July 2018
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Along the Coast
Volume 11 Issue 7
Along the Coast
Property values hit new highs Manalapan leads South County with 10.51% increase By Mary Hladky
did this new sargassum come from and how did it get here? Scientists believe it didn’t take the usual path on the Gulf Stream. It doesn’t seem to be carrying as many tiny shrimp and crabs that made the old seaweed species sources of food for seabirds. And, most perplexing, this year there have been far fewer man-of-war
For the seventh year in a row, the taxable value of Palm Beach County properties has surged to a new high. After making up the losses last year from the Great Recession, countywide taxable property values jumped 6.53 percent to $187.8 billion this year, according to the county Property Appraiser’s Office. That’s well above the prerecession taxable value record of $169.4 billion set in 2007. The total market value of countywide properties now is $264.7 billion, up from $251.9 billion last year. While property values continue their upward march, experts see no sign of a housing bubble. The $263,900 median value of a Palm Beach County home in April was 18.8 percent below the pre-recession peak of $325,100, according to the national real estate website Zillow. And while values keep rising, the rate of growth has decreased in recent years. “Continued modest, sustainable
See SargaSsum on page 18
See VALUES on page 19
Mounds of sargassum, in places more than 30 feet wide and more than a foot deep, pile up on the beach in Ocean Ridge in mid-June. Since then some of the seaweed decomposed but then more arrived on the tide. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Rare seaweed washes ashore
Sargassum species perplexes but doesn’t worry experts, who see no threat to nesting turtles
By Cheryl Blackerby Sargassum, the brown seaweed that is tossed onto South Florida’s beaches by Atlantic waves, has always been a mixed blessing: Environmentalists love it, beachgoers loathe it. But this year, the piles of seaweed also have presented a mystery that has scientists baffled. It’s a new species of sargassum with larger leaves and heavier tangled mats than in years past. Where
Boynton Beach
Civic Center’s last dance
Final social event stirs a half-century of memories By Ron Hayes Walls go up, and walls come down, and in between lives are lived. On Tuesday, Sept. 4, 1962, Mayor Thomas A. Summers turned a shovelful of dirt at the corner of East Ocean Avenue and Seacrest Boulevard, and a new, $100,000 Boynton Beach Civic Center was born. The walls stood strong through 56 years of teen dances and rummage sales, pingpong and pool,
Jazzercise and hurricanes, but now they’re about to come down. On Sept. 3, the city will hand the Civic Center keys to developers, and those old walls will make way for Town Square, a $118 million, 16-acre redevelopment. And so, for six hours on Saturday afternoon, June 16, some men and women who were young when the center was young gathered there to mourn, remember, dance a last dance — See civic on page 8
Bamboo Room redux
Gulf Stream Views Townhomes coming to County Pocket. Page 6
Irma lessons
What we learned in hurricane’s aftermath. Page 10
Lake Worth nightclub reincarnated as Phoenix Charity Bar. Page AT5
Jean Fletcher and Claude Donawa enjoy a final dance together at the Boynton Beach Civic Center. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Surf’s up for kids
Maui Goodbeer’s program helps youngsters build selfconfidence. Page AT1