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Wellington Council Supports Limited Use Of Artificial Turf
Volume 43, Number 2 January 28 - February 10, 2022
Serving Palms West Since 1980
SENIORS VISIT THE HORSE SHOW
The Wellington Village Council on Tuesday, Jan. 25 gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that would allow the limited use of artificial turf for some residential driveways and commercial areas not visible from the street. Page 3
WCF Awards $11,000 In ‘Our Schools’ Grants To Fund ‘Arts Departments’
On Friday, Jan. 21, Wellington Regional Medical Center hosted a special breakfast event for the principals and other representatives from all 11 public schools serving the Wellington community. The principals were invited by the Wellington Community Foundation as the recipients of the “Our Schools” grant. This foundation program will support fine arts departments at local schools. Page 5
The Wellington Seniors Club attended a luncheon at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on Thursday, Jan. 13. Attendees enjoyed a visit to the Winter Equestrian Festival, along with lunch and great seats to watch the horse show. Shown above, Irwina Frank, Mena Anafi, Kim Cafaro, Lucille Puglisi, Maria Anatra and Liz Monaco enjoy the luncheon. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 13 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Education Activist Julie Highsmith Challenging Jeff Hmara For RPB Council Seat
The 2022 South Florida Fair Runs Through Jan. 30 At The Fairgrounds
The 2022 South Florida Fair kicked off Friday, Jan. 14 and will continue until Sunday, Jan. 30. The fair this year has a “Rockin’ Robots” theme and is also presenting its full-fledged traditional offerings that guests have come to enjoy. Page 18
Chieffalo New Football Coach At SRHS After Casko Steps Down
Longtime area high school head football coach Rick Casko, 63, has said farewell to his head coaching days. He made the announcement during Seminole Ridge High School’s end-of-year football banquet on Sunday, Jan. 16. Fortunately, it has not taken Seminole Ridge long to find the new leader for its varsity football program. The new coach will be longtime Seminole Ridge assistant football coach Chad Chieffalo. Page 21 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 18 NEWS BRIEFS......................... 7 SPORTS..........................21 - 24 PEOPLE................................. 25 SCHOOLS.............................. 27 BUSINESS............................. 29 COLUMNS............................. 30 CLASSIFIEDS.................31 - 32 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Local education activist Julie Highsmith is challenging incumbent Royal Palm Beach Councilman Jeff Hmara for the Group 1 seat during the upcoming municipal election. It is the only village election on the Tuesday, March 8 ballot. A former member of the Royal Palm Beach Education Advisory Board, Highsmith stepped down from the board recently when she took a position teaching kindergarten at H.L. Johnson Elementary School, which she attended as a child and where she later became PTO president for five years before handing over the reins. “Two other parents took over the PTO, so I’m not on the PTO board anymore now that I’m a teacher,” said Highsmith, a 36-year resident of Royal Palm Beach. “For me, it was a full-time job, so there was no way I could do both of those things and run for the village council.” Highsmith has lived in Royal Palm Beach since she was 5 years old. She and her husband Bill have three daughters, and two of them attend H.L. Johnson. One will soon be graduating, and one will be starting next year. Teaching is a career change for Highsmith. In 2003, she earned a business degree from Florida
Julie Highsmith
Jeff Hmara
Atlantic University with a double major in management and marketing. From 2004 to 2020, she owned and operated a statelicensed, Medicaid-certified home healthcare company in Wellington. In 2020, with the support and encouragement of her husband, Highsmith decided to change careers to elementary education. For the past four years, she served on the Education Advisory Board, including one year as chair. She resigned because public school teachers are not allowed to serve, which she said led to her interest in running for the council. “There are teachers on the
board, but you can’t be a School District of Palm Beach County teacher,” Highsmith said, adding that there are members of the Education Advisory Board who are teachers at private schools. She is running for the council because many people have told her that the community needs new leadership with a fresh perspective and different personalities. She also believes that local schools could be partnering more with the village, both financially and in other ways. “Schools bring residents, right?” Highsmith said. “People care See RPB RACE, page 4
County’s Planning Commission Objects To The GL Homes Land Swap Plan
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Palm Beach County Planning Commission on Friday, Jan. 14 recommended against a plan to initiate several text amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan that would allow for fewer homes west of The Acreage and more homes in the Agricultural Reserve west of Delray Beach. The “land swap” plan proposed by GL Homes involves land in two parts of the county — Indian Trails Grove west of The Acreage and Hyder West on State Road 7 north of Clint Moore Road. Jennifer Morton, with JMorton Planning & Landscape Architecture, representing the applicants, noted that the Palm Beach County Commission in December had given direction that GL Homes should move forward with applications, providing a full detail of its proposals through the normal application process. Morton presented a video reporting that Indian Trails Grove in The Acreage, slated to be a major development, is currently in agricultural production, producing green beans, corn, tomatoes, sugar cane and 27 kinds of Chinese vegetables. The video added that GL Homes has dedicated thousands of acres to agricultural preservation in recent years, and there remains a significant resource available in agricultural production within its property west of The Acreage. In addition to being actively farmed, the property’s proximity to major canals presents a unique opportunity to alleviate water issues in the county. Indian Trails Grove encompasses 4,872 acres west of The Acreage. In 2016, GL homes dedicated 640 acres of that property to the Indian Trail Improvement District for water retention. At the same time, GL Homes received approval from the county to build 3,897 homes there.
