Stet NewsWelcome back, Stetters! For you today, exclusive news on downtown West Palm Beach’s future; a property tax boost of $400 million; a remembrance of Baby Mabel Rose; town halls for libraries; and investing in third spaces.
🏢 25-story buildings nixed
Following public outcry, West Palm Beach has withdrawn its proposal to allow 25-story buildings along the city’s waterfront.
The potential for taller buildings along Flagler Drive from Datura Street to Lakeview Avenue had been a mainstay of the Downtown Master Plan update underway for more than a year.
Also scrapped: Buildings reaching up to 12 stories in the heart of the waterfront from Banyan Boulevard to Datura are no longer part of the plan.
Catch up quick: The early version of the plan produced such an uproar that Mayor Keith James in July announced a pause in its consideration.
But now: After 65 days, the approval process is moving forward with votes by key city officials starting on Wednesday with the Downtown Action Committee.
Yes, but: The end of the pause is coming too soon for residents worried the city is speeding up growth.
- “Our work is not done,” said Sitima Fowler of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, noting that she learned that the update would be up for a vote before her group had submitted its recommendation.
- Jessica Swift, chair of the West Palm Beach Residents Coalition, said that her group is planning to submit a white paper in January.
What’s next: After the downtown panel’s review, the proposal moves to the city Planning Board Sept. 15 and to the City Commission Oct. 26. If a state agency signs off on the changes to the city’s comprehensive plan, the update is expected to come back for final City Commission approval Jan. 18.
Of note: West Palm Beach is updating its vision for downtown for the first time in 20 years.
- West Palm, now dubbed “Wall Street South,” isn’t the sleepy town it was since the last vision was approved in 2007.
What they’re saying: “There’s a lot of people headed this way, and it’s not just the people … it’s the businesses, it’s Vanderbilt (University), it’s Cleveland Clinic, it’s world-class new businesses and people that have focused on West Palm Beach,” architect Bernard Zyscovich said. “To frame it all up, that’s why we’re here.”
Read more about what the city and neighbors are saying at StetNews.org.
— Anne Geggis
🔎 Tracking property taxes
The toll is in for initial tax calculations in Palm Beach County: $6.9 billion, a $402 million jump over last year.
Why it matters: Even when local governments make no change in their tax rate, rising property values and new construction push up tax collections, just as dropping values and declining construction would push them down in lean years.
Yes, but: State legislators have had enough. They are asking voters to approve Amendment 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot. It would increase the homestead exemption to $250,000 from $50,000 over two years, reducing the amount of money local officials would get from homesteaded properties.
- With Amendment 3 looming, local officials are reluctant to give up any money this year. Most are holding the tax rate steady even though that means collecting more money because of rising values, Stet’s analysis of preliminary tax rates submitted to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office shows.
- They could still lower the rates during public budget hearings this month but they can’t raise them.
The big three taxing bodies — cities, the county and the school district — account for 86% of the $6.9 billion to be generated countywide next year by property taxes.
Under the proposed tax rates, Palm Beach County’s overall take, including separate levies for fire-rescue and libraries, would rise to $2.27 billion from $2.15 billion, a gain of $117 million.
- Palm Beach County School District is in line for $120 million more than last year.
- The 37 cities that levy property taxes are asking for $113 million more. Among them, West Palm Beach is seeking $19 million more; Palm Beach Gardens, $9 million; and Riviera Beach, $3.6 million.
- The largest proposed increase is in Jupiter, at $26.3 million, because it is absorbing fire-rescue services formerly covered by the county.
Read more about the cities that cut their tax rate and those that don’t and see where your city falls at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🌈 Remembering Mabel Rose
Mabel Rose Correal of Lake Worth Beach, the feisty 8-month-old infant who fought so hard to live after being born with rare congenital heart defects, died last week at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
She had a heart transplant four weeks earlier.
When Mabel Rose was born in December, her chances of survival were scant.
Two days earlier, her mother, Hanna had sent a desperate plea for prayers because Mabel Rose’s urine output had slowed considerably.
What they’re saying: “This morning our Mabel Rose felt the sun and breeze on her skin as we kissed her goodbye and she went home to Jesus surrounded by love,” her mother, Hanna Love-Correal, said in a Facebook post. “Our girl has fought so hard and is now at peace. I am so grateful for the time God granted us with her.”
Catch up quick: Mabel Rose was born Dec. 13 at a Royal Palm Beach birthing center.
- She was missing the left lower chamber and had a leaking valve in her heart. She also had a hole in her diaphragm through which her kidney had migrated to rest atop one of her lungs.
- Her condition is known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, one of the most complex congenital heart defects in newborns, Nicklaus Children’s states on its website. There is no clear cause.
- At Shands, doctors implanted a heart device known as a Berlin Heart that pumps oxygenated blood as a child waits for a transplant.
The community stepped up: As word spread about Mabel Rose’s fight to live, the community rallied around her, Hanna and Mabel Rose’s father, Mateo.
- More than 550 donors contributed nearly $50,000 on two GoFundMe pages.
Services: The family held a funeral Saturday at St. Juliana Catholic Church in West Palm Beach. Mourners followed their wishes to dress in vibrant colors. The service ended as the choir performed a touching rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Cards and flowers can be sent to Quattlebaum Funeral Home in West Palm. For more information on how to help, click here.
Read more about Mabel Rose’s short but impactful life at StetNews.org.
