Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
January 2015
Along the Coast
JUST ONE
WORD: Florida’s environmental disaster hits the beaches
PLASTICS
Volunteers filled a plastic hardhat they found with drinking straws, fishing line and rope they picked up along the shore.
By Cheryl Blackerby Early on a beautiful Saturday morning, 59 people hit the beach at Ocean Inlet Park in Ocean Ridge; but this event, sponsored by the Sea Angels, was all business and not at all pleasurable. With buckets and hand-held grabbers, they picked up debris. The vast majority, it turned out, was plastic. After 2½ hours, they had collected a mound of plastic fishing line, nets, lures and bobbers. They’d filled a fivegallon container with plastic bottle caps, a bucket with Mylar balloons and another five-gallon jug with plastic straws. Yet another five-gallon container overflowed with cigarette butts, made of a plastic called cellulose acetate. The trash also included 12- and 20-gauge shotgun shells, plastic containers from the Bahamas and, on prior cleanups, a complete IV kit with syringe, that was traced back to New Jersey, and plastic medical waste from Haiti. It was the tip of the iceberg of the ocean’s plastic garbage, and it washes onto South Florida beaches with every wave. A week later, the plastic trash was back. Even Sea Angels organizers Robin and Mike Halasz agree trying to stay ahead is futile. “The primary purpose of the See TRASH on page 9
ABOVE: Sea Angels created a sculpture from garbage found along the shore. Photos provided LEFT: Volunteers scout Ocean Inlet Park for trash to clear. Jerry Lower/ The Coastal Star
COMING NEXT MONTH Plastics: The effect on Florida wildlife and what to do about it.
Volume 8 Issue 1
Tag-scan system may debut in 2015 By Rich Pollack Plans to install license plate recognition systems in several coastal communities along State Road A1A are moving forward, with local law enforcement officials exploring the possibility of having a shared database housed in Delray Beach. During a meeting last month in Ocean Ridge, residents and town leaders from several municipalities had an opportunity to hear about successes the Broward County community of Lighthouse Point is having with automatic license plate scanners and to raise concerns ranging from costs to privacy. While several local governments still need to give approval to plans to install cameras — and to fund the efforts — Ocean Ridge Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi believes some cameras might be installed along A1A before the end of 2015. At least one town, Highland Beach, has already budgeted money for licenseplate recognition cameras in its current budget. Yannuzzi, who has been leading a multi-agency team exploring the possibility of coastal communities working together to share costs associated with scanners, said there is a strong possibility the Delray Beach Police Department could house a database that would be shared by participating See TAGS on page 24
Lantana
Closing set, sisters say goodbye to local Cenacle
By Mary Thurwachter After five decades in Lantana, the Cenacle Sisters are saying farewell. The Catholic sisters have sold their prime waterfront property to developers for a high-end apartment
complex called Aura Seaside. Soon the chapel, meeting rooms and cottages on 10 acres stretching from the Intracoastal Waterway to Dixie Highway will be bulldozed. The labyrinth already has been dismantled and moved to another retreat center,
courtesy of the local Boy Scouts. It’s been a good run for the nuns, who have guided thousands of souls over the years. A lack of nuns and money forced See CENACLE on page 30
Sisters pose outside the original Florida Cenacle, in Manalapan. Courtesy of the North American Province of the Cenacle
Inside Marina parking Reaching heights Opinions divided on 30-story Boca condos. Page 13
Neighboring businesses oppose fee at Boynton garage. Page 26
Hotel updates
Area hotels are sporting swank renovations. Here’s a peek inside. Page AT1
Music
The Tedeschi Trucks Band plays the Sunshine Music & Blues Festival. Page AT11