‘He was an institution:’ Remembering Bob Banks, county’s former zoning attorney

Oversaw adherence to Palm Beach County zoning and growth rules, loved music and was ‘the most incredible special needs dad.’

At work, Palm Beach County chief land use attorney Bob Banks was a stoic gatekeeper of zoning law. An unassuming legal scholar, he made sure builders, planning agents and elected commissioners followed the county’s often dry and complicated growth management rules. 

Out of the office, he was a dedicated foodie, baseball fan and lover of live music — be it his talented wife Vicki’s fiddle jams or a John Prine concert. Above all, he was a loving husband and father who doted on a special-needs son.

Banks, who retired in 2022 after 34 years with the county, died June 24 in Jupiter after a battle with prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease. He was 72. 

“Every single zoning issue, in some fashion Bob saw it,’’ said former Palm Beach County Attorney Denise Nieman, who worked during Banks’ tenure. 

Not long after being named county attorney in 1996, she made what she called one of her smartest decisions, promoting Banks to be the primary lawyer working with the county’s Planning, Zoning and Building division.

“Bob had no personal agenda other than to be a good lawyer, and he was a great lawyer,’’ said Nieman, who often ran into Banks and his wife on sunrise beach walks in Jupiter, where they were neighbors. “You need that for zoning. You needed someone to tell the commissioners what the law is and that is what he did.’’ 

Banks, who wore an Indiana Jones fedora outside the office, started his work day with a morning ritual: Walking to the Clematis Street Starbucks.

Back at his desk in the Governmental Center or at county zoning meetings, he was all business, widely respected in both legal and planning professions for his even temperament and thoughtful counsel.

“He was exceptionally intelligent,’’ said former Assistant County Attorney Lenny Berger, a frequent Starbucks companion. “At some point we already realized he’d been giving legal advice to the planning division longer than anyone who worked at the planning division. He was an institution.’’

A Dodgers fan who saw Koufax pitch

Robert Preston Banks was born in Los Angeles in 1953. His grandparents were immigrants from what is now Belarus who arrived in the United States just before World War I. His father flew combat missions in World War II and went on to become a successful accountant. 

His mother worked in the music industry, arranging tours for the classical violinist David Rubinoff during the war. Later, she became an executive secretary at Capitol Records and then a National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences project manager whose duties included the logistics of the annual Grammy Awards. 

Growing up primarily in the San Fernando Valley, Bob liked to “go against the grain,’’ recalled his older brother, Bill. “Our mother was from Brooklyn and I was already a huge Dodgers fan when they moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Not surprisingly, Bob became an Angels fan when that team was created in 1961,’’ Bill said. 

Bob soon switched allegiances. On Father’s Day 1965, the family sat in the last row in left field at Dodgers Stadium, in seats partially obscured by the foul pole, and watched Sandy Koufax toss a one-hitter against the Mets.

Ten years later, Banks earned a dual degree in environmental studies and political science at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He got a master’s in urban planning at the University of North Carolina in 1977. 

A year later, he went to work in the Broward County Planning Division where he met his future wife, Vicki Silver. They married in 1981. 

‘He had a lot of integrity’

In 1983, he went to Florida State University Law School and clerked with the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee. In 1988, he went to work in the Palm Beach County Attorney’s Office, a job he took at a time of intense development pressure that brought political challenges for  policymakers.  

He quickly gained a reputation for his ability to navigate complex land use issues. Never one to be swayed, he had an extraordinary gift for seeing through disingenuous arguments, colleagues say. And even in the most heated moments, he remained composed, measured and deliberate.

“He had a lot of integrity,’’ said Vicki, who worked in the county planning division from 1988 to 2002. “There were often times when people weren’t encouraged to give their professional judgment or maybe tell politicians what they wanted to hear. He was never like that.’’ 

A land planner turned lawyer, Banks had a hand in thousands of projects and issues over the years, jockeying with powerbrokers like GL Homes and Minto, sparring with municipalities over annexation efforts, and crafting opinions for regulating such issues as rock mines, strip clubs and the Agricultural Reserve. 

His background in planning gave county staff an extra measure of comfort.

“He was never the type of person to say anything off the cuff. He researched the questions and made sure he was extremely thorough in what the case law was or what we’d done in the past,’’ said former Planning Director Patricia Behn. 

“At every commissioner meeting, every meeting with agents and developers, I felt like he always had my back and he was always there for the planning division,’’ she said.  

‘The most incredible special needs dad’

He also enjoyed sharing personal passions that had nothing to do with zoning or the law. He was a trusted go-to office source for anyone seeking an opinion about the best new restaurants.   

Berger became a frequent Banks companion to Marlins games (usually when the Dodgers were in town) and in recent years Florida State League games at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, where they sat behind home plate with a friendly lineup of mostly retired local government employees.

Behn was among friends Banks introduced to bluegrass music and classical concerts at The Lyric Theatre in Stuart. He accompanied Vicki, a talented fiddle player, to music camps and cruises and to concerts, from John Prine and Emmylou Harris to Emmet Cohen and the Indigo Girls. 

“He took up the mountain dulcimer about eight years ago after my sister sent me one that was on her wall in Arizona,’’ Vicki said.

For all his talents and passions, Banks shined brightest as “the most incredible special needs dad,’’ Vicki said. Their son, Josh, blossomed into a gifted artist despite limitations from autism. Josh died in 2021 from injuries after a seizure. He was 33. 

Josh was an example of how anyone, regardless of ability, can add beauty to the world, even without saying a word, Banks told The Palm Beach Post in 2012. 

Sunrise on the beach Celebration of Life

Banks retired in 2022, a decision that surprised colleagues who couldn’t imagine a county attorney’s office without him.

“I used to tell him, ‘You know you can retire any time you want,’ but I don’t think he wanted to,’’ said Berger, who has also retired. “He enjoyed the work and he enjoyed the people there.’’ 

Banks, who volunteered at the Jupiter Lighthouse in his final years, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2023. The cancer diagnosis followed. A few days before his death, close friends from the County Attorney’s Office arranged a farewell Zoom call with Banks. Some held up Starbucks cups, a loving nod to his former morning routine. 

At Banks’ request, his celebration of life will take place at sunrise on the beach on a yet to be determined date later this year when the weather cools. Bagels will be served. 

“I have been on a date for 43 years. That’s how I felt,’’ Vicki said. “We were such a strong partnership. We were like a flying trapeze.’’ 

Video: See Bob’s last meeting in February 2022 before the County Commission at the 51:30 mark here.

Editor’s note: Former Assistant County Attorney Lenny Berger is a member of the Stet News Advisory Council.