By Christopher Vargas
The Palm Beach County Commission approved a series of three changes Thursday, Feb. 27 that will allow the development of a 104-acre parcel known as Rawlings Estates. The site is located north and west of Lion Country Safari with access off 180th Avenue North, south of Sycamore Drive.
The first item focused on a proposed land-use change from rural residential (RR-10), which currently allows only one home per 10 acres, to low residential (LR-1), permitting up to one home per acre. The second was a follow-up request to formally introduce the Loxahatchee Estates Overlay into the county’s Unified Land Development Code. This overlay would establish specific regulations and development guidelines tailored to the Rawlings Estates project. The third part was a change in the zoning to allow the residential single-family home subdivision to be developed.
The Rawlings Estates proposal outlined the construction of a single-family residential community that will transform the 104-acre vacant site into a residential neighborhood.
The plan includes 54 single-family homes, a water management area, approximately 6.75 acres of wetlands and 21.65 acres of upland preserve. Land in the area has been set aside for a future Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue station.
The developers have been working on the project for more than a year. Matthew Barnes, senior project manager with the engineering firm WGI, spoke on behalf of the developer.
“We are actually less dense than The Acreage, which is to the east of us,” Barnes noted, adding that the project is closer to one home per two acres.
The biggest outstanding detail from the initial reading in November was the county’s desire to locate a fire-rescue station there. In the end, the developer and the county compromised, and the two southernmost lots will be dedicated to the county for that facility.
Commissioner Sara Baxter thanked the developers for making the necessary changes to ensure that Rawlings Estates fits with the community around it.
“I want to thank everyone for presenting this and not try to put some strange apartment complex or townhomes in the middle of this area,” she said. “Thank you to staff for negotiating and allowing for the fire station to be where it is now located.”
Commissioner Gregg Weiss asked about the timeline for building the fire station. While the land will be dedicated to the county prior to issuing the first certificate of occupancy, construction of the station is not yet on the county’s plan.
“Sometimes we get these civic sites, and they can sit for 20 years,” Weiss said. “This is a health and safety issue. I would really like to see that we have a commitment to get this built.”
Baxter said that there are several fire stations that need to be built in the western area, and she would prefer the one serving the Arden area to be prioritized first.
PBCFR Chief Patrick Kennedy said it is more about planning for the future, and the decision of when to build it will be based on response times and the number of calls for service.
During public comment, resident Alex Larson said that the future residents of this development will soon be complaining about the road network in the area, since this is another project, like Arden, where there is only one way in and out.
Baxter made motions to approve the three items regarding Rawlings Estates, and each were approved 6-0 with Commissioner Joel Flores absent.
