Stet NewsWelcome to the last day of September.
We’re back with our month in review and a peek behind the scenes.
Unearthing ancient Palm Beach County
They’re digging through layers of rock once thought impenetrable in the protected, county-owned Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area and unearthing scientific treasures older than the pyramids in Egypt.
Why it matters: The trove of roughly 250,000 artifacts may be as monetarily worthless as modern-day trash, but it offers archaeological proof that human beings have been calling the area west of modern-day Palm Beach Gardens home for more than 5,000 years.
Catch up quick: The county’s Environmental Resources Management Department is documenting the work in a series of videos. The first came out in May, the second last month, and the third is planned for next year.
– Joe Capozzi
🏢 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Following public outcry, West Palm Beach has withdrawn its proposal to allow 25-story buildings along the city’s waterfront.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.
– Anne Geggis
🚫 Resistance to development in Lake Park
Residents often criticize elected officials for allowing too much development.
In tiny Lake Park just north of Riviera Beach, it’s the developers pointing fingers.
Catch up quick: Frustrated by years of staff review for the proposed 16-story Kelsey on Park apartment building, a New York developer has had enough. Danny Goldstein, of Alder at Lake Park, sued the town last month in federal court, saying the town’s protracted review amounts to an unfair taking.
– Joel Engelhardt
🌅 The Jupiter Lighthouse’s new living shoreline
The $16 million transformation of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse will take your breath away.
Catch up quick: The yearlong project is designed to stop erosion. The 120-acre parklike space surrounding the lighthouse, designated by Congress as an Outstanding Natural Area in 2008, has been losing 7 feet of land a year.
- The effort depends on riprap, a sheet-metal retaining wall and a concrete wall designed to harness gravity to resist the pressure of the soil pushing against it.
Why it matters: The lighthouse is among the top attractions in Palm Beach County. It dates to the Civil War era. But the property, under federal control, is jeopardized by the constant wave action of the Loxahatchee and Indian rivers, which border it on two sides.
– Valerie Staggs
🏠 Related clears another path
A century-old bungalow that former West Palm Beach Mayor Joel Daves called home sits loaded onto a moving platform, ready to make way next month for more downtown development.
Related Ross is paying $3 million to move the 1,030-square-foot home built in the early 1900s and another on the same block in October so the property can be used for a parking lot for five years and ultimately something bigger.
Daves paid $26,000 for the home in the 1970s, and Stephen Ross’ company paid him $2.85 million for it in 2006.
Why it matters: Moving the homes to the Historic Northwest neighborhood is part of an unprecedented downtown growth spurt while opening up another downtown block for redevelopment.
– Anne Geggis
🏆 Other top stories in September
Far from done: Rodney Mayo recoils from retirement talk
What $280 million could do for Palm Beach County parks
Greene wants to build 23-story wooden honeycomb atop historic fire station
⚙️ Gearing up for NewsMatch
Our biggest fundraiser of the year kicks off Nov. 1.
Driving the news: For the third year, Stet News has been accepted into the NewsMatch year-end campaign.
Why it matters: The national program teams charitable foundations with hundreds of independent newsrooms like Stet. It encourages readers to contribute by matching their individual gifts or pledges up to $1,000.
- It also gives Stet a bonus if we attract new contributors.
State of play: This year, thanks to NewsMatch and generous local donors, gifts made during the campaign will be tripled.
Zoom in: Your support last year and the matches it unlocked helped us hire Stet’s first dedicated reporter, Anne Geggis. It also made possible the pilot year of Community Voices, our program that trains and pays high school students to cover Riviera Beach city government.
Zoom out: Your donations will help Stet improve in 2027.
What’s next: We’ll share more when the campaign launches. Watch your inbox.
Thank you for reading and believing in Stet News.
Joel, Carolyn and Liz
