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Plan for South Federal Highway redevelopment moves forward

About 60 or so residents and business people attended Tuesday's meeting concerning Delray's proposed South Federal Highway Redevelopment Plan.

About 60 or so residents and business people attended Tuesday's meeting concerning Delray's proposed South Federal Highway Redevelopment Plan. Senior Planner Ron Hoggard, at the dias, presented the plan and answered questions.

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — The South Federal Highway redevelopment plan is a blend of incentives for development along the commercial corridor, with protections for adjacent residential neighborhoods.

So says its author, Delray Beach Senior Planner Ron Hoggard.

But some who live in those neighborhoods question whether the protections are enough while those with commercial interests fear the city could go too far and inhibit investment along the highway.

“If we keep pushing everything away, we’re going to end up with nothing,” said Andrew Parsons, owner of Del-Raton RV Park, speaking during a public meeting held Tuesday to review the proposed plan.

Zoning in the area along Federal Highway south of Linton Boulevard to the C 14 canal has been a hot-button issue in Delray since Wal-Mart proposed building a “boutique” store on the site of the former Ralph Buick car dealership several years ago. Resident of Tropic Isles, which sits directly behind the site, mobilized in protest of the project, and Wal-Mart withdrew its proposal.

More recently, the owners of the Old Harbor Office and Bank property at the southeast corner of Linton and Federal have rekindled concerns with their proposal to makeover the property. The fear is that a big-box store similar to Wal-Mart might move in, although that seems unlikely at this point.

The plan as currently drafted includes some zoning “fixes” for a some parcels in the South Federal Highway district so that they  conform to their surroundings. The fixes also would make it easier to develop the land.

Also, the plan would require commercial owners to include a 25-foot landscape buffer between their buildings and neighboring homes in certain cases. Larger building would have bigger set-back requirements — the distance between the building and the rear property line — to lessen the impact on the eye.

There’s also operating restrictions, including limits on business hours and times for rear building pickups and deliveries.

But the most controversial restriction was a proposed 50,000-square-foot maximum for any one store, which Planner Hoggard said would keep out the big-box stores that the residents fear — the store Wal-Mart wanted to construct would have been about 80,000 square feet — while providing some flexibility to attract some larger, national retailers.

But those in the audience weren’t so sure.

“Why not 50,000 on the west side and 30,000 on the east side?” Tropic Isles resident Kelli Freeman asked. Most of the residential neighborhoods that abut the Federal Highway corridor lie on the east side. The west side, which is dominated by large car dealerships, is bounded by Dixie Highway and railroad tracks.

Responded Hoggard: “The city commission can do whatever it wants. This is our recommendation.

“I might as well say ‘you guys write the plan.’”

Bob Wiebelt, owner of the Delray Plaza and a resident of Tropic Isles, urged that a balance be struck so that the corridor is attractive to retailers.

“You have to make it viable for somebody to come in there,” Wiebelt said.
The Delray Beach Planning and Zoning Board will hold a public hearing on the redevelopment plan on July 16. City commissioners are expected to consider the plan at their August 21 meeting.

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JULY 10, 2012 click to go home
 
         
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