at ByJoeCapozzi.com.
— Reported by Joe Capozzi
🎶 No harmony in Juno
Harmony, it turns out, is in the eye of the beholder.
A proposal to replace two adjacent Juno Beach oceanfront homes with a larger one failed the town’s harmony test on the standards of mass and scale, Juno Beach planners told the Town Council last week.
But the council voted 3-2 to allow homeowners Boris and Natasha Ivanov to move ahead with plans for a 14,738-square-foot home to replace two homes totaling 12,754 square feet.
Why it matters: Residents countywide have watched for years as neighbors have torn down older homes to build homes double their size. In the oceanfront town of Juno Beach, population 3,800, development has been at the center of a divisive debate.
What they’re saying: “The approval of this agenda item really comes down to the subjective interpretation called harmony,” Mayor Peggy Wheeler said. “I am for this project because harmony is subjective.”
Town planners compared the square footage of other homes in the 10-home oceanfront community — between 4,974 square feet and 7,945 square feet — and determined the new home’s size of nearly 15,000 square feet would not be compatible in terms of mass.
- As for scale — the proportions of a building in relation to its surroundings — the home failed particularly because of its width on a double lot, town planners wrote.
Leslie Thomas, representing the Ivanovs, countered that the new home would be far less massive than other homes in town. She showed pictures of homes six times the size of neighboring homes. The Ivanovs’ home would be hidden from public view, she said.
“If you allow the bigger ones like this to be massive and visible and in your face we hope you’ll allow ours that is discreet, private and hidden behind closed doors,” Thomas said.
Yes, but: The town’s harmony rule provides for comparisons only to homes in the same community, not across the street or in another part of town, town planner Stephen Mayer said.
- Owners of six of the eight neighboring homes signed off.
Of note: Council Member John Callaghan, just two hours after taking the oath of office to fill the term remaining after the resignation of Jacob Rosengarten, cast the deciding vote. He and Wheeler were joined by Council Member Marianne Hosta. Members DD Halpern and Diana Davis voted against.
🍊 The Juice
🏘️ It’s going to take more than 200,000 new homes and apartments by 2034 for Palm Beach County to fully address its affordable-housing crisis, a study by Florida International University shows. Study author Ned Murray says that’s not even possible. “What’s important is that the county begins to address it and set some realistic goals,” he said. The report goes to the County Commission today. (Sun-Sentinel $$$)
🧮 Palm Beach County’s 2025 Homeless Point-in-Time Count will be Thursday and Friday. The count documents the number of homeless people in a 24-hour period. In 2024, county staff and volunteers identified 2,126 individuals and families as homeless. The number of homeless people counted in 2023 was 1,855. Volunteers are welcome. More information on the event Facebook page.
💼 From policy to personal stories, four Palm Beach County commissioners addressed about 400 attendees Jan. 22 at a Palm Beach North Chamber breakfast. County Mayor Maria Marino offered a broad overview of county issues and projects, Commissioner Gregg Weiss focused on traffic and environmental restoration, Commissioner Joel Flores spoke about housing and traffic after sharing how he worked many years at the chamber and Commissioner Bobby Powell told of his cousin’s tragic mental health journey.
⚒️ A South Florida Water Management District decision to submit a letter to Palm Beach County to help sugar companies rezone land for a rock mine near 20-Mile Bend shows the letter mimicked one that originated with U.S. Sugar. (Jason Garcia’s Seeking Rents)
🔱 The Florida Trident, published by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, has a new executive editor, Diane Rado. Co-founder and Executive Director Barbara Petersen will now serve as CEO and publisher. Rado has worked at the Chicago Tribune, St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) Times, Dallas Morning News, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal and recently, the Florida Phoenix, where she was editor-in-chief. (Florida Trident)
🐈 561NSIDER: Purr-fect milestone for Adopt A Cat
For 25 years, Adopt A Cat has been saving lives, one whisker at a time. Supporters will mark the milestone with a fundraiser Sunday at The Nest golf course in Palm Beach Gardens.
Why it matters: The organization has been a lifeline for feral cats, prioritizing a no-kill policy and reducing feline overpopulation through trap-neuter-release programs. It also runs a free-roaming shelter, where cats enjoy sprawling space and plenty of cat trees to climb.
- Exceptions are made for cats with medically significant conditions, who get their own quieter, more secluded area.
Adopt A Cat also has a charity thrift store in Juno Beach, where proceeds benefit the foundation. The store even has a shop cat, Wally, who loves greeting customers.
What they’re saying: “We’re a true no-kill (shelter),” said Debbie Heavey, executive director of the Adopt A Cat Foundation. “I mean, cats have to be suffering, and it has to be an incurable disease, right? We mainly rescue stray cats. So it’s very difficult, because they come in with all kinds of illnesses.”
By the numbers: Annual vet care costs are over $80,000, a third of the organization’s annual expenses.
- In 2024, 168 cats were adopted.
- 133 strays were rescued and cared for.
Adopt A Cat was founded by Inga Hanley, who operated a popular dog grooming business. Knowing she was an animal lover, customers turned to her for help with stray cats.
- Hanley died in 2020, but her organization still has spent 25 years rescuing and rehoming cats, a critical effort in light of troubling statistics.
- The Humane Society estimates that 2.4 million medically treatable animals are euthanized each year, while the ASPCA reports that 1.4 million of those are cats.
If you go: Dinner, music, driving range, cash bar and a silent auction. Tickets are $75 in advance and $100 at the door. More information here.
Keep reading: Meet Wally, the shop cat, at the foundation’s resale store.
— Mary Rasura
We made a few mistakes in last week’s newsletter and we want you to know about them:
- In the story about quiet zones, the correct number of train horns before an intersection is four, not three, and the correct date of the first Brightline train to Orlando was Sept. 22, 2023, not October 2023.
- In the story about the Waterway Cafe reopening, the restaurant owner’s name is Marc Mariacher, not John, and he does not own the land.
- In the TerMarsch Groves story, we had an incorrect reference to a TerMarsch family member. It’s Bonnie, not Stephanie.
