Guest Blogger: Dystopian future for Lake Worth Beach

"So the museum plan is around half the cost of a new pool at the beach—the beach being something that overwhelmingly, the voters of Lake Worth wanted…..

But this museum and garage would be money wasted on something only those with extreme pretensions of being artistic would embrace, and it could never be aligned with what most voters believe is central to what Lake Worth should be.

This museum will be a ten-million-dollar hole in the downtown of Lake Worth;It will swallow up our free parking near the retailers we shop at and at the restaurants we used to enjoy visiting.

Without the Museum —— Lake worth had a Zen the way we could pull up to where we were going.

In this dystopian future that Betty Resch is serving up for our downtown —Lake Worth’s Downtown will be no more than a nasty dollar store version of downtown West Palm Beach.

I and many others will no longer go into downtown Lake Worth to dine—this is a solemn promise from me, and one I would ask thousands of other residents to make.

We will not eat at downtown Lake Worth restaurants, or shop at local merchants if this museum and parking garage is built.

I have avoided dining or shopping in downtown West Palm Beach because I WILL NOT PARK IN A PARKING GARAGE. This is a sickness of urban cesspools in most major cities.

We came to Lake Worth because it was not an Urban Cesspool, but here is Betty Resch, trying to make it a sewer. An artsy sewer.

 
There are still other places we can go, and this is a war that needs to be fought—it is a line in the sand that a misguided, if not corrupt mayor has forced us to draw in the sand…

While I may miss the downtown, I need to see this Museum plan bankrupt the city — and force a new governance to sweep away the trash that is causing this carnage. Let the retailers and restaurants chase her from the town and disparage her memory."

Guest Blogger,

Dan Volker

Lake Worth Beach

WMODA - Passed on First Reading

WMODA development disscused at Lake Worth Beach

WMODA protesters gather at Lake Worth Beach City Hall

Protesters representing opposition to the proposed WMODA museum project in the city gathered at City Hall in downtown Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on August 6, 2025

This item is a quasi-judicial hearing. The applicants, Sunshine Lake Worth Development LLC, the Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County (Cultural Council), are requesting approval of the following:

From the backup that staff previously approved:

 Mixed use urban planned development to construct a ± 32,283 square foot museum building with ancillary storage, café/retail space, and office space for the Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts (WMODA), a ± 136,831 square foot residential building (110 units) with 124 underground parking spaces and community art space, and an art walk/arts alley; and to vest a property owned by the Cultural Council and a property owned by the CRA for future development including affordable/workforce units.
 Development of Significant Impact to construct a mixed-use development over 100,00 square feet with more than 100 dwelling units.
 Major Site Plan to construct a mixed use development over 7,500 square feet
 Conditional Use Permit to establish a high-intensity (use area over 7,500 square feet) museum with ancillary fine arts storage, café, and retail space.
 Conditional Use Permit to establish a multi-family residential use over 7,500 square feet
 Sustainable Bonus Incentive Program (SBIP) for bonus density, intensity (FAR), and height
 Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for bonus density and intensity (FAR)
 Affordable/Workforce Housing Program (AWFH) for bonus density

First Reading passed by the City Commission regarding WMODA 4/0 (McVoy left the meeting earlier) based on the evidence presented.  As I heard it, I believe more residents were against the project although it was close.

Click to Watch on You Tube

"This is a real David and Goliath situation"

Not all of Lake Worth Beach loves WMODA

Developer spends $6,000 to counter opposition's 'disinformation campaign'

"SINCE ITS PUBLIC unveiling in February 2024, the Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts proposal for a mixed-use “cultural arts campus” in the heart of downtown Lake Worth Beach has basked in a virtual love fest from a camp of ardent supporters.

Made up of many of the same influential residents, power brokers and elected officials who supported the Gulfstream Hotel renovation and other pro-business city projects, they want WMODA NOW — a rallying cry amplified online, at public meetings, and on yard and shop window signs.

But over the past two months, a much less enthusiastic message has slowly gained traction, a rallying cry sounding an urgent alarm: STOP WMODA.

Made up of many of the same residents known for raising questions about how city leaders spend public money, the STOP WMODA movement is dubious of Brooklyn-based developer Arthur Wiener’s promise of a 33,000-square-foot “world class” museum on Lake Avenue, with a rear “arts alley” connecting a 110-unit apartment building and 265-space public parking garage.

The WMODA development team has spent about $1.1 million so far on architects, attorneys and consultants to usher the project through the city’s planning review process, said project representative Renee Miller.

Separate from that, WMODA spent about $6,000 earlier this year to hire two marketing consultants to counter what Miller described as “a professional disinformation campaign” being waged by the STOP movement.

Read article by Joe Capozzi

Development Crowd Striking Again

The "FOR" Development crowd

Not all of Lake Worth Beach loves WMODA: Developer spends $6,000 to counter opposition's 'disinformation campaign'

Excerpt from Joe Capozzi's article

"Though WMODA’s rebuttals have been endorsed by the city, project opponents insist their concerns are backed by information in the development agreement, the public private partnership agreement and other public records.

Opponents say they’re just trying to protect taxpayers and promote a better quality of downtown development.

“This is a real David and Goliath situation,’’ said Kim Stokes, who lost a city commission reelection bid in 2024 to Commissioner Mimi May, a WMODA supporter.

“We don't have the money, we don't have the marketing, we don't have the professionals,’’ Stokes said. “We are up against an established professional large-scale development group with access to lots of funds who is willing to attack anyone who expresses concern.’’

Those attacks have extended to the dais where opponents say Mayor Betty Resch and Commissioner Sarah Malega have sought to silence Commissioner Chris McVoy, a vocal WMODA critic, at times leading to tense public clashes.

McVoy has been the loudest, and for the past month, the only voice of WMODA dissent on the commission. A majority — Resch, Malega and May — has embraced the project and its promises of long-term economic benefits, including $7 million in taxes paid by the museum and apartments over the first 10 years and millions in revenue from downtown visitors.

The CRA donated to WMODA 1.78 acres of prime downtown land worth $3.3 million (an amount opponents say is higher).

Read Joe's article

Our city has always been prime for developers and we, once again, have a city commission that loves development--parking garage, this project,  and there are even eyes on our golf course. They can't even find the money to clean our sidewalks or repair garbage trucks.