WEST PALM BEACH, Fl. — A member of a Miami-based consultant company heard complaints about the maintenance of West Palm Beach's waterfront at a public input session Saturday morning at Mandel Public Library.
It's the first public input session for possible development on the waterfront in downtown West Palm Beach. The consultant and city officials heard complaints about the process used to develop a private marina, which didn't succeed, in prior meetings.
The city of West Palm Beach hired a consultant company, called Street Plans, to help with short-term and long-term strategies to "activate" the city's waterfront. It hired the group after plans to develop a marina in downtown West Palm Beach, which would erase the public waterfront, were rejected by commissioners after public pressure.
Tony Garcia, who is the principal for Street Plans, said he wasn't automatically writing a report about creating a marina.
"This is not about a marina project," he said. "This is about what can be done with your public space along the waterfront."
People who attended the session talked about their negative feelings toward a marina. However, a majority spoke about maintaining the space better to attract more people to the area.
Keri, who said she lived downtown for eight years, said she's concerned about the maintenance of the area. She said it hasn't been successful and needs improvement if anything is added.
"The landscaping isn't maintained," Keri said. "The seats aren't maintained. They are broken. The sidewalks are broken. The gravel isn't level."
People also recommended adding shade to the area.
Teri, who also attended the meeting, wanted to ensure people could still use the space and walk along the waterfront. She said she's concerned the city is equating commercializing to progress.
"I'm not a total anti-development kind of person, but I think we really need to be careful and not confuse commercialization and business with progress. A lot of times progress is maintaining what you have especially when it's natural beauty."
According to records, the city of West Palm Beach received an unsolicited proposal for the land in June 2021 from a company called City Harbor, LLC based in Jupiter. It would turn public land into an 84-slip stretching from Clematis to Fern streets.
Emails, which WPTV received from a public records request, show officials within the city of West Palm Beach also discussed projects targeting locations like the Great Lawn and Banyan Garage.
City Harbor, LLC is owned and managed by J.C. Solomon II and Raymond Graziotto, according to its application to the city. The two own a management company called Seven Kings Management, Inc., which performs as a third-party management company for the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina.
Graziotto attended the session about two weeks ago. He declined an interview with WPTV.
People protested against the project because it took away space to perform activities near the water while others claimed the public didn't get an opportunity to provide input on the project. Commissioners rejected the plan after those protests, which were partly organized by the West Palm Beach Downtown Neighborhood Association.
Sitima Fowler, the president of the downtown neighborhood association, said she's concerned with the money required for the different levels of development proposed for the public waterfront. Fowler said she's asked for better maintenance, but was told the city doesn't have the money for proper maintenance.
“I was told we don’t have the budget," Fowler said. "I was also told the motivation of why the marina was coming is so we can get private money to beautify our waterfront.”
She said she's concerned the city would not have money for the recommendations consultants gave the city. Fowler also questioned the rationale for recommendations not being following in a consultant study called Shore to Core: Visions for the Waterfront in 2017.
Garcia, the consultant, said he might issue a report to follow the recommendations in the 2017 report.