GL Homes proposes to deed 1,600 acres of Indian Trails Grove to the county, which would have the discretion to preserve the land for agriculture and/or water resources. In addition, GL Homes would reduce the number of homes it has permission to build from 3,897 to 2,647. In exchange, the developer proposes to build 1,000 homes on 451 acres of the 682 privately owned acres in Hyder West, an area surrounded by residential developments. The balance of the land would be preserved for community benefit as a 100-acre passive park, a 26-acre preserve and 105 acres for civic uses. The plan includes 250 units of workforce housing. The exchange offers the county almost three times the amount of land to further its objectives, Morton said, adding that county staff supports the proposal. “This proposal is worthy of further review and analysis,” she said. Principal Planner Bryan Davis said that since the application was privately initiated, county staff did not yet have a full analysis to provide. “Text amendments require board initiation,” Davis said. “This initiation would authorize staff to process the request, to accept associated land use amendments and begin the process and analysis that you are accustomed to seeing at your hearings.” He emphasized that initiation does not indicate approval but is simply authorization for staff to begin work at board direction, explaining that the process would require numerous text amendments and hearings. The application is expected to go to the county commission for initiation consideration on Wednesday, Feb. 2. Several board members were critical of initiating the process, quoting staff who, although they See LAND SWAP, page 4
DR. KING CELEBRATION IN ROYAL PALM BEACH
RPB Supports Change To Allow A Coffee Shop East Of Denny’s
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Royal Palm Beach Village Council approved a covenant change Thursday, Jan. 20 regarding an undeveloped portion of Tract 115 at the southwest corner of Okeechobee and Royal Palm Beach boulevards. The change would allow a coffee shop with a drive-through at that location. Village Attorney Keith Davis said that in accordance with direction from the council at its last meeting, he had prepared an amendment that would allow a coffee shop with a drive-through, in addition to the currently allowed
financial institution with a drivethrough. Davis said the ordinance complies with what village code defines as a coffee shop. “So, an example of this would be a Starbucks?” Mayor Fred Pinto asked, and Davis agreed. Village Manager Ray Liggins said the piece of Tract 115 east of the Denny’s restaurant contains an office building on the corner at the intersection, as well as another undeveloped office site to the south of that building, and another plat to the west that had been planned for two banks with drive-throughs. “The one site south of the build-
ing has been sold to somebody else,” Liggins told the Town-Crier. “They bought the parcel that was west of the office building, which was limited to banks, so they asked the council to remove that restriction to allow for a coffee shop, with the hopes of getting a Starbucks or another coffee shop there.” Applicant Patrick Albright said the original covenant called for two banks with drive-throughs on the two-parcel site. “What we’re proposing is a drive-through on our site,” Albright said. “It was recently brought to my knowledge that the See TRACT 115, page 4
The 20th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration hosted by the Caribbean Americans for Community Involvement and the Village of Royal Palm Beach was held Monday, Jan. 17 at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. Judge Bradley Harper gave the keynote address during a program that also saluted Dr. King’s legacy in song and dance. Shown above is CAFCI President Dennis Wright, Citizen of the Year honoree Barbara Walker and Port of Palm Beach Commissioner Joseph Anderson. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 8 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
‘Light Industrial’ Shift Could Spur Jobs In Westlake
By Louis Hillary Park Town-Crier Staff Report The fast-growing City of Westlake continued to make way for expansion of its jobs base with the Tuesday, Jan. 18 approval of 227,000 square feet of “light industrial” space near Seminole Pratt Whitney Road as part of the Westlake Landings project. The request was approved 5-0, with Councilwoman Pilar Valle Ron casting her first vote as a member of the council. She was appointed by the council in December to fill Seat 1, left vacant by the Nov. 1 resignation of former Councilman Patric Paul. She was
sworn in at the start of the Jan. 18 meeting. The 17.4-acre site had been allocated for a combination of office space (35,000 square feet) and light industrial space (150,000 square feet). However, with Ed Mitchell Realty of Fort Lauderdale stepping forward with a plan to use the entire space allocation for varied occupancy light industrial, property owner Minto asked the council for a master plan amendment to Pod G of the 50-acre Westlake Landings Commercial Plaza. The project could house anything from light manufacturing to tile, granite or window fabricators
to distributors of various kinds, said Donaldson Hearing, of Cotleur & Hearing, who was on hand to represent Minto. Consisting of two buildings — one of approximately 150,000 square feet and the other some 75,000 square feet — each would be single story with 32 feet of interior clearance. The space can be configured for businesses that need as little as 8,000 square feet, to a single tenant occupying both buildings. Landing a tenant to take all 227,000 square feet is like “whale hunting or elephant hunting,” Mitchell told the council, and not
entirely desirable, because of the difficulty of replacing such a tenant were the business to leave. Pointing to his 35 years of experience with similar projects, Mitchell told the council that most likely there will be multiple tenants involved in the homebuilding industry. “We could also see possibly an Amazon,” he said. “We just don’t know what we’re going to see until we start building the projects.” However, due to Westlake’s location, Mitchell said that the project will provide a great opportunity to bring more, good-paying jobs to the community.
“Every city needs to have some component of light industrial,” Hearing said. “We’re really excited... Light industrial will increase the amount of non-residential [space] that is out in this area, providing workplace opportunities, jobs, industry and really just diversifying the overall landscape.” The council agreed with the concept. “It’s a good shift to bring light industrial here,” Councilwoman Katrina Long-Robinson said. In other business: • Vice Mayor John Paul O’Connor called Westlake resident See WESTLAKE, page 4