Serving Highland Beach and Coastal Boca Raton
November 2019
Volume 12 Issue 11
Highland Beach
Boca Raton
A towering memorial to lover of ocean
County to postpone Milani Park until 2025 By Rich Pollack
Couple’s $250,000 gift for Gumbo Limbo overlook reflects son’s sunny spirit By Margie Plunkett When you someday find yourself atop the new observation tower at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, and the Intracoastal-to-ocean view inspires in you joy, the sensation of being alive and awe at the beauty of nature, you will be experiencing Jacob’s Outlook. This is how Jacob Kosowsky’s parents hope to memorialize and share the spirit of their exuberant 21-yearold son, who was killed in a traffic accident a year ago last month. “We like to think that Jake would be helping people to think about conservation, beauty and the ocean,” said his father, Stephen Kosowsky. Kosowsky and his wife, Sharilyn Jones, have pledged $250,000, half the sum needed to pay for an inclined elevator, or funicular, that will be part of the 40-foot tower once it’s been restored. A plaque with the name Jacob’s Outlook will be placed at the site in their son’s honor. The donation kicked off an Oct. 1 campaign by Friends of Gumbo Limbo to raise $500,000 to Bring Back the Tower, according to Michele Peel, president of the Friends. The tower was closed to the public in 2015 and demolished after being deemed unsafe. The funicular is essential to make the tower, which had stood for 30 years, compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city of Boca Raton is proceeding on the design and
ABOVE: Jacob Kosowsky, shown here just shy of his 18th birthday in 2015, was an outdoorsman who loved the ocean. He died in a car accident last year. LEFT: The Kosowsky family often visited Gumbo Limbo Nature Center when the children were small. A 6-year-old Jacob, far left, accompanied his aunt, uncle and cousins from San Diego. Family photos
See JACOB on page 11
The sign proclaiming the large open space at the south end of Highland Beach to be the future location of Cam D. Milani Park is likely to remain there for at least another five years. What will happen to the 5.6acre property — and adjacent parcels to the north still owned by the Milani family — after that time is still up in the air. Last month, Palm Beach County commissioners voted 4-3 to follow a staff recommendation to extend a legal agreement and delay breaking ground on the countyowned parcel until 2025. In the interim, the county Parks and Recreation Department will begin legwork that will make it easier for the park — with beach access on the east side of State Road A1A and parking for up to 120 cars on the west side — to come out of the ground quickly once the extension expires. That is not sitting well with nearby residents who for decades have argued that traffic and safety issues would abound with a park development. “There’s absolutely no need for a park there,” said See MILANI on page 12
Boca Raton
District learns it can’t sell Ocean Strand — or any other parcel
By Steve Plunkett The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District can’t sell the undeveloped Ocean Strand parcel, the district’s lawyers determined last month. “The expressed intent under our special act is to acquire, operate and maintain beach and park property. Noticeably absent from our enumerated powers is the power to sell
or to convey,” attorney Jacob Horowitz told commissioners Oct. 7. “We have the power to acquire; we do not have the legal authority to convey or otherwise sell.” Municipalities and some special districts do have the power to sell property, Horowitz said. “We don’t have that authority under our special act,” he said. Commissioners immediately
Inside Artistic harmony
Three photographers share the bill at Ann Norton. Page AT9
Regilding the dome
Boca Raton’s old town hall gets covered in gold. Page AT1
directed their staff to notify developer Robert Comparato that they could not consider his unsolicited offer to buy Ocean Strand for $67.5 million. The 15-acre property straddles State Road A1A from the Atlantic to the Intracoastal Waterway. “I can’t tell you how delighted I am to hear this,” said Commissioner Steve Engel, who in the past promised
See STRAND on page 12
A developer offered $67.5 million to buy Ocean Strand, which extends across A1A. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Thanksgiving volunteers Hundreds across the area lend a hand to make the holiday special for others. Page H1
Can Tri-Rail and Virgin Trains coexist? Page 15
Highland Beach defends water quality. Page 6