The Royal Palm Beach Village Council adopted a resolution last week encouraging Palm Beach County and all county municipalities to work with state agencies and other taxing authorities on the development and adoption of a Countywide Transportation Plan.
The item was on the consent agenda for the Thursday, Dec. 19 council meeting. Vice Mayor Selena Samios asked to have it pulled for discussion. She wanted to know more about the resolution, verifying that it does not compel the village to fund any specific transportation projects.
Village Manager Ray Liggins explained that the resolution only aims to help foster the creation of the transportation plan, and any funding mechanisms would need to be worked out in the future.
“This deals with traffic in Palm Beach County — something we have all dealt with for a very long time,” Liggins said. “We can get things done fairly quickly in government when the answer is obvious. When the answer is not obvious, and you have so many competing interests in what the answer is, it becomes more and more difficult.”
Liggins said that it all comes down to having a common vision across all the entities involved, which includes the Florida Department of Transportation, the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency, Palm Beach County and all of its 39 municipalities.
He said that the agencies involved appear to be working together in a coordinated effort to put a plan together, which includes bringing in a transportation consulting firm to develop the plan.
“This is unprecedented in the approach that they are taking,” Liggins said. “But they really do know that we need a common vision.”
He added that the village’s resolution “will help create clarity and consistency on how we would work together going forward.”
Samios said that she understood that the county was funding the plan, but she wanted to know if the resolution might be used to put village residents on the hook to help with funding in the future.
“I don’t know if it is going to come back, and they’ll say, ‘Well, you agreed to it, so this is your part.’ How does it affect our residents financially?” Samios asked.
Liggins stressed that there is no village money involved in the planning process.
“Right now, the plan is to create a vision. How that transportation plan is funded is for another day,” he said.
However, having a plan that everyone agrees to could help lead to a future funding mechanism, Liggins noted. One such idea is to use impact fees to fund more than just roads, but to include other types of mobility options.
Through the resolution, Royal Palm Beach just agrees to support and participate in the study.
“We think being involved in this is a very good thing,” Liggins said, adding that Royal Palm Beach Mayor Jeff Hmara sits on the committee that is helping to coordinate the project. “For our village to be successful, our people have to be able to get to their jobs all over the region, and that requires a transportation system that can get them there.”
Commuting time to work is one of the key factors that people consider in judging their quality of life, Liggins noted.
Hmara agreed that getting involved in the project is a tremendous opportunity, particularly for the village, which will have strong representation on developing the plan.
Aside from Hmara, Liggins will have a role, as will the village’s planning director, along with Councilwoman Jan Rodusky and Councilman Richard Valuntas.
“This is a real chance for us to come together with the county and do something that is really important,” Hmara said.
The resolution was approved unanimously.
In other business:
- The council granted a series of approvals to the owners of the Primrose School of Royal Palm Beach as they work to bring a newly acquired parcel into their site plan.
Artemis Investments and Bar Education, operators of the Primrose School, recently purchased a .235-acre slice of surplus village land located at 6846 Seminole Palms Drive, adjacent to the school site in Royal Commerce Park. It has taken longer than expected to craft the necessary approvals to satisfy the purchase agreement.
The first approval was to grant a nine-month extension for them to meet all the terms of the sale agreement.
The new land will be used to expand the parking at the private school. It required a landscape waiver for a smaller divider strip, which the council also granted. They will provide a 6.3-foot-wide perpendicular divider strip where the village code requires nine feet. However, the smaller waiver will be on an internal landscape parcel.
“Thank you for taking into consideration your neighbors and not putting the landscape waiver on that side,” Samios said.
Finally, the council granted the Primrose School a site plan modification, special exception use and architectural approval for the overall property, which brings the new parcel into the site’s overall plan.
- The council approved a special event permit for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to hold a picnic/barbecue event for employees on Sunday, Jan. 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park.
The permit updated a previously approved permit that had items that were not necessary for this particular event, such as providing additional on-site security.
Liggins noted that aside from two large pavilions that will be a private area, the PBSO is not shutting down the park for the event, and residents will still be able to use the Great Lawn.
“The sheriff is not closing the area off,” he said. “I understand there will be some displays out there, and they want it to be quite interactive. It looks like it will be a really good event.”
- Finally, the council unanimously adopted an ordinance providing for the village’s continued inclusion in the Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Municipal Service Taxing Unit. The decision extends the village’s agreement with PBCFR to continue providing fire protection and rescue services in the village for another 10 years, continuing through Dec. 31, 2034.
