Loxahatchee Groves hosted a barbecue looking for residential feedback regarding a possible “Commercial Low Impact” zoning change on Okeechobee Blvd. Three of the five councilmen attended the event, Councilman Jim Rockett was a no show, and Councilman Ryan Liang left early. Please be reminded that these are the two councilmen under an FDLE investigation for the last council election.
Everyone seemed focused on Okeechobee. When I brought up that Collecting Canal Road needed to be brought into the conversation, I was shut down. My point was, now that our council has approved a commercial entity at Folsom and Okeechobee, and they approved the commercial shopping plaza on Southern and B Road, Collecting Canal will become an alternate route. Why can’t this council see the big picture? Something has to become a problem before it is addressed by this council. The mayor dismissed and cut me off. It seemed the other councilmen did not mind hearing my suggestion.
This council approves projects without the future of the town in consideration; they have no future vision. Look at the non-existent trail system. They approved money for the “trail bill,” lobbyists, surveys and attorneys, so that the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District could gain a tighter grip on the “LGWCD maintenance easements” (aka, our trails). We could have water and fire hydrants down B Road at the expense of these developers, but we don’t because of council tunnel vision.
Let’s just “Say No to Minto.” Wasted time. The present county commissioners don’t get our lifestyle and don’t care; they want money. Our council could protect us from these big housing projects by protecting our town from within. Existing ordinances are allowing these invasive projects surrounding and now infiltrating our town. Who wrote them? Ask our mayor. The taxpayers of Loxahatchee Groves are throwing good money after bad because our town leaders did not have a realistic vision of the future when writing the town charter. Now they need to keep rewriting and changing it at our expense.
A gas station owner told me that 24-hour gas stations survive not selling gas; they make their money selling beer and cigarettes, so change the alcohol sale ordinance to end at 2 a.m. That will also reduce the crime that will come from that business opening in our community, and those that will follow. Our council doesn’t care, only Councilman Tom Goltzené has tried to help clean up the neighborhood plaza and its sketchy business practices, but since he is the minority vote, the plaza is getting worse.
We know one thing: constant threat of legal action by the landowners of Okeechobee will assure the commercial low zoning. Current council running for re-election will use this issue for political grandstanding as we saw in the final comments, by one councilman waving his “No Minto” pom poms at the barbecue. Not all of us felt fighting Minto was the way to protect our town.
We would have a trail system if we had money for lawyers, but our “tunnel vision” council is not welcoming the equestrian community. Thus the attack on seasonal trailers for equestrian accommodations. Curiously, this council has never brought attention to the broken, rundown and overcrowded landscaping accommodations (trailers) or the issues surrounding the trailer park…
Fellow Loxahatchee Groves residents, it’s time for action. Vote in March. We need councilmen involved with community projects, who are willing to attend meeting like the League of Cities, on which Loxahatchee Groves has not been represented. We are entitled to grants and other programs we are missing out on because of an inactive council.
I have lost my speaking voice. A loss for words strikes me when I look at this current council. Let’s stop the bad rap that Loxahatchee Groves has earned for the past few years: election tampering, slaughterhouses, selective code enforcement, trash, OIG investigations, crimes against children, transients, public intoxication and more. I apologize for leaving other important issues out, but this is not the Loxahatchee Groves I moved to in 1989. It should be a better place to live, not worse. Enough is enough. This council does not hear us.
Phillis Maniglia, Loxahatchee Groves