— Holly Baltz
📚 On the ballot: Money for libraries
The directors of Palm Beach County’s library and park systems are on the road for the next two months pitching a proposal to issue bonds that will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
- The library is asking for $175 million.
- The parks department wants $280 million.
Driving the news: Dozens of town halls are planned countywide for voters to hear their pitch.
Why it matters: Doug Crane, library director, said the bond money would help build a new main library and renovate other locations.
Zoom in: The priority is a signature library to replace the main library that opened in 1972 on Summit Boulevard.
“After 55 years, the building is really reaching the end of its useful life,” Crane said Friday at a town hall at the Lantana Road Branch Library. “We’ve been patching it up, doing some renovations, but it really is too small to be a good main library.”
The library district taxes property owners in the unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County, along with 24 of the county’s 39 municipalities. And that pays for some capital projects.
By the numbers: Property owners in the library district pay 51.64 cents for every $1,000 in taxable value, a rate that has stayed the same as property values have risen since 2011.
- If the library bonds are approved, property owners in the library district will see a library debt line on their tax bill. The amount would be an estimated 6 cents per $1,000 of the property’s taxable value.
Coming next week: Stet’s look at the county’s proposed $280 million park bond.
Keep reading at StetNews.org to find out why Crane thinks it’s vital for a county this size to have a library worthy of its tagline, “The Best of Everything.”
Register for one of the library and parks town hall meetings here.
— Janis Fontaine
🍊 The Juice
⚖️ An appeals court overturned a Sarasota ruling that would have allowed a subject of a closed criminal investigation to hide and destroy police files after an investigation. The ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal came in the highly publicized criminal investigation of Christian Ziegler, the former chair of the Republican Party of Florida. The nonprofit Florida Center for Government Accountability and media giants Gannett, McClatchy and Scripps Media pursued the appeal.
- “This ruling reaffirms a principle that has anchored Florida law for more than a century: Records created or received by government in the course of its official business belong to the public,” said Michael Barfield, FLCGA’s executive director. (Florida Trident)
🏡 Passing Amendment 3 is likely to boost home prices 7% to 9% in Florida, says a study by Realtor.com, a National Association of Realtors industry news outlet. That finding could help explain the Florida Association of Realtors’ backing of Amendment 3, which would cut property taxes on primary residences. (Seeking Rents)
- Florida Realtors put $10 million behind the effort to pass Amendment 3. (Seeking Rents)
💳 At Lantana’s Living Library, people with interesting professions or unusual lives volunteer to be “books” visitors can “check out” for 30-minute conversations. (The Coastal Star)
🏥 HCA Palm West Hospital just outside Royal Palm Beach would add 121 beds for a total of 363 under expansion plans submitted to Palm Beach County. The proposal would add two stories to the two-story main hospital building on Southern Boulevard. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
🕯️ Dale Smith, the longtime chief of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Florida office, died Aug. 27 at age 73. He ran the office based in Palm Beach Gardens from 1993 through the foundation’s bulk land sale in 1999. (The Palm Beach Post)
🚔 Lake Worth Beach commissioners approved a three-year contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, starting at $15.8 million, but rejected Commissioner Chris McVoy’s last-minute pitch to curb PBSO collaborations with federal agents. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
- Lake Worth Beach will interview four finalists for city manager this week: Rob Hillard, former city manager for Charlotte, Mich.; Jonathan Lynn, former city manager for Winder, Ga.; Stan Morris, city manager for Sunny Isles Beach; and Chris Rodriguez, assistant city administrator for Washington, D.C. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
⚾️ For the Stet planners out there: The 2027 Major League Baseball spring training schedule is out. Opening day for all 30 teams in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues is Feb. 19. (MLB, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros)
🎧 “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, talks affordability with freelance filmmaker Dolapo Ajayi and producer Danielle Navish, both raising toddlers and building careers in Florida. (Listen now; watch after 4 pm today.)
561NSIDER: Growing third spaces in Riviera Beach
Riviera Beach plans to upgrade its two public gardens and create events there where people can connect.
Why it matters: It’s an investment in third places in a city that is focused on strengthening the community.
Driving the news: Community Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Gedel Merzius explained the program at the board’s Aug. 12 meeting.
How it works: The CRA plans to focus on gardens in Riviera Beach Heights and Singer Island.
- At Riviera Beach Heights, at 1010 W. 10th St., site renovations and refurbishment are planned. The raised garden beds will be replaced.
- In Singer Island, at 1131 E. Blue Heron Blvd., the garden bed rental will continue and enhancements are planned.
Zoom in: Riviera Beach Heights will have a community green space for education, volunteerism and neighborhood gatherings.
Singer Island will have educational programming and community engagement.
By the numbers: The CRA plans to hire:
- One master gardener
- One program manager
- It has budgeted $200,000 from tax money generated in the area for the project.
What they’re saying: “We’re looking to activate the garden space for individuals looking to enjoy outdoor amenities such as book clubs, yoga, items for our senior citizen community and items for our young community,” the director said.
The plan is called Operation GROW: Growing resources, opportunities and wellness.
What’s next: The board approved the CRA budget last month, which clears the way for the garden projects to begin Oct. 1.
Who wrote this story: This story was reported by Community Voices writer Myles Whigham.
What is CV: Community Voices is a partnership between Stet News and Inlet Grove High School that trains and pays teens to cover the news. The Pew Family Fund and the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties generously support Community Voices.
Inlet Grove journalism teacher C.B. Hanif and Stet’s Carolyn DiPaolo contributed to this story.
