Stet NewsWelcome back. Let’s get to it. Jupiter considers a deal to preserve its ancient history, a U.S. Marine turned inspector general turned minister, a million-dollar mayor’s race, Juno grapples with being discovered and a Port St. Lucie hack.
🛟 Saving Suni Sands
The Jupiter Town Council tonight will consider a mediated settlement to preserve more than half of the waterfront Suni Sands site under an agreement with developer Charles Modica.
Why it matters: Modica’s development plans wrenched the town, drawing protests from historians and Native Americans worried about losing critical remnants of town history. A historic review board recommended no construction at all.
- The settlement emerged from mediation that began in August 2023 after the Town Council deemed 4 acres of the site undevelopable.
- Members of the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes have said their ancestors are likely buried at the former mobile home site.
Zoom in: The settlement would allow Modica to pursue development of about 4.5 acres of the 10-acre site across the Loxahatchee River from the Jupiter Lighthouse.
Its terms:
- Modica would deed to the town a 4.07-acre shell midden in the center of the property where the Jeaga and Jobe Native American tribes lived 5,000 years ago.
- The town would pay $10.5 million for 1.41 acres in the northwest corner of the site. That is the location of the town’s first commercial hub and a key point along the Celestial Railway that ran in the 1890s.
- A strip of land 950 feet long and 9.5 feet wide — where the Celestial Railway cut across the property — would be preserved.
What they’re saying: “In all respects, I believe the council may have achieved more than some members thought was possible with the issuance of their order on the certificate to dig in 2023,” Town Attorney Tom Baird said.
- “This is a resident of this area for 40-some years. It means as much to him as it means to any local to have that protected,” Modica’s attorney, Phillipe Jeck, said.
Of note: Modica still intends to submit plans for some development of the site. His original plans called for a 125-room inn, 72 townhomes and condos and about 12,000 square feet of restaurants and stores.
Read more of the story about the settlement to save Suni Sands at StetNews.org.
— Joe Capozzi
🕵️♂️ County inspector general retiring
After serving Palm Beach County as the inspector general for a decade, John Carey is stepping down this summer to pursue a career in the ministry.
Driving the news: Carey, a retired Marine colonel appointed as the county’s second IG in 2014, was ordained as a Presbyterian pastor in September, a calling he said he has felt since his teenage years.
What he’s saying: “I’m ready to move on to my next mission, now still serving people but in a different capacity, with a new boss,” he told Stet News.
Why it matters: During Carey’s term in Palm Beach County, the inspector general’s office did not generate major news, but he said it identified more than $50 million in questionable costs.
Catch up quick: The Inspector General’s Office, created in 2009 along with a local ethics panel after a grand jury called for independent oversight of county government, reviews the county, its 39 municipalities, the Solid Waste Authority and the Children’s Services Council. It is meant to be independent from the local governments it reviews.
Carey replaced the office’s first IG, Sheryl Steckler, after a national search.
While county human resource officials will handle the search for Carey’s successor, decisions will be made by a seven-person panel. State Attorney Alexcia Cox and Public Defender Daniel Eisinger serve, as do representatives appointed by local Bar associations, the Association of Chiefs of Police, the League of Cities, Florida Atlantic University and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
- The new IG’s contract is subject to Palm Beach County Commission approval.
- The committee approved a job description in a 20-minute meeting on Jan. 8. It agreed to post the job opening with a $260,000-$280,000 annual pay range. Applicants have until Jan. 30 to apply.
What’s next: The committee agreed to meet Feb. 5 to review applications.
Read more: About the IG office’s accomplishments at StetNews.org.
— Sephora Charles
🔎 Follow the money
The 2027 race for mayor in West Palm Beach has been a race for money.
City Commissioner Christina Lambert is going all in on raising big money early but her opponent, County Commissioner Gregg Weiss, is not backing down.
