At the Tuesday night meeting of the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council, I expressed two main concerns. These were the proposed five-story building(s) at the planned Loxahatchee Groves campus of Palm Beach State College and the intense commercial that is part of the rezoning package of the Simon property.
I was, unfortunately, unaware of the northern height-restricted zone on the PBSC campus and, now knowing of it and other buffering concepts, my concerns over vision into the campus from the general community are greatly allayed. Given our history of light pollution impacts from the Village of Royal Palm Beach to our east, I do worry about similar impacts from the campus, and our council needs to stay on top of this in a very proactive manner.
I still have deep-seated concerns over the density and intensity of the proposed commercial at B Road and Southern. The potential for a store of the size and disruptive nature of a Publix is extremely troubling. The development of this, and other sites along Southern Blvd., needs to be controlled and planned in such a way as to serve and not injure our community.
I look forward to a wonderful relationship with PBSC and will keep a much closer eye on the commercial developments around it.
Bill Louda
Loxahatchee Groves
Bill
I wouldn’t be too concerned about the zoning allowing commercial development. In this economy I doubt that anyone will chance a big new shopping center. I would guess that there is a 40% vacancy rate in commercial space in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. This economy has not hit bottom yet and it would be foolish to build more commercial space.
On the other hand, government has no problem spending our money on more construction. Perhaps this College is taking advantage of government grants i.e. using our money and not theirs.