Lynn Humphrey’s husband, Gary, struggling to cope with dementia, fell about a year ago in their Boca Flores condominium unit. Her daughter and son-in-law, who live nearby, rushed over to help but there was a problem: The flooded road into their community, as it often is, was impassable.

Even a light rain can cause flooding. It was so bad that night that Humphrey's daughter could not make it into the complex. Lynn eventually had to call Fire Rescue. “Never in a million years did I think I moved into a development where the entrance road would be constantly flooded. The problem of how often this road becomes impassable is an issue for every resident of Boca Flores,” she told county commissioners during a recent public meeting. “I don’t want to have someone else go through what I did.” The 40-year-old road, Vista Del Lago, is the access road to the 120-unit Boca Flores development. Vista Del Lago used to be a county road, but PulteGroup, the developer, worked out a deal with the county in January 2018 to abandon the road and place the maintenance responsibility for it with Boca Flores. The complex is west of Boca Raton. Vista Del Lago connects to a major county north-south highway — Lyons Road. The condo association, now controlled by residents living there, has sued the county, calling for it to take back the road. The owners are facing a repair bill of $1.2 million or about $12,000 each if they are forced to make repairs themselves. If the cost is spread out among all county taxpayers, the per unit cost would be less than $2.

Vista Del Lago, west of Boca Raton, often floods. It is the only way in and out of Boca Flores, a 120-unit condo community. The owners want the county to take back control of the road.

 

When the road was abandoned or given up by the county in 2018, not a single condo at Boca Flores had been bought. Construction had not even begun. According to Phil Suder, president of the Boca Flores Condo Association, the association has learned that PulteGroup initially wanted to directly place the road with the condo association but state law blocked it from doing so. It then created the Vista Del Lago at Boca Flores Homeowners Association, Inc. to take possession of the road.

 

It was a shell entity whose sole purpose was to hold the road, Suder told The Post. And the association has raised a legal argument with the court alleging that the abandonment was illegal. The only members of the homeowners association are the owners of the condos at Boca Flores. “Let’s face it,” Steve Landy, one of the residents, told commissioners. “We got screwed. This mistake needs to be corrected.” Suder said he and other board members first became aware that they had been stuck with the road after Pulte turned over control of the community to the residents of Boca Flores. Studer said the 280-plus pages of documents took some time to review but there was one paragraph in those documents referring to the road. Road has a litany of issues: Potholes, no storm drains, swales or sidewalks As for the condition of the road that the county turned over to Boca Flores, it is full of potholes, asphalt is missing. There are no storm drains, swales or sidewalks. More than half the community attended a county commission meeting on Oct. 8 pleading with the county to “do the right thing” and take back Vista Del Lago.

Vista Del Lago is the only road in and out of Boca Flores, a community west of Boca Raton. It often floods, Boca Flores wants the county to take back the road that needs more than $1.2 million worth of improvements.

 

Other entities use the road as well, including Fire Rescue station #57, another community, Pines of Boca Lago, a real estate office and a tennis academy. Only Boca Flores, though, is responsible for its maintenance.

 

Suder, president of the association, blasted the county for allowing PulteGroup to abandon the road.

“You (the county) wanted to get rid of a 40-year-old roadway that was well beyond its useful life to avoid the significant costs of improving and maintaining it. You favored the interests of the developer over its citizens. You failed us miserably.”

Neil Bira, too ill to attend the Oct. 8 meeting, wrote a letter to county commissioners explaining that he is suffering from kidney function issues. He said his wife wants to take him to the nearby Fire Rescue station before the road floods so he can wait there to avoid the risk of first-responders not being able to arrive at his home.

"Access in and out of Boca Flores is an absolute must for me," he said. "I stress out each time it rains because of the flooding issues."

Why would Pulte stick its condo buyers with a road that needed so many repairs?

Suder said the move helped the builder gain county approval for its development and obtain the support of the neighboring community — Pines of Boca Lago — which needed to sell the Boca Flores land that it owned to Pulte.

County mayor says government will work with Boca Flores to address the flooding issues

At least two county commissioners sympathized with residents. Both Sara Baxter and Mack Bernard were about to speak out in support of them when County Mayor Maria Sachs said it would be inappropriate to comment while the county is being sued. She said she overruled county lawyers who had urged not to let the residents speak. Then Sachs went ahead and spoke,

“We want to fix this," Sachs said. "We will be involved with counsel to make sure this wrong is made right. We were not here when this happened. We heard you. Your emotions are heartfelt. I had tears in my eyes listening to some of you. We will try to find a speedy end to this.”

County Attorney Denise Coffman said a public forum was not the place to resolve lawsuits.

“What is going to happen is everyone who sues us will attempt to do this,” she said. “They (Boca Flores) sued us. We did not sue them.”

Neil Schiller, a lawyer with West Palm Beach-based Government Law Group, represents Boca Flores. He acknowledged to county commissioners that the request to take the road back may break precedent but noted:

“This is very unusual and unique situation. We need a solution to stop these people from worrying that their car is going to get caught in a flood or that hitting a pothole is going to damage their cars.”

A spokeswoman for PulteGroup declined to comment on the claims made by the homeowners.