Oceanwalk Restaurant at the Lake Worth Casino

Benny’s on the Beach seeking $50,000 rent waiver from LWB during Oceanwalk renovation closure

BENNY’S ON THE BEACH is planning about $400,000 in renovations to its Oceanwalk restaurant at the Lake Worth Beach Casino complex, work that will close the restaurant from Labor Day until mid to late October, interim City Manager Jamie Brown said.

The restaurant is asking city officials to waive two months of Oceanwalk’s lease payments, roughly $50,000, “since they will be closed and have no revenue coming in,’’ he said.

When Brown mentioned the rent-waiver request at a pre-agenda work session June 27, a majority of city commissioners voiced support for approving it:

• “Benny’s brings so much. They're like our big attraction. I would allow that to happen as a courtesy,’’ Mayor Betty Resch said.
• “This business is a good city partner,’’ said Vice Mayor Sarah Malega. “They have a good track record. I think that’s a good return on investment.’’
• Commissioner Chris McVoy indicated he would vote against the request when it’s formally presented to the commission later this summer.
• Commissioner Mimi May said she would support the request if it’s limited to a specific timeframe.

Although there was no quote from Commissioner Anthony Segrich, Commissioner McVoy confirmed that he was the only one who voted "no."

Read Joe Capozzi's article

An Eyesore and a Privileged Boat Owner

When it comes right down to it, many people get away with just about anything in this city. Gee officer, I have no where to park my boat...gee whiz--can I get a waiver? Well, why the hell not. And his car was parked on the lawn.

This particular property is on Akron Street. The trailer touches the road.  The boat is bigger than the house. But it seems they got an approval from the City of Lake Worth.

FROM THE CITY:
Good afternoon Lynn, 128 Akron was approved. We currently have 8 approved Administrative approvals for Boats/RVs to be parked in the front yard. They are:

*    1226 15th Ave North
*    1715 N. Lakeside Drive
*    1614 N J Street
*    1026 N J Street
*    110 Wellesley Drive
*    525 N Palmway
*    181 Duke Drive
*    128 Akron Street store the boat in the front yard.


Bobby Hicks
Community Code Inspector| Community Sustainability Department

Tighten Up Visas to U.S.

Numbers USA reports:

The House Republican Leadership has announced plans to bring a Visa Waiver bill to the floor introduced by Rep. Candace Miller (R-Mich.) that would make it more difficult for potential terrorists to enter the United States.

But simply tightening up the Visa Waiver Program isn't enough, which is why we're still pushing for Congress to include Rep. Brian Babin's (R-Texas) H.R.3314 into the must-pass, spending bill. Rep. Babin's bill would suspend the Refugee Resettlement program until the Government Accountability Office could study its impacts on local communities and require Congressional approval before being restarted.

We're also advocating for the funds that would be used to resettle refugees in the United States to be redirected to helping them closer to their homelands. According to a recent study from the Center for Immigration Studies examining the costs to resettle refugees from the Middle East, the United States could help 12 stay closer to their homes for approximately the same cost to resettle one in the U.S.

The Visa Wavier Program was created by the 1986 amnesty law and allows foreign citizens from 38 countries to visit the United States for up to 90 days without a visa. A country must meet certain requirements, including a low visa refusal rate. Visas are refused to individuals who are perceived to likely overstay their visa. But since the United States doesn't have a biometric entry-exit system in place, it's impossible for the feds to have reliable data on overstays.

Rep. Miller's bill would require that most foreign citizens with a passport from a visa waiver country go through the normal visa application process if they've recently visited, or are from, Syria, Iraq or a country that DHS has designated to have terrorist links. The bill would also require that the Visa Waiver country have an electronic, machine-readable, and fraud-proof passport along with full awareness of their borders.

Again, the Miller bill addresses some of our concerns with the Visa Waiver Program, but still falls short of addressing the bigger problem with the refugee resettlement program. This appears to be just another attempt by Congress to distract attention from the bigger issue.

If you haven't sent the fax urging your Members of Congress to include the Babin bill in the upcoming spending bill, please do so today....Read about the billClick here

Waivers for Pavers

Comment Up

A lot of people do it--asking the city for waivers to "do their own thing."  This happens all of the time.  Rules are made to be "broken" or definitely flexible.  You give a waiver to one person; you give the same sort of waiver to everyone who follows that should ask, otherwise the city opens itself up to a law suit of which they are deathly afraid.

Per the City Code, Section 19-26(d), all driveway approaches and walkways are to be constructed of six inch concrete unless a variance stating otherwise is allowed by the Building Official which has been provided in the case that comes before the commission tomorrow night. Based on the requirements, Public Services Staff does not recommend approval of pavers because it is not financially beneficial to the City due to the required maintenance over the life of the paver section.

On the consent agenda is a property owner asking for a Variance.  The city will sign an Agreement with Michael Paul Lewis to allow brick pavers on a driveway, walkway and City right-of-way at 516 North L Street.

This house at 728 N. Lakeside recently was given a waiver for the exact same thing. What happens when the curb crumbles?  Will he run to commissioner Szerdi for help?