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Article Courtesy of The
Palm Beach Post
By Mike Diamond
Published October 18, 2021
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They went to County Commissioner Maria Sachs for help. She, in turn, arranged
for a meeting earlier this summer between the Coalition of Boynton West
Residential Associations (COBWRA) and County Engineer David Ricks. Sachs told
Ricks it was unfair to call on area residents to pay for the removal of the
utilities because the issue developed when county plans called for a wider bike
path, forcing the removal of utilities.
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In a memo dated Sept.
17, Ricks told Sachs that “design adjustments” were made
that will result in the utility equipment not having to be
removed. The right-turn lanes can remain in place, he added.
The widths of the medians at the entrances of each affected
community will be reduced.
“It should be noted that the reduction of the median widths
will require removal of some of the landscaping from the
medians in the areas close to each community entrance,”
Ricks said in his memo to Sachs. He was unavailable for
comment Tuesday.
The communities had been given a deadline of Sept. 30 to
tell the county whether they would agree to remove the
utility equipment or give up their right-turn lanes.
“We are all breathing a sigh of relief,” said COBWRA
President Beth Rappaport. “Our members were very concerned
with the deadline rapidly approaching.”
The affected developments – Canyon Isles, Canyon Springs,
Valencia Bay and Valencia Reserve – argued that they had
never anticipated such an expense when their communities
were built and that GL Homes, the builder, had left enough
room for the widening to occur. Also impacted was the Canyon
Town Center shopping plaza.
At Canyon Isles, the cost to relocate an
electrical box was $200,000. “We simply cannot budget for
such an unexpected expense,” HOA President Thomas Mullin
told The Post this year. |
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The Lyons Road widening project west of Delray will
run from the Bridges to West Atlantic Avenue.
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Sachs praised the county engineer for devising a solution that will prevent
the HOAs from being burdened with a significant financial impact.
Preliminary estimates had some communities paying as much as $400,000. Sachs
said staff worked very hard to devise a solution that should please
everyone.
Rappaport said she, indeed, was pleased.
“This would have been a significant hit to a number of our member
communities,” she noted.
But it may just be a matter of time before the Lyons Road communities face
the same situation. Eventually, Ricks noted in his memo that Lyons Road may
require widening to a six-lane roadway in the future, and, at that point,
each community will need to dedicate the necessary right-of-way easements to
the county, “including any and all utilities that may exist at that time.”
The good news is that a six-lane roadway may not be required for another 10
to 15 years. “It looks like we at least bought ourselves some time,” said
Rappaport.
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