On Wednesday, May 3, the Palm Beach County Commission may vote to destroy the Agricultural Reserve, an area that was preserved by a vote of the county. GL Homes wants to swap this valuable conservation land for land outside of the Agricultural Reserve that’s already protected and does not need further protection.
The Ag Reserve is active farmland between Hypoluxo Road and Atlantic Avenue. It has maintained this status with zoning that prevents development. This is based upon the existing comprehensive plan that requires preservation of 60% of land as conservation or agriculture for any development. This rule change would permit conservation easements from outside the Ag Reserve into the Reserve to permit new development. This will undo all the existing protections.
We need to save these areas. They provide farm to table vegetables. They provide long term employment. They reduce flooding. These lands are essential to saving us from flooding during serious storms. Our county depends upon saving these lands.
Contact your commissioners and ask them to vote no on the GL land swap.
Drew Martin, Lake Worth Beach
The writer is Conservation Chair of the Loxahatchee Group, Sierra Club
Just say no to GL Homes
GL Homes is promising 100 acres of parks with walking, jogging, and equestrian trails and ball fields. All Palm Beach County has to do is turn over thousands of acres of the Agricultural Reserve so it can build multimillion dollar mansions for out-of-state millionaires.
Palm Beach County is wealthy and could build those parks itself without sacrificing the Ag Reserve which county voters paid for to preserve the agricultural nature of this area. In the last election, six less wealthy counties (Alachua, Brevard, Indian River, Nassau, Pasco, and Polk) voted to pay higher taxes to save undeveloped land.
What has Palm Beach County done to preserve our undeveloped land? They appear on the verge of destroying it.
The county can use its cash revenues or issue bonds to build these parks, and perhaps tax some of the super-wealthy who inhabit this area. GL Homes is a proven bad actor, a kingpin that undermines workforce housing in the county. Do they deserve to destroy the Ag Reserve, given their rapacious behavior? No. Let’s see if county commissioners have the spine to say no to them.
Bruce Rocheleau, Delray Beach
How we cause inflation
As I drink my coffee at Starbucks and listen to patrons whining about “Biden’s inflation” while bragging about how they increased rental income on their properties by over 30%, added fees to their professional billings, reduced portion size and increased prices on their menus, a thought occurs to me: We citizens may be the biggest cause of inflation.
In fact, 42% of all rental units in South Florida are owned by “Mom and Pop” investors who jubilantly raised rents on their tenants by hundreds of dollars per month (32%) in the past two years. Many small businesses tacked on “fuel surcharges” and fees for all forms of delivery and repairs that will remain in perpetuity regardless of fuel costs, even when inflation eases. The truth is, business owners increased prices on anything and everything.
So it should be no surprise that inflation has actually been a boon to some. Next time you place an order for $300 running shoes or order a new car, feel blessed in all your abundance and leave the whining at home.
Peter Beshouri, Fort Lauderdale
Godliness can defeat guns
Four teens were killed and 28 injured at a birthday party in Alabama on April 15. Five were killed and eight injured by a shooter in Louisville.
These tragic deaths are a daily reality. Would banning guns stop more killing? It is naïve to think so because those bent on killing people will find a way to get them. More than 40% of weapons are bought on the black market. The way to stop gun violence and crime is to “train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6).
Children need to be taught how to have God in their lives. When that happens, they will not do evil things. In like manner, evil will always fill godless hearts. When people are filled with His love, grace and mercy, there is no room for evil.
Jim Black, Fort Lauderdale
