RPB CODE ENSNARES SWIM INSTRUCTOR SEE STORY, PAGE 2
ITID WANTS SEM PRATT PLAN CHANGES SEE STORY, PAGE 7
THE
TOWN - CR IER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE
Your Community Newspaper
INSIDE Wellington Keeps Tax Rate, Drainage Fees & Trash Fees Unchanged
Volume 32, Number 28 July 15 - July 21, 2011
CHICK-FIL-A HOSTS CATTLE CALL
Despite falling property tax revenue, the Wellington Village Council voted unanimously Tuesday to keep its tax rate steady at 2.5 mills for the third consecutive year . Council members also voted to set the drainage and solid waste assessments the same as last year. Page 2
CAFCI Youth Talent Show July 23 in RPB
Caribbean-Americans For Community Involvement held auditions Friday, July 8 at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center for its 16th annual Youth Talent Show Extravaganza. The talent show will take place Saturday, July 23 at the cultural center to benefit CAFCI’s Student Assistance Program. Page 3
Continued RPB Blvd. Road Work Delays Annoy Village Officials
After a discussion about extended roadwork delays, the Royal Palm Beach Village Council approved a change order last week for an additional $95,249 and an extra two weeks to finish pedestrian and bicycle lane improvements to Royal Palm Beach Blvd. north of Okeechobee Blvd. Page 7
OPINION Charlie Lynn Leaves Behind Huge Legacy
Wellington lost a transformational leader this week when former manager Charles “Charlie” Lynn died unexpectedly and far too young. If there is any one man who is responsible for what modern-day Wellington is, it’s the man who dedicated 11 years of his life to turning ideas into reality. And although he is no longer with us, the legacy Charlie left behind will continue to have an influence for years to come. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ............................. 3 - 14 OPINION ................................ 4 CRIME NEWS ........................ 6 NEWS BRIEFS .......................8 SCHOOLS .............................15 PEOPLE........................ 16 - 17 COLUMNS .................... 23 - 24 ENTERTAINMENT ................26 BUSINESS ...................29 - 31 SPORTS .......................35 - 37 CALENDAR...................38 - 39 CLASSIFIEDS .............40 - 475 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
Chick-fil-A celebrated Cow Appreciation Day on Friday, July 8 in the Mall at Wellington Green and other Chick-fil-A locations. People who came in cow-themed attire received a free meal. Shown above are Seminole Ridge High School students Daylee Fisher, Toni Tomlin, Dani Jury and Sierra McLaughlin. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 13 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
Nearby Residents Up In Arms Over Coconut-Northlake Project By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Some residents near a planned commercial development at the southwest corner of Coconut and Northlake boulevards have launched a campaign to stop the project. Anne Kuhl, whose home is on Hamlin Blvd. to the south of the proposed Shops at Indian Trails, said she did not receive notice of the development, which received approval from the Palm Beach County Zoning Commission last week, and is scheduled to go before the Palm Beach County Commission on July 28. “We just feel there’s a lot of residents out here who don’t want that commercial this close to our neighborhood,” Kuhl said. “We feel that no one knows that this is taking place. Those signs that they put up, those little gold signs, they make it seem like there’s just going to be retail and a restaurant. It doesn’t even say anything about the gas station and the grocery store and all the other stuff that’s supposed to be there.” The proposal calls for the rezon-
ing of 30.71 acres of land from agricultural residential to multipleuse planned development to allow a commercial shopping center. The applicant is proposing a 3,800-square-foot fast-food restaurant with a drive-through lane and a 3,000-square-foot convenience store with 16 gasoline pumps and a 1,000-square-foot accessory car wash. The preliminary site plan also indicates 88,766 square feet of general retail; two financial institutions of 3,236 and 3,764 square feet, each with three drive-through lanes; and 4,000 square feet of medical office, for an overall total of 107,566 square feet. A total of 620 parking spaces would be provided, and there would be five access points to the site, three from Northlake Blvd., one from Coconut Blvd. and one from Hamlin Blvd. County staff determined that compatibility issues for the proposed use have been addressed by code requirements and conditions of approval and did not anticipate any adverse impacts on the surrounding areas.
“We’re just disgusted,” Kuhl said. “We really don’t want a Wendy’s or CVS as the entrance to The Acreage. We moved out here to get away from this commercial. It would be better at Callery-Judge Grove.” She said the Ibis shopping center to the east is near enough for residents’ shopping purposes. “People farther west would need services way more than us in the northeast corner of The Acreage,” Kuhl said. “This is The Acreage. It’s not like Palm Beach Gardens. We’re just very upset that we kind of have no say.” Larry Marcum of 85th Road North said few of his neighbors were aware of the project. “I saw the signs when they went up, and it said it was just going to be a gas station, a convenience store, a car wash and a restaurant,” Marcum said. “They didn’t say it was going to be 31 acres.” Marcum said he attended last week’s zoning meeting but that his protests were largely ignored. “They just shut me down,” Marcum said. “They said everybody See NORTHLAKE, page 18
Wellington Inks Long-Range Planning Partnership With FAU By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Florida Atlantic University students will soon have the opportunity to help shape Wellington’s future after the Wellington Village Council agreed Tuesday to a twoyear partnership with the university’s School of Urban & Regional Planning. The interlocal agreement will establish a “living lab” for students both in Wellington and online, allowing them to tackle Wellington’s 2060 goals, including neighborhood revitalization, job creation, commercial redevelopment and equestrian community enhancement, Long Range Planning
Director Tim Stillings said. “It’s a program that will utilize resources from the university to provide a practical perspective to our economic development initiatives,” he said. “It’s a collaborative effort between us and the university. They are providing us with resources that we don’t have inhouse.” It will be similar to hiring a consultant: graduate students, a handful of handpicked bachelor’s degree students and faculty members at FAU will use Wellington’s reallife goals, challenges and unique community to conduct research, which will be presented to the council.
