City Commission Meeting 8/3:

This meeting began with a presentation by our State Representative, Emily Gregory, on the state constitution amendment to phase out a portion of homesteaded residents' property taxes that will be on the ballot in November. Gregory gave some stats about the impact on WPB city & county government finances, but did not discuss alternate revenue sources. Bear in mind that any constitutional amendment needs 60% voter approval.

Next came an unusual event: a proposal that narrowly passed, 3-2, with Fox and Warren dissenting. Resolution 186-26 is hard to understand and explain, because it has to do with changing the taxable status of the existing parking garage next to the convention center. The upshot is that the city (CRA) is the landlord of that garage and usually gets around $30k per year in rent. That rent will no longer be paid, now that Resolution 186-26 passed. Fox did not explain her objection, and Warren wasn't clear either—mentioning something about wanting more deliberation on the traffic impact on Okeechobee and community impact in Grandview Heights. The whole motivation of this resolution is to allow Related / Ross' proposed second convention-center hotel to share the existing, underutilized parking garage.

Along similar lines, Related / Ross also petitioned to establish a "Convention Center District," because the development status of the 1.8 acres of land around the existing convention center is unclear. The establishment of that district, plus assorted waivers, will allow them to build a second hotel at 900 S. Rosemary. Some residents of Grandview Heights spoke during public comments, expressing concern about light pollution, pedestrian safety crossing Okeechobee, and workers potentially taking up street parking spaces.

City Commission Meeting 8/17:

State Representative Debra Tendrich (District 89—covers central WPB) gave a presentation of assorted state legislation that affects our area. Top of the list is the plan (by referendum in the November election) to phase out residential, homesteaded property taxes over 10 years. Tendrich and city officials state-wide are extremely nervous about this because, if it passes, it places the responsibility for making up that lost revenue on local governments.

Tendrich reminded everyone that 1) the bill doesn't prevent local governments from raising property taxes on other properties (commercial, rentals, vacation homes, etc.), 2) doesn't prevent local governments imposing new fees on homeowners, and 3) doesn't mandate spending cuts on local governments. She further added that cities and towns mostly composed of poorer folk may be forced to dissolve or merge with other nearby towns to avoid insolvency.

Furthermore, she claims that local governments state-wide will be reluctant to issue permits to build any new home with a taxable value less than $650k, because any cheaper home will not generate enough tax revenue to pay for its city services. Tendrich spoke anecdotally, with no PowerPoint presentation of facts & figures as supporting evidence. Nor was there any whisper of imposing a dreaded income tax, which would surely bring out the pitchforks and torches....

File this under "Who Knew?": Immediately after the powerful June 25 earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, WPB fire department sent 5 of their finest, plus assorted tools and tech, plus expert-sniffer "Phire" (a black Labrador retriever) to help rescue people trapped in the mountains of rubble all over the city. Our team spent 8 gruelling days there, and they received a standing-O from everyone in attendance, plus expressions of thanks from assorted citizens of Caracas. Phire accepted her applause with exemplary modesty....

Commissioners accepted a state grant to help fund street repairs on 25th Street between Broadway and Australian. The total cost of $3.9m will be mostly paid by the state.

Sidewalk "sandwich signs" were banned city-wide in 2020 because they cluttered up sidewalks and because of repeated code violations by business owners regarding placement, size, and ADA compliance. Now they're back again due to small business pressure. Commissioners removed the ban 4-1, with Sylvester dissenting due to his fear that we will experience the same, old problems with such signs all over again.

During public comments, Mayor James mentioned that he had met with members of "Save West Palm Beach" who urged him to impose a 2-year city-wide moratorium on building. James thought that a terrible idea, believing that moratoriums are unconstructive and likely illegal. Instead, he advocates "smart development" via resident and business input.

City Commission Workshop (on infrastructure forecasts) 8/24:

The new downtown mobility service and drinking water were the main topics here. It was also the "swan song" for Armando Fana, Deputy City Administrator, who has been organizing and chairing these workshops for the past 12 years. We tip our hats and wish him all the best in retirement.

Regarding the new mobility service: it begins mid-September with small, electric buses running every 10 minutes between 25th Street and the Norton Museum of Art with assorted stops in between. It also includes a separate fleet of electric minivans that provide "curb to curb" service on individual demand within about 15 minutes.

"Curb to Curb" means that the vans won't necessarily collect and deliver you door to door—but pretty close. Each ride is $1 or $2 and must be paid via downloaded app. The current service is confined to locations east of 95. By the way: Commissioner Fox expressed some doubt about the popularity of the bus' northern terminus being on 25th Street.

Regarding city water supply: as mentioned in my report a few months ago, WPB has state permission to tap into the Florida aquifer to supplement its drinking water. The Florida aquifer is 1,000 feet down and 1,000 feet thick and extends underneath almost our entire state plus southern Georgia. Heretofore, WPB has entirely relied on surface water; so access to the aquifer acts as a backup in case we continue to have abnormally dry summers, such as this one.

Surprisingly, our water consumption has not increased much in recent years, despite the booming population in WPB. City officials speculate this reason: that most population growth has moved into apartments, condos, and townhomes—which use much less water than single-family homes, which have private lawns, gardens, and swimming pools.

The only disadvantage of the Florida aquifer is the water is somewhat brackish—which means WPB must build a reverse-osmosis plant to treat the water, and then blend it with surface water for palatable taste. The city plans to drill eleven 1,000' wells around Clear Lake and Lake Mangonia, so that the wells are geographically and economically close to our current water supply & treatment plant. Total bill: somewhere between $350m-$750m, which means the city will likely have to create and sell a bond.

Two other tidbits:

In order to stimulate incentives to build more workforce housing, the state in 2023 created "Live Local" legislation that generally allows developers to circumvent local zoning restrictions on building height, density, setbacks, public space requirements, etc....as long as 40% of the units qualify as "workforce housing." Mayor James opposes this state legislation, since no sane city government would want its zoning laws neutered.

You'll notice in the news that there are 3 "Live Local" condo / apartment projects which recently submitted applications to our city. One is at the NE corner of Datura & S. Dixie by Jeff Greene (25 stories), another is at 8th Street and N. Dixie (25 stories), and another at 209 N. Sapodilla by Related / Ross (8 stories, 191 units).

Based on what I've heard from Development Services Director Ana Maria Aponte, there's not much the city can do to oppose or force alterations on such projects, since state law trumps city law. As we at the DNA learn more, we will keep you posted on this controversial development strategy.

Along similar lines: the owner of the Jaguar dealership on the SW corner of S. Dixie & Okeechobee is looking to sell that lot and relocate his dealership a few miles west where all the other car dealerships are. He is petitioning the city commission to allow that lot to join the downtown master plan.

By joining the downtown master plan, that lot will be able to build up to 25 stories—like his neighboring properties which are either in the DMP or the DRI district (City Place). The Shutts & Bowen lawyers representing the owner maintain that the less attractive alternative is for their client to sell to a developer who will invoke the "Live Local" legislation and build something that is bigger and uglier than what the DMP will permit. Again, we will keep you posted on meetings and info related to these developments.

—Schmidt