February 2020
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Volume 13 Issue 2
Along the Coast
Fewer residents carrying flood insurance even as threats grow
Waves from boats’ wakes wash over a sea wall and stir up the Intracoastal Waterway in Delray Beach. The city said it would ask the state to consider rising sea levels in setting lower speeds. Some residents have built higher walls but are still concerned about potential property damage and want a no-wake zone. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
A wake-up call in Delray
Intracoastal residents want city to defy state to lower boat speeds By Jane Smith Palm Trail residents are asking Delray Beach city commissioners to take action against rising tides and seas and reduce boat speeds on the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway that runs beside their street. In the stretch between the bridges at George Bush Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue, slightly less than a mile, residents see weekend boaters zipping by. The speed boats kick up wakes, which crash into and over sea walls and
By Charles Elmore For all the headlines about rising seas, king tides and other climate threats, homeowners in most cities and towns across southeastern Palm Beach County stand less prepared than they were eight years earlier when it comes to flood coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program, records from the program show. Fewer folks have NFIP policies in nine municipalities in the region, compared to three cities with more. In Delray Beach, residents shed about 10% of NFIP policies between 2012 and 2019. Boynton Beach residents with policies dropped almost 30%. Policy counts fell more than 40% in Briny Breezes. After years of NFIP rate increases and added surcharges, some homeowners chose not to renew policies if, say, they were not required to carry flood coverage by a mortgage lender. Briny Breezes resident Linc Musto said he dropped flood insurance for about four years, but resumed coverage after Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in 2019, narrowly veering from Florida. “Seeing the widespread devastation in the Bahamas made me realize what we would have faced had its path brought it over to Briny,” said Musto, 85, who worked in the insurance business for more than 50 See FLOOD on page 14
See WAKE on page 13
Delray Beach
Timeshare owners fight sale of complex By Steve Plunkett The cozy 15-unit timeshare closed its doors the Saturday after New Year’s, employees were terminated, and security guards started patrolling the grounds pending the resort’s sale to a Pennsylvania-based developer. Owners of most of the 765 timeshare weeks at the Delray South Shore Club are no doubt looking forward to the estimated $16,078 payout for each week they owned at the beachside complex. But four owners, who collectively have seven
weeks, are continuing a legal battle to undo the 498-156 vote to sell the resort, alleging that they and fellow unit owners were duped by misleading information and “scare tactics” from the timeshare’s board of directors, maneuvers they say will lead to windfall profits for two directors who live nearby. “It’s frustrating for us knowing what is happening and being unable to educate the other owners as well as work through the slow legal system,” said Jacqui Derrick, one of the plaintiffs See TIMESHARE on page 12
Inside StorySlam
The Moth’s popular competition coming to Boca Raton. Page AT11
Soul soothing
Experiencing the calm of Morikami’s Zen garden. Page H1
Four owners are fighting the sale of the Delray South Shore Club, a timeshare that closed in January. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Delray tradition
Nina Raynor continues to sell classic couture in a new setting. Page AT1
Regulation of plastics deepens fight for home rule. Page 23
Judge says Shropshire can stay on Lantana ballot. Page 20