Planning Commissioners Serving Developers In Palm Beach

This opinion piece from the Palm Beach Post accuses the county's planning commissioners of bowing to the desires of developers and showing little concern for the way the 'planned' land is to be used.

1 minute read

October 11, 2006, 12:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg


Palm Beach County, Florida, planning commissioners are being accused of approving "blanket densities" on two pending suburban development. Critics and opponents are saying that the commissioners are planning to allow the two developments -- though in completely different areas -- to have the same density layout.

"Commissioners say they want to be fair in deciding how much development happens. But they're not talking about being fair to the people who live there. Or to the people who will live there once developers build what they want. No, commissioners are trying to be fair to the developers. They believe that it's only fair that whatever one developer gets, all the developers should get."

"The problem is that good planning isn't based on fairness. A vacant property in the center of a bedroom community needs to be treated differently from a property on the fringe. But to commissioners, they're both citrus groves, right? They both want to develop, right? So, why not treat them the same?"

Tuesday, October 10, 2006 in Palm Beach Post

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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