Wellington’s last major undeveloped parcel along State Road 7 generated a wide spectrum of public comments at the Wellington Village Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, with residents hitting notes from wary to welcoming about a plan to put restaurants, retail, hundreds of rental residences and a private school there.
At issue are the 66 acres of village-owned land known as K-Park, along SR 7 south of Stribling Way. Developer Related Ross, led by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, aims to overcome the parcel’s long history as a black hole of aspirations, where ideas go in but somehow never come out, from botanical gardens to all manner of commercial, residential, academic, equestrian or cultural proposals.
Movement is happening. Provisional prices for separate land sales to the school and Related Ross could be in place during November, subject to later project approval, village officials indicated. As many as 550 residences were mentioned in a workshop last month, though a statement from the builder in late October referred to a range from 400 to 550.
A mix of enthusiasm and unease emerged in comments from the public.
Traffic represents a large concern, especially on two-lane Stribling Way, and another worry is what effect a private school might have on the village’s highly rated public schools, resident Bill Flack said.
“You bring in another school, is this going to draw people away, is this going to affect the school ratings that Wellington has that draw people here?” Flack asked, adding that for many where he lives, “the school is a grave concern.”
The plan looked a lot more appealing to resident Lisa Kerkorian, who said she has spent a lot of time taking her children to private schools elsewhere in the county. A high-quality local option could serve a big need, she said. “I’m in complete support of this project,” Kerkorian said.
The K-12 private school is projected to have about 1,675 students, with no initial plans for boarding students. Its leaders, who founded the group Education in Motion, plan to operate it as an independent, U.S.-based, not-for-profit venture.
Questions popped up in the meeting about financial backing for the organization that created its first school in Shanghai, China, more than 20 years ago.
The Wellington school will have no foreign investors and operate as financially independent from EIM’s 14 other schools around the globe, a statement from the group said.
“Education in Motion is not controlled by Chinese entities, nationals or investors,” the statement said. “It was co-founded by Fraser White, from the U.K., and Karen Yung, from Singapore, leveraging international educational experiences across the U.K., the U.S., Singapore and Asia to support their school developments and educational initiatives.”
The new school will have no shareholders and will be managed by a board of governors, the statement continued. All profits will be reinvested into the educational institution. The initial capital will be provided by Yung and White and U.S.-issued bonds, the company noted. The school will have no structural link to Education in Motion, though students will have access to EIM schools as part of a global exchange program.
Meanwhile, a presentation at the council meeting outlined the latest conceptual plans for residential and commercial areas.
“I would hope to bring a gourmet grocer here if that’s something people really want,” said Ken Himmel, president of Related Ross. “By the way, we will do a lot of survey work here before we actually land the deals with restaurants and retailers. We’re going to take a very thorough survey of what people really want in the community.”
He outlined a range of options for about 40 to 50 commercial venues at K-Park, on 130,000 to 150,000 square feet.
These could include one or two markets or grocers; three “destination” restaurants; four to five cafés, bakeries or coffee shops; 15 to 25 retail stores, including sellers of apparel and home goods; three to five stores for services; and two or three fitness or wellness locations.
These would be connected by trails, green spaces and streets that could be temporarily closed to accommodate special events, such as a farmer’s market or book fair, presenters said. “Boutique” living spaces could be weaved into the retail, for example, with second-story residences above restaurants or stores. There has also been discussion of a hotel.
For now, there were no specific tenants mentioned, and the council did not vote on anything related to the project at the Oct. 22 meeting. A completed application eventually would need review by village advisory boards and approval from the council.
Some residents wondered why discussions about competing development offers, or revisiting ideas for a park or botanical garden, seem to be steered to the margins when the lean toward Related Ross hardly came with a big voting margin.
Resident Phoebe Weseley said the council has two new members after March elections, distinct from the body that voted 3-2 in February to keep talking with Related ahead of others about K-Park. A development group associated with the Ward family offered the village $54 million for K-Park last year. She said there needs to be a better effort to hold meaningful public hearings.
Resident Leslie Hingorani questioned whether 55 acres ceded to the village by equestrian developers Wellington Lifestyle Partners, near the Wellington branch library, really means there is no further need for green space or a park at K-Park.
There are options to redevelop places like the Mall at Wellington Green, “rather than giving up green space,” Hingorani said.
A neighbor quite close to the proposed development expressed support.
“We think this would be an amazing opportunity and great neighbors,” said Brian Atkins, pastor of Life.Church, which operates adjacent to the K-Park property.
Others disagreed.
“We just flat-out don’t need more residents,” Michael Whitlow said. “We don’t need any more traffic.”
Resident Carol Coleman also objected to the added apartments. “If you want to have a school, fine. We don’t need 550 apartments as well,” she said.
The area’s state representative also weighed-in against the plan.
“Adding another development to what was once a quaint, equestrian, renowned town such as Wellington will be incredibly disruptive, take away even more of the community we’ve come to love, and risk turning our town into another generic, overbuilt, congested area,” State Rep. Katherine Waldron (D-District 93) said.
The construction of Related Ross’s mixed-use development and the school would create more than 3,700 jobs with $550 million in initial economic impact, said Kevin Crowder, founder of North Miami-based BusinessFlare Economic Development Solutions. Once it’s all up and operating, the project including the school would produce more than $300 million annually in economic activity, his firm’s projections found.
“We export a lot of our kids to private schools in Palm Beach County, and a lot of those parents have expressed to me they would keep their kids in Wellington if there was a school of a quality they would keep their kids in,” Mayor Michael Napoleone said. “K-Park has gotten stale, and we’ve kicked this can down the road for a decade.”
The village has owned the property since 2003. A series of public meetings almost 10 years ago did not result in any resolution.
Napoleone said he wants to see a heavier emphasis on townhomes rather than apartments. There are plenty of details to work out, but density and traffic are two big issues that have to be solved, he added.
Village Attorney Laurie Cohen said she expected that specific terms of provisional land purchase agreements, separate for the school and Related, could come before the council in November.
In other business:
- The council unanimously approved the final reading of rezoning and comprehensive plan changes to Wellington’s first annexation of property north of Southern Blvd., the 258-acre parcel known as the Sluggett Property and Entrada Acres.
That sets the stage for commercial projects on about half the parcel, on its southern and western corridors facing Southern and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road. The other half is now positioned for what officials call medium-density residential development, or Residential E, described as allowing up to eight single-family dwelling units per acre.
Approval by affected landowners in March confirmed the annexation. Applications for individual development proposals would come separately before the village for approval.
- The council unanimously approved updates to its own meeting procedures. Among other things, the measure allows members of the public to speak for six minutes instead of three, if a development project involves more than one property lumped into one hearing.
Interested parties, often meaning neighbors close to a project, are given at least 10 minutes each, with allowances for longer times in certain cases, such as a speaker representing multiple interested parties.
The council has the ability to extend times for the applicant or others under various parameters. The changes took effect immediately.