Why it matters: Unlike other cities in the county, the West Palm mayor is the city’s chief executive, overseeing the city administrator and setting the agenda for the City Commission. Keith James, mayor since 2019, is completing his second four-year term and cannot run again because of term limits.
Catch up quick: Lambert announced this month that she had collected more than $1 million, a rare feat in just 12 months. Weiss has raised about $269,000.
What they’re saying: “If you can’t get your message out to 12,000 voters for less than $1 million then maybe something is wrong with your message,” said Weiss.
- While Lambert has brought in money from well-heeled contributors, she’s not the developer’s candidate, said her campaign consultant, Rick Asnani. Real estate interests have delivered no more than 12% of her money, he said. “He’s raising county money,” Asnani said. “She’s raising West Palm Beach money.”
Tracking the money:
- Weiss, 68, tapped $131,000 in a political committee left from his 2022 County Commission race.
- Lambert, 46, got $527,000 from Citizens for Law Order and Ethics, a political committee run by Asnani, and $25,000 from a committee run by state Sen. Mack Bernard, who works for Asnani.
- Because the money moves from one committee to another, contributors to political committees are nearly impossible to track.
- In direct contributions to their city campaign accounts, which requires donors to be clearly identified, Lambert has raised $172,116 and Weiss has raised $56,275.
Of note: There’s no apparent contribution from the city’s biggest developer, Stephen Ross.
Read more: Follow the money in the West Palm Beach mayor’s race at StetNews.org.
— Jane Musgrave
🔑 New owner for key Juno Beach corner
As Juno Beach wrestles with the future of its main intersection — the so-called Four Corners at U.S. 1 and Donald Ross Road — a new property owner has entered the picture.
Companies led by Josh Simon, a former owner of Abacoa Town Center, paid $13.5 million in May for the Holiday Inn Express and $2.6 million in October for The Fish House restaurant, giving him 4.5 acres on the intersection’s southeast corner.
Why it matters: With three Town Council seats up for election in March, divisive debates over recent developments and the town embroiled in master planning to shape the future of Four Corners, officials are wary of developers seeking to take advantage of the boom in value for residential development.
What they’re saying: Simon told Stet News he has no plans to redevelop the properties a block from the ocean and is happy to allow the 108-room hotel and popular restaurant to continue operating. “Just investing,” Simon said. “Boring stuff.”
Zoom in: The town, still stung by criticism of Caretta, a 94-unit, four-story residential development rising on the northwest corner of Four Corners, is concerned that its zoning code gives owners of older commercial centers an incentive to convert to residential.
- Town rules allow 75% residential development on commercial property as long as 25% remains commercial.
“You’re going through a transition now where you’ve been discovered,” master plan consultant Dana Little of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council told town officials at an Aug. 6 workshop. “And you’ve been discovered at a period of time when your land values are increasing dramatically and you’ve got developers who are very interested in being here because they’re running out of land everywhere else.”
Of note: The buyers in Juno, Simon corporate entities 13950 US1 LLC and 13980 US1 LLC, list as their address the Hobe Sound office of developer Charles Modica. Modica, the developer of Suni Sands and Charlie & Joe’s Love Street restaurant in Jupiter, did not return a phone call to discuss the investment. Simon said he does not identify his partners.
