Build a high-rise Manhattan-style skyline of 25-story residential and office towers, then place it over a low-rise Copenhagen-modeled transportation network of narrow roads, reduced street parking, enhanced sidewalks and bike lanes with more trolleys, and the end result is the downtown vision of the future for the City of West Palm Beach.
Many residents of West Palm Beach don't share the city's vision. They fear the city's pending downtown development and mobility plans ignore many realities and inconvenient truths concerning commuting patterns, demographics, climatic issues and lifestyle choices. Their two main concerns are overdevelopment and traffic gridlock.
After a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, Mayor Jeri Muoio hired the Danish Gehl Studio in 2016 to design a series of pilot projects for the city. The services of Alta Planning and Design was then contracted to draft a "Mobility Study" for the downtown.
The city also completed a downtown parking study and citywide bicycle routing grid. In combination these studies formed the blueprint for the city's future development strategy. The Mobility Plan was approved May 21 by the City Commission.
The cornerstone of the city's downtown redevelopment is the planned creation of a "Okeechobee Business District" surrounding the most congested corridor in West Palm Beach - Okeechobee Boulevard. It includes a 25-story office tower, wedged in behind the historic First Church of Christ Scientist, proposed by the Related Companies.
After negative public reaction, the City Commission rejected the project by a 3-2 vote in 2017. However, in the City of West Palm Beach, development projects seldom die a permanent death, they are just revised. With new elections come new opportunities for developers and city planners.
In her May 12 "Insider" newsletter, Mayor Muoio advocated for the approval of the Mobility Study recommendations, and "asked city staff to explore reviving the creation of the Okeechobee Business Disrict to better regulate development patterns and transportation demand."
Just three days later, the West Palm Beach Planning Board narrowly passed the city's staff recommendation, 3-2, to create the new downtown business district. The OBD proposal once again advanced to the City Commission for final approval.
At its June 18 meeting, the City Commission reversed its 2017 decision and approved the OBD, 5-0, on first reading.*
The mayor's stated goal is "by creating a downtown where people live and work we would take cars off the road in our city and, thus, reduce vehicular congestion."
It is a noble quest, but when it comes to downtown development, the devil is always in the lobbyist's details. Here are the inconvenient truths city planners have yet to address and resolve:
Inconvenient Truth No. 1: Better Mass Transit Needed
Urban centers like New York and Copenhagen have efficient underground subway systems to transport workers and customers throughout their cities from outlying communities. West Palm Beach lacks this service, and with sea level rise in South Florida, it is not an option.
West Palm Beach depends on the county's Palm Tran bus service as an alternative to a subway system or the automobile. City trolleys serve the immediate downtown area. Neither is an attractive or popular option for commuters since only 3.2 percent use public transit, according to U.S. Census 2016 "Commuting Characteristics" for the city.
Tri-Rail as a north-south commuter rail service has so far failed to impact these dismal mass transit usage statistics. Brightline will only assist commuters from Fort Lauderdale or Miami in the future.
Another inconvenient truth is 60.2 percent of resident workers have a place of employment outside of West Palm Beach. This outflow is not addressed in the Mobility Study. The city "hopes" downtown developers will provide future jobs where people live.
Hope is eternal. So are unresolved traffic congestion issues during rush hours.
Inconvenient Truth No. 2: The Bristol Parking Case Study
When the City Commission approved the 24-story Bristol condominium on the Lake Worth Lagoon, the developer's lobbyists assured city planners that adequate parking would be provided for residents and there would be no traffic problems. Wrong.
Even though the building is still under construction, the developers determined the original parking plan for the condo is inadequate. The Bristol will lease a second parking garage on property owned by Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBAU), west of Flagler Drive.
The garage will be built on a site that was used for affordable student housing on campus. In order to pass city zoning regulations, the project will include an "office" to quality the garage as a business.
Ironically, city staff recently recommended reducing internal parking space requirements for several downtown residential projects. The assumption is fewer spaces will be needed for cars since residents will live, work and walk downtown.
The inconvenient truth is new high-rise condominiums and apartment complexes do not reduce demands for downtown parking. In fact, they may increase parking needs for the building's service providers, staff, caterers, caregivers, visiting family members and guests.
The City of West Palm Beach "hopes" this is not true. Hope is eternal.
