Harry F. Borders wanted this public right-of-way at 1501 North 'L' Street and paid $250.00 to the City of Lake Worth for a 20 year Revocable Permit for what he and apparently the city agrees is "an abandoned street." And when certain people want something, they usually get it. He spoke before the commission on March 4 and so did former commissioner, Nadine Burns, who never revealed her connection to the property, in support of Mr. Borders.
The property has an interesting history (particularly years 2005 and 2006 and 2012) that was not revealed at this public meeting:
AUG-2012* $89,000* 25431 / 0636* WARRANTY DEED* BORDERS HARRY F
FEB-2012* $10* 25158 / 1601* QUIT CLAIM* BURNS NADINE R
FEB-2006* $110,000* 19912 / 1954* WARRANTY DEED * PRIVEE DENNIS J JR
SEP-2005* $230,000* 19202 / 1708* WARRANTY DEED* BURNS NADINE R
JUN-2000* $89,000* 11867 / 0229* WARRANTY DEED* PENOVI A
Mr. Borders owns six properties in Palm Beach County and NONE of them are homesteaded. He said his son lives here (did anyone check this out?) and he wants extra parking and wants to plant a little vegetable garden. The City says he can only plant small shrubs with no deep root structure. Mr. Borders is in real estate and property management and has lots of connections, one noted above in the history of this property. Andy Amoroso said that by giving Mr. Borders this property, it is a "win, win." How is giving public property away a "win?"
It pays to have friends in high places. The give-away of land owned by the resident taxpayers of this city is a form of corruption. It has happened for years and the city by its silence has allowed property owners to grab city owned land and use it as their own. The commissioners are voting on transferring legal rights to a private citizen on land that belongs to the people. It doesn't matter if the contract is for decades or permanently.
This right-of-way was taken over years ago and happening all over the city. This was originally put on Consent Agenda (mistake or just the city pushing something through once again?) but moved to New Business. It will be back in front of the commission on March 18 under Public Hearings. Every commissioner voted for it.
This could very likely put a damper on the Nancy Shepherd case that has been going on since November 2009 when the Shepherd's filed suit against the City of Lake Worth to "steal" the pocket park right-of-way next to their property. This right-of-way-goes all the way up to the Intracoastal Waterway. The last docket entry was in October 2013 when the Shepherds served the City with a second request for admissions. No action by our city that likes to settle everything. Are they just allowing this case to die?
Shepherd case
Public Right-of-Way adjacent to 1902 Notre Dame Drive
7 comments:
You are right Lynn, these rights of way are for the public. And they are also a good way to keep the homeless from our city center and Bryant park.
We should move the homeless to our pocket parks. The city should maintain all the pocket parks in the same manner as they do for all other parks in our city. The pocket parks along the intracoastal will provide areas to watch the sunset and fish. Maps are needed to show people where these pocket parks are located.
Lynn, are those squirrels on the right or are they rats?
We are not a city that can afford to give away anything at this point. The pocket parks are extremely important as these are highly valuable waterfront access. No the folks living next door cannot have them. Sheesh, you want more parking, then maybe lease the property from the City but again we are too deep in the hole to be giving anything away. Its crazy that this City with its dire financial status likes to give hand outs left and right.
You do realize that these "parks" are abandoned right of ways that the city will never build/develop or maintain. They were plotted therefore are not able to be sold, however since they are of little to no use to the city, the city does nothing to maintain them. Meanwhile they have been useful to vagrants, illegal dumping and homeless living. Neighbors and those who live next to these properties are the ones that get to deal with those issues daily. A solution is for the city to lease these areas to neighboring homeowners who will not be permitted to build on it, but will legally be permitted to help maintain these areas to prevent the problems mentioned before from reoccurring in their neighborhoods. The one instance of access to the waterfront is a joke at best.. there is no proper foot path and once you walk in a straight line to the water, you can not veer 5 feet to left or right because you will then indeed be on private property. If you want to view the waterfront, make use of the Bryant Park in Lake Worth.
Meanwhile they have been useful to vagrants, illegal dumping and homeless living
PROVE IT.
Prove it?? Drive through Lake Worth and you will see it, go to city and ask for a map of where reported illegal dumping has been. I am sorry I did not take pictures of the illegal dumping in the abandoned right of way on my block before it was cleaned up. Ask the homeless that congregate in the city's downtown where they camp out at night? I am sure they can direct you to their favorite abandoned city right of ways.
Well, if this is true, It is another reason why we need to clean-up this homeless problem in our city. It is out of hand. I have no idea where the homeless sleep at night but the city should know this and so should the sheriff. Neither one is doing anything much to solve this and it's never discussed at city hall meetings.
It is, however, not a good reason to turn over public land in order to solve a vagrant problem. If that were the case, we wouldn't have a park or the Cultural Plaza.
There are property owners who live adjacent to public rights-of-way and I would say most all of them want the land. Because the city does a lousy job of maintaining anything it owns, is again, not a good reason to "abandon" it and turn it over to private property owners.
The city needs to do a much better job. But you have a different mindset on the dais now as evident by what Amoroso said. it is not a "win, win." All it is --a loss of public rights-of-way. This is city land and the commission should not have the authority to lease it away.
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