Read more: About the Four Corners and how a Plaza La Mer proposal sparked residents’ concerns at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🍊 The Juice
🚨 A WLRN investigation unearths warning signs about a West Palm Beach police street crimes unit called GHOST and three officers involved in a 2024 chase into Boynton Beach that killed a pregnant woman and her mother. The city has dismantled GHOST. (WLRN)
☀️ About 40 proposals to create exemptions from public records have been introduced in the Florida Legislature. Measures would remove access to information about public officials and their families as well as victims of domestic or dating violence, private investigators, officers involved in use-of-force incidents and people who buy ammunition. Bills to make records more accessible would for the first time apply a deadline for how quickly agencies must respond to record requests. (Florida Trident)
🔥 Lake Worth Beach’s $48,500 public information campaign to educate voters about the five proposed city charter changes on the March 10 ballot is coming under fire from residents who say it’s misleading and violates state election law. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
🌇 The day after Vanderbilt recommitted to West Palm Beach, the Nashville-based university announced it is opening a campus in 2027 in San Francisco. (Forbes)
✡️ Temple Israel, Palm Beach County’s oldest Jewish organization, has conducted its last service at its North Flagler Drive sanctuary. Related Ross plans a luxury condominium project on the property. The congregation will move to a former charter school campus along Lake Mangonia on Australian Avenue. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
👩🌾 The long-standing sign outside the Farmer Girl Restaurant on Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach is gone after the city declared it a code violation. Pole signs, like the one at Farmer Girl, don’t meet city code, but the cost of a new sign that does is beyond the restaurant’s reach.(Lake Worth Beach Independent)
🤝 An affiliate of LRP Media Group bought an office/retail building in Palm Beach Gardens’ PGA Station across from Loehmann’s Plaza for $15.5 million. Recent tenants include New Radiance Cosmetic Centers, Score At the Top Learning Center and Outside the Box Furniture. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
🧑🎨 Some of Pablo Picasso’s late-career work is on display at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach until March 15. (Palm Beach Illustrated)
⚔️ ICYMI: The last major battle of Second Seminole Indian War will be staged Saturday at Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park in Jupiter. The battle was fought on the very same land on Jan. 24, 1838. Meet the time travelers obsessed with authenticity. (Stet News)
🎙️ “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, focuses on proposals to reduce property taxes in Florida with state Rep. Toby Overdorf, who chaired the House Select Committee on Property Taxes. (Listen now; watch.)
561NSIDER: 💡 We tried it: Port St. Lucie Express
👋 Carolyn here. I’m always eager to try a new mode of transportation.
That’s what led me to hop aboard the Port St. Lucie Express recently for a nonstop 50-mile bus ride. That and the chance to visit my daughter without the headache of highway traffic.
The service connects Port St. Lucie riders to downtown West Palm Beach with four round trips on weekdays. And it’s three bucks each way.
Why it matters: A state study in 2024 found that more than 75,000 St. Lucie County residents work outside the county. Many of them drive down Interstate 95 or Florida’s Turnpike to jobs in West Palm Beach.
My ride: The northbound bus picks up riders at the Palm Tran bus transfer center near Tamarind Avenue and Banyan Boulevard. I pulled into the free public lot next door and realized that park-and-ride lots can be nice. This one is pleasantly landscaped and lighted.
⏰ I boarded the second northbound bus of the morning, which arrived on schedule for its 5:40 am departure.
📲 Riders can pay through the Paradise app or just tap a credit card as I did.
🛣️ In moments, we were on I-95 motoring north as the predawn sky brightened. It felt like we were sailing above the light traffic. The bus was quiet and comfortable with electrical outlets at each seat, solid WiFi and a restroom.
⏱️ Fifty-five minutes later, we arrived at the park-and-ride lot on Gatlin Boulevard just east of I-95.
🆓 Port St. Lucie’s free micro transit service called ART on Demand was my last-mile ride.
Catch up quick: The Port St. Lucie Express, championed by the late Palm Tran Executive Director Clinton Forbes, began in September 2024 backed by a state Department of Transportation grant.
- The three 50-seat express coaches cost $2.7 million. Palm Tran operates them.
By the numbers: As of mid-December, the express bus passenger count was nearly 67,000 riders, FDOT spokesperson Guillermo Canedo told Stet News. That translates to about 65 riders a day.
What’s next: The state has committed to the pilot until mid-2027. After that, it will look to Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties to take over, Canedo said.
The bottom line: The trips are designed for St. Lucie County residents working day jobs in Palm Beach County. But it’s also an easy way to get to PSL, especially if you have a daughter there.
Share this with a PSL commuter
— Carolyn DiPaolo
