West Palm City Commissioners Set To Vote On Downtown Rezoning Proposal
The West Palm Beach City Commission is set to take a final vote Monday on a proposed business district that would rezone part of the cityās downtown area.
The proposed Okeechobee Business District would change land-use rules in several blocks of the Okeechobee Boulevard corridor west of the cityās waterfront.
In particular, the district would allowĀ The Related CompaniesĀ to build a 25-story office building about 400 feet from the waterfront along Lakeview Drive, where current zoning limits building heights to five stories.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Palm Beach County and the Town of Palm Beach have criticized the proposed business district.
The city should delay a vote on the business district to study the districtās impact on traffic, according to Stacy Miller, a regional director of transportation development for FDOT.
The city hasnāt demonstrated āthe long-term adequacy of transportation facilities to meet established acceptable levels of service,ā Miller wrote in an Aug. 7 letter to the municipal development services director in West Palm Beach.
The state Department of Economic Opportunity, which would have to approve the Okeechobee Business District, recently told the city it doesnāt object to the proposed district, but warned the city that failing to respond to objections from other state agencies could subject the district to challenges in court.
The city hasnāt shown how the high-riseĀ Okeechobee Business DistrictĀ would benefit downtown West Palm Beach as a whole or surrounding areas, assistant county administrator Patrick Rutter wrote in an Aug. 3 letter to city officials.
West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio told the Palm Beach Post that the proposed business district drew ācommentsā from state agencies, ābut they were not objections.ā
Source: The Real Deal
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