In addition to the research projects, Wellington would receive enhanced communication and planning tools, a dedicated web site for the project, dedicated graduate research assistants during the school year and one graduate intern for three summers. In the three-year contract that was presented, Wellington would pay $252,083, which would finance the faculty, student, web and travel costs. Additional money on the university’s side would be provided by a grant. Village Manager Paul Schofield said that Wellington would get more bang for its buck partnering See FAU, page 4
Serving Palms West Since 1980
Community Mourns Longtime Wellington Leader Charles Lynn By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Charles Lynn was remembered this week as a loving husband and father, a great community leader and a gentleman who deserves a great deal of credit for shaping Wellington into the community it is today. Lynn, Wellington’s first permanent village manager, died Tuesday, July 12 of complications following heart surgery. He was 58. His death came four days after he’d undergone a heart-bypass operation at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Lynn, a native of Kentucky, attended Murray State University in Murray, Ky., where he graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning. In 1984, he obtained his law degree from Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky. He spent more than 30 years working in municipal administration, serving as the assistant city manager of Ocala from 1987 to 1994, and as city manager in Henderson, Ky., for two years
thereafter. He arrived in Wellington just months after the village’s incorporation and led the community for 11 years until his retirement in 2008. For the past two years, he served as town administrator for Southwest Ranches in Broward County. A Wellington resident, Lynn is survived by his wife Patsy, daughter Molly and son Michael. Former Wellington Mayor Kathy Foster remembered Lynn as a family man who always expressed how proud he was of his children. “He was constantly amazed he was a father at that point in his life,” she recalled. “He just reveled in the joy of Molly and Michael. He was thrilled with being a dad and so proud of their accomplishments.” Wellington hired Lynn as its first permanent manager in 1996. He arrived in September of that year and ran the day-to-day operations of the village during its boom years. Despite an evolving government, growing community and See LYNN, page 18
Wellington Mourns — Charles “Charlie” Lynn, Wellington’s first permanent village manager, retired in 2008. He died Tuesday following complications from a heart-bypass operation.
LGWCD Proposes Assessment Hike By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a one-time assessment increase of $13.50 per acre. According to district officials, the extra money will be used to cover the current and future costs associated with last month’s special referendum, which changed how some board members will be elected. One or more board members will now be chosen by direct election, rather than a proxy vote by acreage election. The assessment rate cannot be raised further, but might be lowered before a final budget is adopted. The adjusted total assessment rate, including the one-time maximum increase, would be $151.45 per acre, according to
District Administrator Clete Saunier. At its May 9 meeting, the board approved its 2012 budget proposal and capital equipment replacement plan contingent on the town and district reaching an agreement providing for the town’s transfer of $150,000 in gas tax revenue to the district and to include the referendum costs. “The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council voted June 7 to confirm the inclusion of $150,000 in gas tax revenue to the district in its 2012 budget,” Saunier said. He estimated that the unanticipated additional costs associated with the referendum election process would be $60,950 for fiscal year 2011 and, because of its passage, would be $45,350 for 2012, for a total of $106,300. That money includes the required urban See LGWCD, page 18
Business Community Urged To Support SR 7 Extension By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The extension of State Road 7 to Northlake Blvd. has the necessary funding and is crucial to the future of the western communities, but still faces an uphill battle against forces that do not want the roadway completed. Those were the key points raised at a Palms West Chamber of Commerce luncheon panel discussion Monday at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. The speakers included Florida Department of Transportation Engineer Beatriz Caicedo-Maddison, Palm Beach County Deputy Engineer Tanya McConnell and two SR 7 extension advocates, Royal Palm Beach Councilwoman Martha Webster and Indian
Trail Improvement District President Michelle Damone. Chamber CEO Jaene Miranda said the SR 7 extension has been a local concern for a number of years. The county paid for the first phase of the extension, which took the road from Okeechobee Blvd. to Persimmon Blvd., and plans are underway to continue the extension to 60th Street North. The state has financed continuation of the extension to Northlake Blvd., but that portion is being opposed by West Palm Beach and its Ibis neighborhood, which is adjacent to the proposed route. However, Miranda said, most officials from the western communities agree that SR 7’s extension
to Northlake is needed for safety and efficient traffic flow. The chamber has approved two resolutions supporting the extension, Miranda said, pointing out that the “range line” route, which was the original easement for SR 7, has existed for more than 50 years and that the northern portion of the road extending south from Northlake Blvd. along the east side of Ibis has already been built. West Palm Beach has mounted an environmental challenge on the grounds that the road will go through wetlands, but about $15 million of the $50 million for the project is committed to wetlands mitigation, Miranda said. “We are at a critical juncture to build or not to build, and it is imSee STATE ROAD 7, page 7
Palms West Chamber CEO Jaene Miranda with panelists Florida Department of Transportation Engineer Beatriz CaicedoMaddison, Palm Beach County Deputy Engineer Tanya McConnell, Royal Palm Beach Councilwoman Martha Webster and Indian Trail Improvement District President Michelle Damone. PHOTO BY R ON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER