Residents of the central western communities, please consider the following regarding Minto West:
Our lifestyles, our escape from the hub and bub of urbia will vanish. Rather, we get: (a) photic pollution — no stars (recall what the eastern sky was before Royal Palm Beach expanded); (b) traffic — let’s stop here for a moment and consider a four-lane 60th Street and Persimmon, a four-lane Okeechobee Blvd. (maybe six) going all the way to 20-Mile Bend (using Deer Run Blvd. as part of it), the expansion and extension of Cheetham Hill to reach Minto West, the reincarnation of a four-lane 140th Street/E Road, the reincarnation of 40th Street to Royal Palm Beach Blvd. and a six-lane Seminole Pratt to the Beeline; (c) noise; (d) more crime; (e) probable forced hook-up to county water and sewer as the density and intensity of water woes increase; and (f) much more.
It’s all greed, not need. I did the math based on the g-enclave parameters (Senate Bill 246) — they should get 2,303 units, period. That is one dwelling unit per 1.65 acres as the weighted mean of what surrounds their land.
Also, we all need to pressure the county to say that any and all acreage (except environmental set-asides) that is used for anything besides dwelling units gets subtracted from the total acreage that is used to determine the number of dwelling units. The subtracted units should vanish and not be transferred anywhere, to within the property or as a TDR offsite. Otherwise that is “double dipping” — let’s have smart growth for a welcome change!
The central western communities must unite. Get your neighbors to write letters to the editor, e-mails to county staff and the commissioners, and get off their butts and get to all meetings — pack the house and rock the house.
You should also read A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith. The second to last line asks the question that you too should ask: “Where did it all go papa… where?”
Best wishes to all, let’s enjoy it while we have it. The handwriting is on the land-use amendments and zoning approvals as we speak. Take some pictures around your neighborhood so you’ll be able to recall what it was! It’s now or never. We must unite. I thank you for your time and consideration.
Bill Louda, Loxahatchee Groves
I hope that our neighbors will wake up to this issue before it is too late. This project is moving forward at record pace.