January 2018
Volume 11 Issue 1
Serving Highland Beach and Coastal Boca Raton
To Korea, with love
Along the Coast
South County residents send care packages to one of their own near DMZ By Ron Hayes On the morning of Nov. 7, Delores Rangel arrived at work and found an email from Dongducheon, South Korea. This was unusual. The executive secretary to the Delray Beach City Commission did not often deal with people 7,662 miles away and 14 hours ahead of her. Ms. Rangel, My name is Captain Christopher Colletta and I was born and raised in Delray Beach until I turned 18 and went off to college. Since then, I commissioned into the Army and now am the Executive Officer of a tank company deployed to Camp Casey in South Korea, a few miles from the DMZ separating North and South Korea … I recently saw on Facebook that you are in charge of collecting supplies to send to soldiers deployed overseas … • Actually, Delores Rangel is a lot more than the person in charge. She is the reason Project Holiday exists. “My daughter, Melissa, joined the Air Force right after 9/11, and my husband and I were devastated,” she remembers. “We knew we were going to war and she was sent overseas. She was barely 5 feet tall and she was in war zones.” Rangel started sending her See KOREA on page 30
By Rich Pollack
ABOVE: Capt. Christopher Colletta of Delray Beach takes a selfie as members of his Army tank unit open some of the Project Holiday boxes sent from Delray Beach to Camp Casey in South Korea. Photo provided LEFT: Project Holiday volunteers Alicia Martinez, 16, and Isabella Balestriere, 15, pack one of the 241 boxes sent overseas. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Along the Coast
Boynton Beach reaches for the heights
Village atmosphere giving way to high-rise future By Jane Smith Folks in Boynton Beach once envisioned their town’s future as that of a Florida fishing village with a Caribbean theme. Today, that future is high-rises, condos and apartments. Residents had long favored buildings with a height limit of four stories. The change to allow more height began in the fall of 2015 when a previous City Commission removed two volunteer members from the Community
Home rule: Locals fret about state bills’ reach
Redevelopment Agency board, allowing the board to consist only of commission members. Then, in August 2016, the newly elected commission approved the CRA’s updated plans for the eastern part of Boynton Beach. These plans will shape the city’s downtown area for the next 20 years. They call for a wedding-cake tier effect along Ocean Avenue with three stories nearest the street and the See BOYNTON on page 17
Downtowns
GROWING
Up
How urban development is changing the face and pace of our coastal cities n Second of a three-part series
When the state Legislature begins its 60-day regular session this month, lawmakers will consider a wide range of proposed bills, many of which have already drawn the attention of concerned local government leaders. Among the bills proposed so far is one that would prevent a local government from prohibiting back-in parking in parking garages. Another bill would require local governments to respond to public questions at their meetings or provide written responses within 10 days as well as to incorporate the responses into the meeting minutes. Yet another would limit local governments’ ability to regulate tree trimming on private property. Two bills already introduced, one in the Florida House of Representatives and another in the Senate, could place the authority to create Community Redevelopment Agencies in the hands of the Legislature rather than local government and prevent CRAs from providing funding to nonprofit organizations. While the bills have different degrees of impact, each is seen by local government leaders as eroding their ability to govern their communities. It is, they say, an erosion of the concept of home rule, where elected officials on the local level make policies that affect the people they represent. These new bills, they say, are a continuation of a trend that has many in Palm Beach County concerned. “We’ve seen this go in cycles before, but nothing like this,” said Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities. “This is unprecedented.” See HOME RULE on page 28
Inside Finnish centennial
Local community marks 100 years of Finland’s independence. Page AT1
House of the Month
Modern magnificence on Hillsboro Mile. Page H23
New Year’s traditions Annual ceremonies steeped in tradition. Page H1
Films of a people Jewish film festival offers expanded programming. Page AT13