Almost 60 new homes will be coming to a parcel just west of The Acreage under a development plan for a 104-acre parcel known as Rawlings Estates, the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors heard at a meeting Wednesday, March 27.
Scott Backman of the Boca Raton real estate firm Dunay, Miskel and Backman LLP told supervisors that the plan was to divide most of the acreage along 180th Avenue North into 51 one-acre lots with a 10-acre drainage lake stretched down the middle. Access to the development would be at 180th Avenue and Prado Blvd.
Additionally, some seven estate homes would be built on larger lots on an adjacent parcel just north of West Alan Black Blvd. Those homes would be accessed via a loop road with two outlets to 180th Avenue.
ITID staff recommended approval of the activation request, which is one of the early steps necessary to move the project forward.
“We’ve really been trying to understand what makes sense, what fits… and to do it the right way from the beginning,” said Backman, assuring supervisors that plans were firm in terms of the type of development planned.
ITID President Elizabeth Accomando thanked Backman for his comments but said that area residents are always concerned about new developments.
“Our community has been through this before, and people are a little gun shy. Having the reassurance that this is… not going to turn into townhomes or some other high-density development is absolutely critical,” Accomando said.
“This fits our [area] as far as one-acre lots out here,” Supervisor Michael Johnson noted.
Backman said he believes this is “the right development in the right place.”
The board voted 3-0 to begin the activation process, with supervisors Betty Argue and Keith Jordano absent.
In other business:
- The supervisors approved spending $40,000 for emergency replacement of the pier ($18,000) at Coconut Park and replacement of the lake’s fountain ($22,000). The cost does not include an estimated $12,000 in work time by ITID employees.
ITID Executive Director Burgess Hanson described soft spots in the planking and nails popping out. A video showed sections of the guard rail that are loose and separating.
Though the pier has been closed since last summer, people are still bypassing signs and using it, creating a dangerous situation.
“We’d hoped to hold off until the 2025 budget, but the deterioration makes it necessary to move forward,” Hanson said.
He expects that the pier replacement could be completed by ITID employees in 15 workdays, assuming there is no damage to the support pilings. The replacement of the fountain will be contracted out.
Money for the project will come from $75,000 previously allocated to upgrade the irrigation system at Acreage Community Park’s North Athletic Campus.
“We suggest postponing the irrigation project for the [fiscal year] 2025 budget cycle,” Hanson wrote in the agenda. “The current system is sufficiently functioning at a level to reach the next fiscal year.”
“This is an important issue,” Accomando said. “The pier is very dangerous.”
- The supervisors extended the district’s service provider agreement (SPA) with the Acreage Athletic League to Nov. 15 so as not to interfere with registration for fall leagues that is going on now. A joint workshop between the supervisors and the AAL leadership is set for July 15.
Tension between the supervisors and the AAL has simmered below the surface since 2022 when a new girls flag football league — Breakthru Athletics — split from the organization amid charges of favoritism and mismanagement. AAL officials denied the charges but have since replaced the league’s president.
- The supervisors supported a letter from Hanson to the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency reiterating the board’s continued commitment to the Districtwide Mobility Plan, including the installation of speed tables and other traffic-calming measures to control speed and cut-through traffic.
“People are flying down the streets,” Accomando said. “I’m certainly all for showing that we support the plan… As more houses and more commercial are going in, we need to put [the plan] in place for the protection of our residents.”
- The supervisors voted to spend $56,000 to purchase a Peterbilt dump truck because an International truck previously approved cannot be delivered in a timely manner, Hanson explained.
Density too much on the plan. Lower the density due to increase of traffic volume on a small road access. I individually pay taxes on the entire road like many of the Acreage does on side easements. When does a tax payer ownership have a voice about impact. This parcel is deep into 5 acre homesite. Re-Draw your plan.
That development is the type that belongs out here Bravo!
Not like the density of Westlake and the zero lot lines.