Sustainability Should Mean a Long Term Commitment to Real Affordable Housing
Why our Community Landtrust has filed an appeal of the City of Lake Worth Beach development approval Last month the city commission voted 3-2 to approve the Deco Green project, a "planned unit development" (PUD) on a 2.29 acre lot on U.S.1 and 18th Ave North. Last week, we joined another resident who lives across from the proposed development in filing a legal challenge to reverse the approval and send the plan back through the public process for a firmer commitment to affordability and compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood. This effort reflects a central goal of why this land trust was founded. We believe sustainability should mean something. And our organization is owner and steward of two properties within 700 feet where residents would be impacted by the decision to build the Deco Green project. The land was zoned for 55 units, up to 30 feet high. Instead the developer pushed for an upzoning of more than double that, getting 127 units and 78 feet high, using what the City calls a "sustainability bonus." Members of the City's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and Planning & Zoning Board have argued that this bonus benefits the community by increasing housing availability, but it looks much more like a developer hand-out, designed to make investors more money and push current residents out in favor of wealthier ones. Without a real commitment from new development to ensure long term housing costs are within range of affordability with the surrounding community, it's gentrification, plain and simple. There's nothing sustainable about it. This is the process that has turned South Florida into "the nation's worst place to rent." Attorney Ryan Abrams, who is part of a legal team representing our nonprofit organization and local residents, has found that the approval is a violation of the city's code. On Friday September 17, he filed a writ of certiorari appealing the city's approval. Specifically, he said “Our analysis has revealed that the City did not observe the requirements in its Land Development Code when it approved the Deco Green planned development. This appeal seeks to have the City of Lake Worth Beach enforce its Code as written.” The city granted the sustainability bonus without facts in the record to meet the standards in the code meant to determine whether the applicant qualified for that bonus. Although residents voted in new city commissioners earlier this year, much of the planning and zoning staff and board members from the former commission remain, and they have continued advocating for this project. Four out of five of those commissioners were ousted in the election, in large part, for accommodating the interests of developers and investors over the current city residents and businesses. In a controversial 2019 visioning meeting, a majority of those commissioners called for a "demographic shift" targeting the working-class and immigrant communities, many of which have resided in Lake Worth neighborhoods for multiple generations. Local residents and community organizations showed up at the August 17 hearing after having canvassed neighbors and businesses. The overwhelming response was frustration, concern and lack of awareness about a major land use change. If this project moves forward, it will be a precedent for major density and height bonuses with little input from, or benefit to, the existing neighborhood. If our appeal is granted, we believe it will give additional space and time for the most impacted community to be engaged in the process, improving the outcome for all involved.
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