The Town-Crier recently printed my letter supporting the proposed RaceTrac gas station on Southern Blvd. at Royal Palm Beach Blvd. I argued that this was already a commercialized area, so no residential area will be impacted, and that RaceTrac routinely charges 30 to 40 cents a gallon less than other brands currently serving our area.
Another letter writer then took me to task because I live in Wellington, saying that if I want a station, have it be built in Wellington. Believe me, I’d love to have one here, but that’s not the plan. I just want to point out that we shop in Royal Palm Beach just as you shop on our side of Southern. It’s one big community, and at one 12-gallon fill-up a week, that’s a saving on gas of around $200 a year, per car you own. Now, isn’t that more desirable than some nice statues and fountains at the community’s entrance?
Jay Schleifer, Wellington
There is no savings when the other businesses in RPB are pushed out and leave unemployment, empty buildings, and broken pavement. This is not Riviera Beach where a Race Trac is on the way to the port and is an industrial area. Shame on a RPB council beholden to Santamaria. The people will have their say and these smug elected officials WILL go!
Feel sorry for the residents in Royal Palm Beach, especially those who live in the southend of the Village. They are the ones who will bear the burden of this 20 pump gas station. Will this be a 24 hours business? What other business at this entry point to Royal Palm Beach is open 24/7? Crime WILL increase there is no doubt.
Race Trac promises to provide enhanced landscaping, but just take a gander at other commercial spots in Royal Palm Beach and see the deterioration of landscaping. Landscaping only looks good initially, then there is the decline and benign neglect that inevitably kicks in.
And what will happen to the second banyan tree near the Royal Inn? The proposal only calls for saving 1 of the trees.
How about offering up the other as a centerpiece for some other development?
Hold this Council’s feet to the fire. Make changes in the next election, if these elected officials and their committee appointees have failed to protect the integrity of the Village.