The Easy Way Out

We are closer than ever before to have Palm Beach County control our beach. All along I said that Commissioner Jennings was the one to bring this one home as far as retaining decal parking; she did.

The City Manager along with Commissioner Jennings and Kimley-Horn met with Commissioner Vana and County Staff on September 17. It appears that the County is amenable to 628 parking spaces with 55 of those spaces being Lake Worth resident decal spots. They are requiring another traffic study to be conducted in 7 to 10 years at our expense in order to determine that there is enough public access and whether additional parking would be required to meet the growing County need for public access to our (their) beach.

The County was concerned about the “improvements” to the upper dune; (DON'T BLAME THEM THERE) they were also concerned about equal access for county residents; they want the project to move forward quickly and have suggested it be completed within 3 years and the City of Lake Worth maintain the improvements for 30 years at which time their control will cease.

So, for approximately $167,000 a year for 30 years, we will be under the thumb of Palm Beach County. It seems to me that we could have structured our own "deal" and kept total control of our beachfront property.