December 2012
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Delray Beach
Packed meeting sends plaza planners back to density drawing board By Tim Pallesen Atlantic Plaza II developers will cut back their proposed density after hitting a wave of protest from residents in eastern Delray Beach. “We’ll try to come back with something less dense,” developer Jeff Edwards promised after a marathon Nov. 13 public hearing where the Beach Property Owners Association joined opposition to the multi-use project on Atlantic Avenue east of Federal Highway. Atlantic Plaza II was seeking city approval for 442 apartments and condos, 79,000 square feet of office space and 80,000 square feet of retail space. The City Commission will review a scaled-down proposal when Edwards returns on Dec. 4. Coastal residents joined homeowners living north and south of the proposed $200 million project to voice concern about an increase in traffic congestion on East Atlantic Avenue. “This will affect traffic on the Atlantic Avenue Bridge,” Beach Property Owners vice See ATLANTIC PLAZA on page 6
Volume 5 Issue 12
Manalapan
HOW THE SEAWALLS FAILED
Oceanfront residents assess storm damage By Tim O’Meilia
BEFORE
Typical seawalls are made of sheet metal pounded into the sand, capped with concrete and cabled to large concrete blocks called deadman
Medical supply entrepreneur David Lumia and his wife, Margaret, were in their Manalapan carriage house on the west side of State Road A1A when Hurricane Sandy blustered north just offshore in late October, pushing surge after surge of waves landward at the worst possible time — during autumnal high tides just before a full moon. “We felt seismic activity. The land was moving,” Lumia said. “What was that?” his wife asked. “Waves,” he answered. Across A1A, where his oceanfront home was being renovated, the seawall had collapsed. His back lawn slid down beyond the wall in sheets. The asphalt driveway fell away in giant, cookie-shaped bites. The story was the same — and worse — up and down the mile-plus stretch of A1A between Chillingworth Curve and the old Vanderbilt estate.
DURING
Days of extreme high tides and pounding waves overtopped the seawall, creating hydrostatic pressure behind the metal
AFTER
Retreating waves pulled the seawall east into the ocean, leaving destruction in its wake
Source: Jonathan Armbruster, Taylor Engineering
Bonnie Lallky-Seibert/The Coastal Star
See SEAWALLS on page 17
LOVING CARE
Injured turtle returns to the sea By Ron Hayes
A crowd of well-wishers gathers to watch Ryan Butts release Cindy in the Atlantic Ocean. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Inside
It’s for the birds Delray says ‘so long’ to manager David Harden retires after 22 years of leading the community. Page 12
Hen houses, heels and more
See what’s going on throughout the area in Around Town
Read about some of Florida’s more colorful snowbirds. Home, Health & Harmony
A lifeline for area reefs County’s 28 new mooring buoys help protect coastal reefs. Page 23
Giving the turtle a name was easy. Giving her back to the sea took months. On July 28, a loggerhead turtle arrived at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center without a name, without a left flipper, without much chance of surviving. Two fishermen had brought her to the city marina in Pompano Beach that Saturday night. A shark had taken the left front flipper. Her right flipper was nearly severed and, judging by the teeth marks, her head had been in the shark’s mouth. “Sea turtles are usually only attacked if they’re already sick or injured,” explained Ryan Butts, the center’s turtle rehabilitation coordinator. “They float when they’re sick or See CINDY on page 11
Holiday Gift Guide
This year, shop for gifts that give back.
Holiday happenings
Your guide to events, Pages AT18-19