Plans to develop an enclave of land just south of Southern Blvd. was the topic of a public hearing at the Royal Palm Beach Village Council meeting on Thursday, Aug. 16. In the end, the council agreed to re-designating the land for mixed-use commercial and residential development.
The property, once known as Acme Ranches, is located on the south side of Southern Blvd., approximately a quarter mile from the busy intersection of Southern Blvd. and State Road 7.
The amendments were submitted by Urban Design Kilday Studios planner Alessandria Palmer in order to move forward on plans for a mixed-use complex that has been worked on for nearly three years by developer Brian Tuttle, the applicant, and his company, TLH Developers.
Tuttle said that the multi-use complex will be an entertainment, restaurant and dining experience that would be a great place for area residents to go.
Tuttle spoke of capturing traffic, interconnectivity with the streets and bypassing the problem intersection of Southern Blvd. and SR 7.
“The bottom line is that all western residents can go through our community instead of going through the intersection,” he said.
The hearing was to first determine if a road could be developed through the pods by the Lowe’s Home Improvement shopping center to facilitate a bypass linking Southern Blvd. and SR 7.
Plans to change parcels include: land once designated for single-family homes to allow for a mixed-use commercial complex, modifying pods originally slated for low-density residential to be re-designated for a school and higher density residential, and other parcels that would be used for open space and recreation designations to be changed from one pod to another. These all required the road to be approved, if the development were to move through the planning stages.
The developer also needs an easement from Lowe’s, which was reluctant to commit without seeing some interest from the village’s government. The easement will be required before the council will hear the final reading on the measures.
At just over 100 acres, the five pods of land amount to about one-half the total in the development, which will build-out at 106 single-family homes, 719 apartments, a 1,500 capacity K-12 charter school and 341,000 square feet of commercial mixed use, Palmer explained.
The initial discussion of the road heard comments about the project as a whole.
Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Director Bradford O’Brien, who had to go through all the projects individually and answer questions, said that village staff evaluated the projects and recommended them, reporting that the enclave is consistent with the comprehensive plan.
O’Brien explained that the property, which was planned for development when it was annexed into Royal Palm Beach three years ago, has all the utilities and infrastructure in place, and has passed all the detailed reviews. He said it is an enclave, and by definition there is no urban sprawl, and a roadway is being installed for the people using the property.
However, several people were on hand to speak against the plans.
Former Councilman David Swift said that traffic impacts public safety.
“When you [consider] the addition of this project, and Arden built to the west, it will absolutely crush that intersection,” Swift said. “Seconds count in an emergency.”
Swift was also concerned about drugs and violence, and that undesirable types will use the complex to hang out and interact with children. “It is not small town or family-oriented,” he said.
Former Councilman Ray Casto agreed. “We used to try to keep major development out of the village,” he said.
Casto contended that the project will negatively affect area residents.
“It will have a major impact on the citizens of Royal Palm Beach. It is going to create traffic problems, with approximately 2,000 additional cars,” Casto said. “It is not safe.”
Speaking directly to Tuttle, he said, “And putting traffic through your development is still traffic.”
Tuttle answered council questions that there would be a combination of private security and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office protecting the community and the entertainment complex. “There will be a substation in the development,” Tuttle said.
Tuttle also spoke about name-brand hotels, which would require a taller building, but Village Attorney Jennifer Ashton reminded the council that nothing was being approved that night giving approval for a taller building. “It is just land use,” Ashton said.
Tuttle commented, “It is my intention to work with the village over the long term.”
After making sure all public comment had been heard, Mayor Fred Pinto said that traffic has always been at the top of the list of considerations. “We can’t control things going on around us. That is reality,” he said.
Pinto continued that there are efforts being made to manage the traffic, and that the intersection is controlled by Palm Beach County, Wellington, West Palm Beach and Royal Palm Beach, which have not consistently worked in concert, and that the current traffic plans will make a world of difference.
“The development has a plan and a theme,” said Pinto, who described the benefits to the community of having such an entertainment complex. “At the end of the day, the road will improve the traffic flow for that intersection, and it will not intrude on the core of our village.”
All the land use amendments passed with only one “nay” vote all night, that of Vice Mayor Selena Smith, who wanted a change in the single-family designation to medium density instead of high density. The difference meant 50 units to the development.
