In measuring the rhetoric, we have been asking ourselves of late, "How nuts is North Korea?" But "nuts" is a little closer to home. Perhaps it is simply anxiety and the frustration that Lake Worth is not better than it could be.
Last night, one of the biggest concerns of Maxwell and Triolo was, "How come Lake Worth is not getting any development? The mayor asks the question again for the record, "How many development projects have we had in the past two years?" We have heard this repeatedly especially during the heights referendum with that side of politics blaming those who wanted to limit heights in our downtown for the lack of development overall. The blame had to go somewhere. Politicians are good at that.
The NUT factor comes into play when you have some commissioners who are only interested in what other towns are doing in comparison to ours. They have asked staff to spend valuable time going through the research on city comparisons. Why are they getting development and Lake Worth is not, they ask Even when William Waters told them that he and his department are crafting a code unique to Lake Worth by saying, "Lake Worth is on the cutting edge," it didn't sink in. You have to have the staff in place. We finally have that.
We have been working on the Land Development Regulations, Comprehensive Plan and Zoning since 2005 that were stalled due to staff changes, memory lapses, planning and zoning politics and legal issues. Under Susan Stanton, we hired William Waters, someone who actually can lead and has the expertise to develop rules that will allow Lake Worth to get out of the pits. Waters explained the land-use regulations which should negate any city-wide referendum on heights. Tall buildings simply can't be built in the neighborhoods.
One concern has been the number of affordable housing stock in Lake Worth that has allowed a disproportionate amount of rentals...over 60%. Investors came into Lake Worth and rented out their places for the cost of their mortgage, insurance and taxes hoping that the value would go up. Many got caught in the mortgage debacle of several years ago. Many walked away and the slum and blight situation just got worse. Many absentee landlords rent to anyone who will pay. Many of them are out-of-town owners who have no clue as to what is going on at their property and don't care. This has lead to the rapid decay of our neighborhoods especially during the influx of illegal migration into our city. Illegal immigrants come from a different culture and with this culture, much of our housing "is pretty crappy," per Waters. No matter the number of code enforcement officers, no number would ever be able to keep up with the blighted properties in our city caused by these absentee property owners/investors.
Our housing stock is old, but even older houses can be maintained. People do not have to have brand new affordable housing as Amoroso said. This mindset is directly related to his former membership on the CRA board which has brought bad development to Lake Worth and every bit of it "affordable" that has ended up empty and/or foreclosed. Now this commission has approved affordable rentals on the railroad tracks. If commissioners want to know what happened to Lake Worth, they need to look at the CRA, the mortgage crisis, the number of affordable housing units and to themselves.
The discussion on three new historic districts was pulled from the Agenda and will come back at a future time. The city has a while to wait until all the rules and regulations are finally formulated. This is expected in the fall of this year.
6 comments:
Good question, mayor. Why doesn't Lake Worth have hundreds of empty condos like WPB and Boynton? We feel left out of the condo glut. The mayor would like to get in on that fiasco.
Heard that the hotel district is no more. Probably because the hotel district was just a political ploy that didn't work. On to the next political ploy. What a joke. This commission is a joke. They have not accomplished one thing but to take credit for the prior commission's achievements, give away millions to a crooked developer, and treat the voters with contempt. Nice job.
The high cost of our utilities has got to be addressed before any discussion on heights even makes sense Who would want to develop in L.K Worth when commercial rates are 42% higher than FPL.
You guys seem to know so much over here. There was an article in the Palm Beach Post recently detailing how since the economy is rebounding new businesses and restaurants were looking to open new establishments.
They were looking at every city in central Palm Beach County except Lake Worth.
This blog has been proclaiming "our low rise charming downtown". You most certainly have done your research and I'm sure you have all the data to explain why not one single business is looking to move to our charming low rise city.
Here's your chance to use all that scientific data you've collected to prove your point about the downtown. Unless of course your campaign was based on emotion and not facts. Give It a try anyway we'd love to hear your explanation.
I think you should start attending meetings and figuring out the facts, anonymous. Don't you read what I write? Or do you just accept everything Frank and Wes and the vocal dozen tells you is fact? Don't bother coming here and taking pot shots. Thanks.
What restaurant space is available in downtown Lake Worth? Maybe that's why they don't come here.
Here's a scientific fact: we don't have any freaking parking.
The campaign is over. Swallow your bitter little pill and get on with your life.
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