Volume 8 Issue 11
Serving Highland Beach and Coastal Boca Raton
November 2015
Boca Raton
Is Hillstone’s ending of Wildflower negotiations a strategy?
If not, what next?
By Steve Plunkett City leaders are waiting to see whether Hillstone Restaurant Group will reopen
negotiations on putting a restaurant on the Wildflower site or be replaced by a more eager rival. Hillstone, which already operates the Houston’s Restaurant west of Interstate 95 in the city, withdrew its proposal to develop a second
one at the city-owned parcel on the Intracoastal on Oct. 22, citing a demand from Boca Raton for what it said amounted to “several millions more” in rent. “I’ve been in business,” Councilman Scott Singer said at a workshop the following
Monday. “Sometimes when you get a letter saying we’re no longer negotiating, the next thing that happens is negotiations continue.” Councilman Michael Mullaugh agreed. “If there is no response (from us) and that was just a
negotiating ploy, we’ll hear from them. If they’re serious, (then it’s) goodbye,” Mullaugh said. “If there is some other restaurateur around Boca who is interested, they can’t possibly not know how to get to City Hall. They can find us, they can See WILDFLOWER on page 13
Lake Boca Raton crested over the sea wall and breached the Por La Mar neighborhood in Boca Raton. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
CHANGING TIDES Authorities grapple with seasonal flooding By Willie Howard
Late October’s extreme tides flooded parking lots and neighborhood roads from Boca Raton to Lantana, reinforcing the need for higher sea walls and other improvements that could hold back rising water in the future. Pushed higher by an Oct. 27 full moon that was close to the Earth in its orbit, tidewater
covered roads around marinas in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, flooded a Boca Raton neighborhood, inundated the parking lot at Lantana’s Sportsman’s Park and came bubbling up through storm drains along Ocean Avenue in Ocean Ridge. “It’s not something we can deny any longer,” Delray Beach Vice Mayor Shelly Petrolia said. “In See KING TIDES on page 22
FAU urban planning student Adam Chapman measures 8 to 10 inches of water on Southeast First Street in Delray Beach.
Along the Coast
Handmade thanks
Blankets add warm touch to military Honor Flight By Ron Hayes
Cynthia Smilovsky gives a blanket to World War II veteran John Mazzucco of Boca Raton before he left on an Honor Flight to Washington. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
At 3:45 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, two SUVs pulled out of Briny Breezes onto a dark and deserted North Ocean Avenue, bound for Fort Lauderdale International Airport. The Hyundai was driven by Marla Guzzardo, a former flight attendant who retired after 38 years with American Airlines. The Toyota RAV4 was piloted by Cynthia Smilovsky of Key Largo, also a former flight
attendant, also a veteran of 38 years with American Airlines. Flight attendants are trained to react in an emergency, and this was the final act in a crisis that began a month before. “I had just recently joined the Florida Keys Quilting Association,” Smilovsky explained, “and they put out a call for members to participate in an annual project.” Smilovsky thought it would be nice if the See BLANKETS on page 10
Inside
Boca Artists’ Guild turns 65
Fire district under review
Coastal towns rank firms that bid on feasibility study. Page 6 Determining turtle gender Sand moisture, not temperature, may play a role. Page 31
Group sells works at Delray gallery. Page AT1
Celebrating Canvas
The outdoors becomes the medium for this exhibition. Page AT9
Soup’s on
Boynton Soup Kitchen to deliver meals. Page H1