DR. LAURICH NEW CHAMBER PRESIDENT SEE STORY, PAGE 3
DEUTCH TOURS THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE SEE STORY, PAGE 7
THE
TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE
Wellington Council OKs Bid For Tennis Center And Community Center
Volume 35, Number 13 March 28 - April 3, 2014
Serving Palms West Since 1980
PALM BEACH POOCH PARTY FUN
Wellington will have a new tennis center within two years, and a new community center to follow soon after, if everything goes according to plans approved this week. Members of the Wellington Village Council voted Tuesday to approve a $12.8 million contract to rebuild the Wellington Community Center and move the Wellington Tennis Center. Page 3
‘Secret Gardens’ Tour Planned For April 5
The Wellington Garden Club’s seventh biennial Garden Tour will take visitors on a guided journey Saturday, April 5 through some of the most colorful, diverse and elegant gardens in Wellington. “The Secret Gardens of Wellington” showcases six private gardens that are tropical oases, each unique and special in its own right. Page 5
Attorneys At The Kelk Phillips Law Firm Bring Unique Experience
Kelk Phillips P.A. is a full-service Wellington law firm with flexible, accommodating hours, focusing on real estate law, wills and trusts, equine law and immigration. Page 22
OPINION
Beware Any Plan To Weaken Ag Reserve
As development continues to move west across Palm Beach County, many communities have stepped up to fight back against encroaching residential and commercial projects. But now, Palm Beach County has begun down a dangerous path, possibly entertaining the desires of a few special interests to weaken the 22,000-acre agricultural reserve, which for nearly two decades has successfully held the forces of development at bay. Page 4
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The Palm Beach Pooch Party took place Sunday, March 23 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center Stadium on South Shore Blvd. Guests enjoyed pet vendors and music, as well as a pet painting contest. The event also featured the PBIEC annual art project, where 13 local schools painted wraparound benches. Shown here are Angie Friers, Claudia Flores, Nancy Gulker and Stacy Bayterian with boxers up for adoption. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 22 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
County To Hold Roundtable Discussions On Ag Reserve
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Palm Beach County Commission agreed Tuesday to hold roundtable discussions on the future of the 22,000-acre agricultural reserve south of Wellington. The decision came after a fullday workshop hearing from farmers and nurserymen who want more property rights, and taxpayers and environmentalists who contend that the ag reserve should not be changed. A group of farmers and nurserymen called for the workshop, say-
ing smaller property owners cannot take advantage of incentives that larger property owners have, adding that they are being denied the sale of what they consider their “retirement investment.” Other speakers countered that taxpayers had approved a $100 million bond issue to protect the ag reserve. Palm Beach County staff explained that existing policies provide for infill and development, as well as policies to protect the environment. Palm Beach County Agricul-
tural Extension Director Audrey Norman said the ag reserve is among the top 10 agricultural zones in the nation, with a unique environment that seldom freezes, and soil qualities and a long growing season that allows for a great variety of produce. Norman noted that recent freezes resulted in the loss of 3,700 acres of produce in other agricultural areas, but in the ag reserve, not one acre was damaged. Locally grown produce feeds the rest of the country in winter, See AG RESERVE, page 7
Panther Run Gets OK For A Full-Fledged Gifted Program
By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report Panther Run Elementary School will have a full-fledged gifted program next year, with each grade level having at least one gifted class. The decision was announced Tuesday, March 25 at a meeting attended by about 100 current and potential students and parents. The full-time gifted program will replace the part-time program currently at the school. It was a decision many Panther Run parents had long been requesting. The announcement was made by Panther Run Principal Pamela Strachan and Area 3 Superintendent Dr. Matthew Shoemaker. Gifted program coordinators from Panther Run and the school district also attended the meeting, as did Binks Forest Elementary School Principal Michella Levy. Binks Forest, also home to a fulltime gifted program, is where many gifted students zoned for Panther Run have ended up. “We currently have more than 150 students who are giftedeligible, between the two schools,” Shoemaker said. “This school has
the capacity — we have five or six unused classrooms, plus we have the expandability of being able to accommodate portables.” The school is also already home to five certified gifted teachers. “We also look at community support,” Shoemaker said. “Obviously, by looking around here, we have community support.” The big question was whether current students in the gifted program at Binks Forest will be grandfathered in and allowed to stay there until they move on to middle school. Shoemaker said that they would, and special accommodations will be made for siblings. “Siblings are grandfathered as well,” he said. “They will be able to go to Binks if you have a currently enrolled gifted student.” For students currently enrolled in the gifted program at Binks Forest, siblings will be grandfathered in. If the children will not be attending the school at the same time, that will not apply. For example, parents with a third-grader and a kindergartner, the kindergartner is grandfathered in and can attend Binks Forest until
he or she graduates. Both also have the option to attend Panther Run, or one could be at each school. For parents with a gifted fifth-grader at Binks Forest and an incoming kindergartner, then the would-be kindergartener is not grandfathered in. “The sibling does have to be gifted,” Strachan noted. The school district will continue to provide bus transportation for one year for students who are slated for Panther Run but attend Binks Forest. Those students will have the option to continue their elementary education at Binks Forest after that time, but parents will have the responsibility of bringing children to and from the school. The new gifted classes will mirror those at Binks Forest, and both schools will offer support in making the transition seamless. “We will have at least one gifted class for each grade level. I already know of two grade levels where there will be two,” Strachan said. “The important thing for you to know is that these classrooms will mirror what is currently in place in Binks. You have to give See GIFTED, page 21
Planners OK Aldi ‘Flagship’ Store Near Distribution Center In RPB
