Jane MusgravePlanning Board members say Related Ross responded to neighbors’ concerns; neighbors not so sure.
When residents of a West Palm Beach neighborhood met with Related Ross officials earlier this month to discuss the development giant’s plans to build a second 400-room hotel for the Palm Beach County Convention Center, many worried the project was a done deal and their concerns would be ignored.
“The fix is in,” resident Jamie Linen warned, pointing to the growing number of projects city officials have green-lighted for the company owned by Palm Beach billionaire Stephen Ross.
Last week, residents’ fears seemed to be realized, when the city’s Planning Board unanimously approved the proposed $310 million hotel, which includes nearly 21,000 square feet of meeting space, a 20,000-square-foot pool deck and a rooftop restaurant.
The June 16 discussion about Related’s plans for what is now a 1.8-acre parking lot was brief. But each member took time to praise the development company for designing a second hotel to boost business at the long-struggling convention center that is operated by the county.
Planning Board Chair Steve Mayans said he sympathized with residents’ concerns about noise, traffic and pedestrian safety.
“But a real effort has been made to accommodate — not eradicate but accommodate — some of your biggest concerns,” he told residents of Grandview Heights and CityPlace Tower South who live next to the planned hotel.
“We’re the Planning Board for the city of West Palm Beach, not for any particular neighborhood,” he said. “I think it’s a really needed project for the city and I’m going to be supporting it.”
Bruce Barber, a land use planner who lives in the historic Grandview Heights neighborhood just south of the hotel site, said residents were disappointed that the board didn’t address many of their worries. The board rejected requests to delay the decision.
Residents will raise their concerns again when city commissioners meet to give final approval to Related’s plans, Barber said. No hearing dates have been set and Related still needs to hammer out a lease with the county but Related has said it intends to break ground at the end of August.
“We remain committed to working with the city and Related Ross toward developing a few additional meaningful conditions of approval that better protect the quality of life of nearby residents and pedestrian safety,” Barber said.
Related says it responded to residents’ concerns
Related representative Tyler Woolsey, a land use planner for the politically powerful Shutts & Bowen law firm, told the Planning Board that numerous changes have been made to address residents’ concerns.
Raised crosswalks, traffic calming devices and flashing lights would be installed to slow valets driving along Rosemary Avenue, which separates the existing and planned hotels, he said. Eight-foot, lushly landscaped sidewalks would also protect the more than 600 pedestrians who use the path daily, he said.
The company agreed to build a second walkway so cyclists and pedestrians can get back and forth from Grandview Heights to Okeechobee Boulevard.
Related also agreed that there would be no amplified music after 10 pm at the rooftop restaurant, pool deck or outside terrace of the two-story event hall.
To satisfy CityPlace Tower residents, who worry that the increased traffic will make it difficult for them to get in and out of their building, Related officials said they will ask county traffic engineers to evaluate the timing of lights at Okeechobee and Rosemary.
Wary of valet drivers, noise
Barber acknowledged the concessions Related made. But, he said, more are needed.
As part of its proposed deal with the county to develop the hotel, Related would pay the county $1.8 million annually to lease 590 spaces in the convention center parking garage for guests and workers at the existing and new hotel.
The 2,550-space garage also is expected to handle the parking needs of the convention center and its expansion, which would eliminate a large surface parking lot behind the building.
Using the garage for hotel guests will mean valets, who know speed is money, will be driving back and forth on Rosemary alongside pedestrians and bicyclists, Barber said. He and his neighbors worry it will be a deadly mix.
Further, Barber and his neighbors said they aren’t convinced simply pulling the plug on outside speakers at 10 pm will be enough to protect them from the noise of people gathered on the sprawling outdoor decks.
Mayans said it will be in Related’s best interests to keep noise levels low. “Otherwise they’re going to have some very unhappy guests,” he said.
As for traffic concerns, Mayans said a second hotel may actually reduce congestion because more people will be staying at the hotels and walking to the convention center instead of driving from other locations.
The second hotel, which has been talked about for years, must also be approved by county commissioners, who control the convention center.
Under a plan negotiated by County Administrator Joe Abruzzo, Related would pay the county a minimum of $1 billion in lease payments over 99 years after the county pays $26 million for the site, which would mean Related wouldn’t have to pay property taxes.
No date has been set for the commission to consider the deal. But it is likely to be next month.
