The Royal Palm Beach Village Council made clear its concerns with the proposed Minto West project last week, voting July 17 to ask the Palm Beach County Commission to reject the density increases proposed by developer Minto Communities Inc.
John Carter, Minto’s regional vice president, gave a presentation to the council on the company’s plan for 4,549 homes and 2.1 million square feet of non-residential use at the 3,750-acre former Callery-Judge Grove property.
Carter argued that the request would correct what he thought was an underserved portion of the county, “strapped to the backside of Royal Palm Beach.”
Carter was there at the request of the council, which had postponed approval of an anti-Minto West resolution last month in order to hear the developer’s plan.
The presentation led to a discussion of widening 60th Street North to four lanes in order to ease the traffic impact in Royal Palm Beach.
Carter compared the carefully planned development of Royal Palm Beach with the largely unplanned development of The Acreage.
“Think today of all the public services that this city provides to the residents on a day-in, day-out basis,” he said. “Now, in your mind, remove every bit of non-residential, triple the land area, and put every home on well and septic, and increase the population to about 40,000. I just described The Acreage to you.”
Carter said he respected the development of The Acreage, but added that with the policy decisions that have been made over time, there has been a public service cost associated with that lifestyle.
While people living in The Acreage made conscious decisions to live a more rural lifestyle, planning for the community left it without needed infrastructure and services, Carter asserted.
“I would say there has been a public service cost that has been associated with that lifestyle,” he said, citing the area’s periodic flooding problems, especially after Tropical Storm Isaac. “As a result of that conscious policy decision, it presented one of the largest public safety disasters this county has ever faced. Residents were stranded in their homes for weeks.”
Carter noted that the Minto West land sits in the middle of The Acreage. “We’re very mindful, we’re very respectful of that, and we’re very sensitive to that from a community design perspective,” he said. “As we embark on the course of looking at the options of what may be, we are clearly at a crossroad.”
He said Minto could proceed immediately with its existing approval for 2,996 homes and 235,000 square feet of commercial space, but added that the current approval would be accepting a continuance of what is already out there, not addressing any of the weaknesses within the existing development pattern, specifically, drainage, roads and services.
“We put forth a development plan to take the significant amount of discharge that’s afforded on the project and reallocate that for regional benefit,” Carter said, explaining that an engineering analysis showed a 60 percent improvement in drainage in the surrounding area. “It’s not solving all the problems, but it is a significant down payment for a better solution.”
He said the current Minto West proposal of 4,549 homes, a reduction of 2,000 homes from its original proposal, and an increase in non-residential use from 1.3 million square feet to 2.1 million, would serve to balance the residential land use in the area now with non-residential uses. He added that the overall site plan dedicates 55 percent to open space, including agriculture, parks, lakes and green space. “We’re talking about roughly 1,800 acres being put back to a natural state,” Carter said.
To help address traffic impacts, Carter said that at the recommendation of the county, they reduced the number of homes and increased the non-residential square footage in order to internally capture some of the trips.
He also pointed out that, according to traffic studies they were required to complete, if Minto did not build at all, most of the roads linking the Minto West property would fail anyway.
“What I am suggesting is that we can bring a better balance, a better utilization into that development pattern, and be seen as a benefit and a solution toward those problems,” Carter said.
Carter bristled at the suggestion that Minto is “building a city” in the middle of The Acreage.
“That city is already there,” he said. “There’s 40,000 people living there… From an overall community design, I would daresay having that community bolted onto the backside of Royal Palm Beach presents a drain on this community.”
During public comments, however, Acreage resident Penny Riccio said her community was developed with the intention of residents using Royal Palm Beach services.
Loxahatchee Groves resident Nina Corning added that under the Minto West plan, Royal Palm Beach would have less business but the same traffic.
Acreage resident Alan Ballweg warned that Minto West is only the beginning.
“This will likely be the first in a chain of development, with other developments such as Avenir and GL Homes using Minto’s increased density to justify their own density increase,” Ballweg said. “It will create problems that we haven’t even thought of yet.”
Royal Palm Beach resident June Perrin said she thought Minto West should be limited to its already-approved density and no more, because it would increase traffic in the village.
“I like the quality of life that I came here for,” Perrin said. “I came from New York City, very crowded, congested, and I like Royal Palm Beach. I like the way it’s developed, and I like it because it’s not overcrowded. I think if Minto moves in, our open space will disappear and the traffic and congestion will increase, and we will open up a domino effect to remaining land.”
Vice Mayor David Swift said most everyone in The Acreage drives east to work and back through the village.
“I was interested in the commercial piece,” Swift said. “I understand you want the same 500,000 square feet of retail, but you are increasing the commercial piece, and I think you are referring to the commercial piece as job-based commercial development.”
Carter said 1.6 million square feet would be dedicated to an economic development center.
“It will be professional office, clean industrial or those types of employment center businesses to complement the Village of Royal Palm Beach,” he said, pointing out that Minto’s traffic analyses show that that type of employment center would substantially change the traffic patterns inward.
Councilman Fred Pinto said the discussion of The Acreage and Loxahatchee Groves is interesting, but his concern remains with the residents of Royal Palm Beach.
“Although this is a regional issue, the issue that we’re looking at tonight in terms of the resolution is taking a position representing my citizens,” Pinto said. “What we’re facing is insurmountable impacts to our quality of life because of the increased traffic. Your presentations sound nice on paper, but the fact is they’re all theoretical. We’ve been looking at this problem for more than 10 years, of significant development happening to our west and all that traffic pouring through our village every day.”
Pinto pointed out that the resolution they were considering was not opposing the Minto development, but a resolution to the county supporting what had already been approved.
Carter reiterated that the plan as approved has been shown to have more traffic impact than what the company is proposing.
Councilman Jeff Hmara said he had tried to be as analytical as possible and found that the negative aspects of the proposed amendment outweighed the positive.
Swift said he would prefer that the village put itself in a position to negotiate with Minto.
“I really think we’re going down the wrong track,” Swift said. “Saying no to Minto doesn’t make a lot of sense. My guess is there’s five votes on the county commission to do it. The ag enclave will allow them to incorporate, and they can basically do anything they want.”
He said he would rather work with Minto on widening 60th Street North in The Acreage to divert traffic away from Royal Palm Beach.
“If we don’t focus on the 60th Street connection, we’re dead,” Swift said. “I want to say ‘yes to Minto’ with big reservations.”
Pinto suggested sending a letter to the Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Organization asking for a four-lane 60th Street.
Pinto then made a motion to approve the anti-Minto West resolution, which carried 4-1, with Swift opposed. The council also agreed to clarify the language to note that the village supports the property’s existing land use approval, but not Minto’s requested changes.