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A “flagship” Aldi grocery store on State Road 7 in front of the company’s unfinished regional distribution center received glowing recommendations of approval from the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday, March 25. Sitting as the Local Planning Agency, the commissioners recommended approval of a smallscale comprehensive plan amendment from industrial to commercial, as well as a zoning change for the currently vacant 2.3 acres at 1121 N. State Road 7, about a quarter-mile south of Okeechobee Blvd. The site of the future store borders Regal Cinemas to the south and the Fox Property commercial district to the north. “There are two parcels in the Aldi planned industrial development which they are looking to change to commercial land use from industrial land use in order to do one of their grocery stores,”
Site Plan Coordinator Kevin Erwin explained. “It is our understanding that this is going to be their ‘flagship’ store. It’s going to be their show store that they bring all their executives to, and everybody who they want to show their stores to. It’s going to be a little bit bigger, I believe, and a little bit fancier than their normal Aldi stores.” Erwin said the land use change meets the goals of the village’s comp plan objectives. “It just makes sense to have an Aldi grocery store right in front of the Aldi distribution center,” he said. “It works out very well for the store as far as restocking, as well as the residents of Royal Palm Beach.” Last year, Aldi had planned to build a store in a shopping center further south on SR 7, but those plans fell through. Erwin said the infrastructure and stormwater requirements for the new location were incorporated into the original design of the Aldi distribution center. “All of those infrastructure See ALDI, page 21
SPECIAL OLYMPICS
About 80 riders, along with parents and volunteers, attended the Special Olympic Area Games organized by the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center on Saturday, March 22 at the Van Kampen Arena in Wellington. The riders competed in English and Western equitation, dressage, horsemanship, trail, speed and agility. Shown here is the Vinceremos Drill Team: Carrie MacMillan, Cassidy Hoff, Mareesa Levy, Ethan Borys, Sarah Menor and Christina Cooney. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 11 PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER
Marcia Radosevich Offers An Apology For Nazi Salute
By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report A former member of Wellington’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board offered an apology Tuesday for giving a Nazi salute toward a village employee at a meeting earlier this month. Dr. Marcia Radosevich, who resigned after the incident, said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Wellington Village Council that her behavior was inexcusable. “I am not asking to be excused,” she said. “My behavior was inexcusable, period.” Radosevich made the gesture toward Planning & Development Services Director Tim Stillings about three hours into a meeting on Wednesday, March 5. Members were discussing whether Wellington should eliminate its Development Review Committee
and put decisions of the committee, currently composed of several staff members, in the hands of an employee. Radosevich said she made the gesture because she was frustrated after almost three hours of being given multiple answers about which employee would make the decisions. “When every single board member who was present questioned Mr. Stillings about who that officer would be, he repeatedly insisted that the officer would be no one person, but would be a function assigned to various staff depending on their availability and expertise,” Radosevich explained. Later in the meeting, Radosevich asked whether Stillings himself would be the one making the decision, and he said he would be. “After almost three hours of beSee RADOSEVICH, page 21
Popular Flavors Of Wellington Event Returns April 4
By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Bringing you the best of Wellington for more than a decade, the 11th annual Flavors of Wellington Food & Wine Festival returns to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on Friday, April 4 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. With bites from more than 25 restaurants, paired with wine tastings, guests will have the chance to indulge in delicious food and drink, all while enjoying an equestrian event, live music and more. “It’s a true community event,” said Michela Perillo-Green, executive director of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the annual affair. “In its 11th
year, the event is really representative of what Wellington has to offer.” The event’s 10-year anniversary was record-breaking, drawing more than 1,000 people, celebrity judges and delectable dishes. This year, Perillo-Green is expecting the same great atmosphere. “The only thing we’re changing is that we have a new entertainer, Michael Matone,” she said. “He’s a Frank Sinatra impersonator. He looks like him, dresses like him, sounds like him. It’s going to be fun.” Sponsored by Equestrian Sport Productions, Florida Power & Light, the Wellness Experience, My Community Pharmacy, Wel-
lington The Magazine and the Town-Crier newspaper, the event is not to be missed, Perillo-Green said. “It’s a great way to wrap up the season, see new and old friends, listen to great music and enjoy a show,” she said. Attendees will have the chance to sample cuisine from the menus of dozens of local restaurants, each of which puts out its most delicious and beautiful plates in hopes of winning one of several prizes, including Best Plate, Best Entrée and Best Dessert. “Everything the restaurants put out for you to sample is something you can find on their current menus,” Perillo-Green said.
Attendees not only get to sample great food, but they are also able to discover favorite new restaurants. “The reason we do this in April is that it’s the tail end of the season,” Perillo-Green said. “We hope to keep these restaurants busy May through November. We want people to know who the restaurants are, who the caterers are, and who the country clubs and venues are. We want them to go to them in the summer.” Tickets cost $35 each or $55 per couple, but Perillo-Green encouraged readers to keep an eye out for an upcoming Living Social deal. VIP tables are also available, offering a more exclusive experience. “They are second-tier tables
with a great view,” Perillo-Green said. “They have a private bar and private bottle service, along with all the food and wine tasting.” Tickets and tables are still available by visiting www.flavorsofwellington.com. Flavors is the perfect night out on the town with friends, family or as a date. “It’s a night of casual elegance,” Perillo-Green said. “There’s free valet, then you take a cart up to the International Club, which most people don’t get to see unless you’re a member. There’s live music, 25 restaurants and wineries, dancing if you’d like and an exciting equestrian show. It’s very representative of Wellington.”