Drivers on Okeechobee Blvd. will soon need to keep a close eye on how fast they are driving in school zones now that the Town of Loxahatchee Groves has joined a growing list of communities across the state to approve the use of cameras to catch speeders near schools using a vendor called RedSpeed.
Meeting Tuesday, Dec. 3, the council unanimously approved two items regarding the RedSpeed program. The first was the second and final reading of a town ordinance allowing a “School Zone Speed Enforcement Program.” The second was for a contract with RedSpeed to operate the system.
The contract designates specific county-approved school zones in the area of Okeechobee Blvd. and Folsom Road at the east end of the town near Royal Palm Beach Elementary School, and near North 162nd Drive at the west end of the town near Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School.
Town Manager Francine Ramaglia said that the focus will be on the east-west traffic.
Resident Paul Coleman noted that the town pays $750,000 to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office annually for law enforcement services and asked why the PBSO isn’t doing this, and why an outside vendor is needed.
Mayor Anita Kane noted that the town does not get revenue from the PBSO’s speed enforcement activities, and they are limited, since there are only so many road patrol deputies.
“With RedSpeed, the $100 citation gets transmitted entirely to us,” Kane said. “We then keep $39 of it.”
David De La Espriella, vice president of client relations for RedSpeed USA, itemized the breakdown: $20 goes to the state’s general fund, $5 goes to school crossing guards, $3 goes to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement training fund, $12 goes to the Palm Beach County School District and the remaining $60 goes to the town, which then gives $21 to RedSpeed.
The cost to install and operate the system is handled by the vendor.
“The benefit of these cameras is that now the PBSO can utilize those officers who would be doing traffic enforcement in those school zones, they can be doing something else,” said De La Espriella, a retired law enforcement officer. “It is a way to use resources in a better way for your town.”
During the 2023 session, the Florida Legislature passed HB 657, which allowed the use of speed detection systems in school zones, which became effective July 1, 2023.
The new state law sets out a series of specifications for how such a system can be implemented, should a jurisdiction decide to do so.
Before implementing the system, the town had to undertake a speed study, which was conducted by RedSpeed in August and determined that the areas around the two elementary schools “constitutes a heightened safety risk that warrants additional enforcement measures.”
State law requires additional signage that notes the speed zone camera enforcement, and there will be an education period with warnings before the $100 citations are issued.
The Village of Wellington is also considering a speed detection system in school zones using RedSpeed. While the Wellington Village Council approved the enabling ordinance, it has not yet approved a contract with RedSpeed.
Also at the Dec. 3 meeting, the council approved the first reading of a comprehensive plan text amendment regarding the Groves Town Center project at the northeast corner of Southern Blvd. and B Road. The change brings the comp plan into agreement with the current specifications for the project, including eliminating the allocation for a 128-bed congregate living facility and instead including a hotel.
Other changes include establishing intensity and density measurement standards for the hotel use, establishing an allowance for a public park and exempting the site from a comp plan policy that restricts commercial uses to south of East Citrus Drive.
A PUD amendment/rezoning and a site plan for the hotel will come back to the council for consideration early next year.
Matthew Barnes spoke at the meeting on behalf of the property owner, Solar Sportsystems Inc.
He explained that the congregate living facility was approved as part of the original plan for the site in 2013, but since then, the town and the developer have agreed that a hotel would be a better idea there. Plans for the hotel are working their way through the approval process.
Councilwoman Laura Danowski noted that the town’s Planning & Zoning Board was not set to discuss the hotel change until a meeting on Dec. 11 and wanted to know why it was at the council beforehand.
Ramaglia explained that the text amendment must go to Tallahassee for approval, which will take extra time. This just moves the process forward, and the council can still make changes when it returns for its final reading.
The text amendment would have allowed 95 lodging units at the hotel, but the current plan calls for 81 units. The council and the developer agreed to make the change, lowering the count to 81 units before the item was approved.
