PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A controversial and unique deal to build homes in the Agricultural Reserve west of Boca Raton has cleared a hurdle with Palm Beach County commissioners.
The vote was 5-2 to approve the land swap with GL Homes, which is looking to build 1,000 homes on the reserve, located along U.S. Route 441 north of Clint Moore Road.
The approval comes in exchange for building a water resource project in The Acreage.
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"I know that water is important and water is life, and this is a risk we are taking," Palm Beach County Commissioner Mack Bernard, who supported the measure, said.
"Any private entity that controls our water controls us," Commissioner Maria Sachs countered, who didn't support the measure. "We cannot have that as a government."
Residents who live along the current developments on U.S. Route 441 weighed in on the issue.
"It's obviously a concern for all of us. (US) 441 already gets pretty clogged up," resident Heather Baum said. "If we would see plans that showed a little more thought as to how they're going to manage that, I think we'd feel a little more at ease."
Others seemed to like the idea of more development coming to the area.
"I think it's great, anything to enhance the neighborhood," Carol Ann Petrungaro said. "New construction is always popular."