Inconvenient Truth No. 3: The Old and Infirm Live Here Too
The ongoing mantra, repeated at the mayor's office and by city planners, proclaims West Palm Beach is a youthful city with a median age of 39.6 years. As a result, walkability and bicycling could soon replace dependence on automobiles downtown.
However, this also means half of the population is over the age of 40, and 10.3 percent of residents of all ages are disabled, according to the U.S. Census. A total of 22,789 citizens are over the age of 62.
The elderly population in West Palm Beach, with its ADA equal access and transportation concerns, is avoided like bubonic plague or Ebola in the city's Mobility Plan. For most citizens in West Palm Beach, dependence on the automobile is a necessity of life.
Once again, Census statistics reveal 86.4 percent of county residents use a car, van or truck daily to get to work or for other uses. Only 3.4 percent of residents walk to work in West Palm Beach. Bicycles are used by 0.7 percent of the city's workforce.
Bike lanes are a nice supplement to city streets, but adequate roads and parking for automobile users downtown is a necessity. Walkability downtown should be available to all, including those groups that require the use of automobiles to reach the heart of the city.
The elderly and disabled "hope" the city is listening to their needs too.
Inconvenient Truth No. 4: The Weather Matters in WPB
New York and Copenhagen are seasonal cities with temperate climates and transportation systems designed to meet their specific needs. West Palm Beach is a subtropical city which many experts believe may soon have a year-round tropical climate.
West Palm Beach averages 62 inches (five feet) of rain annually. The average afternoon humidity level is 61 percent. Tropical downpours limit walkability. So does heat and humidity, especially in summer.
Convincing the public to trade in their automobiles for bicycles downtown in the sweltering heat or rain is a hard sell, but it seems to be the current city policy. When voluntary compliance fails, there is always zoning coercion.
In her "Insider" report, the mayor calls for a requirement "to restrict the amount of parking within the (Okeechobee) corridor to reduce vehicular congestion, and promote walkability and a requirement of developments to seek alternative modes of transportation to lessen the reliance on automobiles."
A more effective solution to "reduce vehicular congestion" is to reject additional 25-story monoliths downtown in the future.
Inconvenient Truth No. 5: The 'Optimum' Isn't Always Best
At the June 13 Downtown Action Committee (DAC) meeting, and repeated verbatim before the Commission, city planners pitched the need for the OBD Ordinance, and by their advocacy served the business interests of downtown developers, the local Chamber of Commerce and elected officials who favor high-density growth.
And once again, during their two-hour DAC presentation, city planning staff pointed out that while new downtown residential units have reached 109 percent of goals set by the city's master plan, business growth as measured by office space lags behind at just over 60 percent of their stated "optimum" level of new development.
Is the 100 percent optimum for business necessarily in the best interests of West Palm Beach residents? Are future 25-story office towers downtown a measure of quality or quantity? The city has yet to prove its case to surrounding neighborhoods.
Despite the promises of economic prosperity promoted by city staff, inappropriately acting as lobbyists, not all downtown development projects live up to the expectations of their planners. When they fail, it is the surrounding neighborhoods that are left with the empty storefronts, crumbling concrete edifices and future urban blight.
West Palm Beach has a poor track record when it comes to long-term business planning. City approval of the Palm Beach Mall turned Palm Coast Plaza, Prospect Place (Sears Town) and Clematis Street into economic deserts during the late 1970's and 1980's.
City support of City Place, while benefiting downtown business renewal, was the final nail in the coffin for the Palm Beach Mall. Likewise, city approval of the "Outlets" on the old Palm Beach Mall site has hurt retail business at both City Place and Clematis Street, as well as the long-suffering Palm Coast Plaza and the Dixie Corridor.
Now the City Commission views the new OBD as the latest economic cure-all. History has proved long-term thinking is in short supply at City Hall. All development projects have good and bad "consequences" with the negative aspects usually expunged during the planning process - but not always.
Profit is the economic force driving the Okeechobee Business District and other downtown development projects. Any developer or politician who says 25-story office towers are built primarily for the well being of the community is selling snake oil cures for future urban problems.
The quality of life in the city's urban neighborhoods matters, and that remains an inconvenient truth for many special interests. Their concerns often outweigh a developer's promises.
(c.) Davidsson. 2018.
*NOTE: Article updated on June 18. See additional articles archived in Older Posts.
Monday, May 14, 2018
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