At Clint Moore Road And 441, Many Fear Traffic, Destruction Of “Agricultural Reserve.”
BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
UPDATE: The agenda item will now be heard on Thursday, September 1st. Stay tuned…
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2022 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Mega-builder G.L. Homes is expected to learn Wednesday if the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners will approve the company’s plan to build at least 1000 new luxury homes just west of 441 near the intersection of Clint Moore Road. The development — just yards from the company’s communities that line Lyons Road, is feared to make bad traffic situations even worse in the area.
BocaNewsNow.com has been reporting exclusively for days on the G.L. Homes-instigated crisis on nearby Lyons Road between Clint Moore and Atlantic Avenue. Not fully expanded before G.L. Homes built The Bridges, Seven Bridges, Boca Bridges, and Lotus, the once quiet road is now so overcrowded, Palm Beach County was forced to expand Lyons Road to two lanes as part of a $10M project. But the project — first expected to be completed by the end of 2022 – has been delayed by at least half a year. Workers found unmapped utility lines under the road — after barriers were erected and construction began. Now, even though construction is largely dormant, lane and road restrictions remain in place, routinely leading to crashes and massive traffic delays.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Maria Sachs blasted G.L. Homes during a town hall meeting held Monday at “The Bridges” and broadcast over YouTube.
“The Palm Beach County Commission should have never permitted the over-development of the area,” she said. “(G.L. Homes) could have never broken ground if we didn’t give them permission to do so.”
G.L. Homes wants permission to continue to build in what is known as the “Agricultural Reserve” in exchange for more than 1500 acres of land in Loxahatchee which it would give to Palm Beach County. Once designated as a “no building” zone, Palm Beach County has given G.L. Homes rights to build in the Reserve — up and down Lyons Road and US 441 in unincorporated Delray Beach and Boca Raton — over the past decade. Very little of the Reserve remains.
The public hearing — which is expected to lead to a vote — is set for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Palm Beach County Commission Chambers, 301 North Olive Street in West Palm Beach.
