Latest news with #PBAU
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
West Palm Beach mayor didn't need to force a resignation to get his way
First, kudos to West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James for somehow convincing officials at Palm Beach Atlantic University to revise their campus expansion plans. The mayor was quite accurate in describing a proposed 11-story parking garage as a "monstrosity" that would have potentially brought more traffic into an already congested downtown. Last month, PBAU officials won permission from city commissioners to build a 25-story tower and the massive garage along South Dixie Highway to boost campus enrollment by 2,000 students. James objected, contending that the massive garage would be an eyesore and disrupt hope of a pedestrian-friendly downtown. Fair point. The question we're raising, though: Was it worth the loss of the city's building and planning director? Our answer is a resounding 'no,' but resignations like Rick Greene's are prone to happen when a strong mayor turns petulant. 'He (the mayor) wasn't happy with a presentation that one of my planners made,' Greene told Palm Beach Post reporter Andrew Marra. 'He basically gave me the option of letting that employee go or, if not, I would be fired.' Having a mayor call for the firing of a city staffer over a presentation is petty and beyond the pale. The planner had told commissioners that the proposed garage had met city standards, which prompted planners to approve the project. That wasn't the explanation James had wanted. City planners in West Palm Beach may work for the mayor, but they aren't obliged to ignore objective recommendations to the city commission because of mayoral whim. Editorial: Federal DEI threats are a tough lesson for Palm Beach County schools Greene stepped in to elaborate, in part to complete the presentation and to protect his planner. The city commission approved the plan in a 4-0 vote, an apparent rebuke to the mayor. The order from James to fire the planner came later. Greene took the high road, standing up for a lower-level employee. In calling for the dismissal, James clearly did not. West Palm Beach is going through a major growth spurt — from simply being the county seat to its higher "Wall Street South" aspirations. The affluence ranking in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach put the area among the fastest growing 'wealth hubs' worldwide, according to Henley & Partners World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2025. With that wealth comes major commercial and residential investment that will change the face of West Palm Beach. Whether it's the ongoing changes at CityPlace, proposals to build high-rise condominiums and office towers along the Intracoastal Waterway, the restoration of historic homes in the city's El Cid to the recent rezoning that envisions Broadway Avenue on the city's northside as a grand boulevard, the need for credible municipal planning is key. Letter: Three strikes and you're out – unless you're developing Palm Beach County That can't happen under the leadership of a city leader who's thin-skinned enough to order a department head to fire a city employee who simply but accurately made a presentation during last month's city commission meeting. According to Greene, the mayor had expected the planner to emphasize reservations about the garage's size during the meeting before the vote. The planner didn't, only saying that the project met city standards. At that point, Greene went to the podium and explained that the staff had tried but failed to get the school to lower the garage height. Still, Greene concluded that staff thought the garage had met city standards, thus warranting approval. "He was expecting her to say certain things at the city presentation," Greene told the Post. "What she presented wasn't the exact wording that the mayor wanted." Although all city staff ultimately are answerable to the mayor in West Palm Beach, the call for termination was unjustified, unwarranted and resulted in the resignation of a longtime city official whose experience in overseeing the city's growth and large-scale development in the planning and zoning process will be sorely missed. Again, credit James with successfully obtaining a concession from the school and maintaining the city's long-term goal in addressing traffic and becoming more pedestrian-friendly. Now, he must renew confidence in that process and fill the void at planning and zoning with someone who will insist on objective analysis for projects coming to the commission. It's not a job for a yes-man. Finding the right person should be an easy task for a strong mayor. It will be a challenge for a small one. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach's PBAU garage goes ahead – with a price | Editorial
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
PBAU will scale back plans for West Palm parking garage 'monstrosity' after controversy
WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach Atlantic University has agreed to scale back its plans for a massive parking garage along South Dixie Highway after two weeks of controversy and scathing criticism from the city's mayor. The private Christian college won permission from the City Commission on April 14 to build a 25-story tower and 11-story garage. If built, the garage would have been the largest parking structure in the city. Mayor Keith James had called the plan 'a monstrosity' and had tried unsuccessfully to persuade commissioners to block it. In a turnabout, James announced April 28 that the university had agreed to amend its plans and will lower the garage's height to no more than seven stories. OPINION: Good PBAU campus parking worth an 11-story 'monstrosity' in downtown West Palm 'I'm appreciative of PBAU's willingness to work with my vision of a city that creates attractive public spaces, and sustains neighborhoods with attractive streets designed for people, not just cars,' James said in a news release announcing the move. The change represents a significant reversal for the school. City planners had asked the school previously to lower the garage's height to seven stories but the school had declined. Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the garage at 11 stories anyway. The controversy led to the resignation last week of the city's top development official. Rick Greene, the city's longtime development director, left office abruptly April 24 after he said James ordered him to fire a city planner over her handling of the garage. RELATED STORY: West Palm development boss: I resigned after mayor ordered me to fire a city planner Greene, who had overseen the city's building and planning departments since 2012, said he stepped down rather than fire the planner, who he said did not deserve termination. This is a developing story. Check back at for updates. Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach Atlantic University West Palm parking garage scaled back
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Good PBAU campus parking worth an 11-story 'monstrosity' in downtown West Palm
I look forward to the day when the skyline of West Palm Beach will be noted for an 11-story parking garage along Dixie Highway. I know that Mayor Keith James has already called the planned parking facility at Palm Beach Atlantic University a 'monstrosity.' But one of the advantages of being a mayor is you always get good parking, so he's probably not the proper judge for these kinds of amenities. It's like asking a vegan what he thinks of pork chops. So, let's not shortchange the value of good parking. I would put good parking as one of the top 'goods', right up there with good home fries, good WiFi, and good arch support. West Palm mayor hates it: PBA gets OK to build 25-story tower, city's largest garage It would take a lot for me to come out against good parking. The 11-story garage will be a complement to a proposed 25-story tower that will serve as a new dormitory for nearly a thousand PBAU students in some 275 dorm rooms. These skyscraper-sized developments are part of a general growth plan for the small private Christian university as it plans to expand from 3,000 to 5,000 students. Luring them with good parking is a great idea. If I were the PBAU recruiters, I'd make the great parking central to the pitch to prospective students. It might go something like this: 'Sure, we may not be as selective as some other schools, but hop in my golf cart and allow me to drive you up a few ramps at our new parking garage.' Opinion: Florida's future shouldn't be at the expense of wildlife. New bill honors both. Just the sight of all that fresh asphalt in a sea of empty lined parking spaces would be enough to trigger an early-admission question. Especially if there's no 'reserved for compact car' spaces. That whole idea is a failure, which is why most of them are filled with Cadillac Escalades, Chevy Suburbans and Ford F-350 pickup trucks. But I digress. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Not many colleges and universities can say their student parking options include an 11-story garage with a capacity to park nearly a thousand cars. 'Taking higher learning to new heights!' would be how I'd market it. Maybe even change the school mascot from the sailfish to a condor, or some other bird noted for its high-altitude flight. Opinion: Hope Florida scandal puts obstacle in Casey DeSantis' pathway to governor Even the University of Florida, the flagship university in the state system, a university with about 60,000 students, can't compare to PBAU in the all-important tallest parking garage category. The tallest parking garage at UF is only seven stories. Disappointing. Mayor James doesn't get it. And he seems more worked up about the towering parking garage than the 25-story building next to it. 'It is a monstrosity. It is not appealing. We have been moving more toward a pedestrian-friendly urban corridor,' James said. I guess he's worried that tourists will come from far and wide, clogging the downtown streets just to get a look at the giant parking garage. It's right up there in size with the 12-floor Palm Beach County Jail on Gun Club Road, and much higher than the seven-level parking garage at Palm Beach International Airport. So, yes. It will probably attract some parking garage tourists, people who aren't fit enough to climb Mount Everest, but still thirst for a high-altitude fix. PBAU can take things to the next level, so to speak, by constructing a giant water flume down the side of the garage, one that empties students on ground level next to the academic buildings. This will double as both a recreational attraction and a way for students not to be late for class during those times when the elevators in the garage aren't working. The giant parking garage will also keep PBAU in the public eye as Vanderbilt University partners with the city of West Palm Beach to build a downtown graduate campus for the Nashville, Tenn.-based university. The Vanderbilt campus is supposed to be a $300 million investment where students will study everything from business, to data science to artificial intelligence at an eye-catching campus that will feature a tourist-drawing arboretum. 'The tropical arboretum will showcase a diverse array of indigenous South Florida species,' Vanderbilt announced. 'Visitors might expect to see slash pines reaching for the sky, vibrant Cherokee Beans adding splashes of color and the iconic sabal palm standing proud. 'Other local flora like sea grape, gumbo limbo and buttonbush will further enhance the connection to the South Florida environment.' Without the 11-story parking garage 'standing proud' at PBAU, the small local private school would be hopelessly outgunned by Vanderbilt's gaudy arboretum. So, let's celebrate the future addition of a sun-blocking, 11-story 'monstrosity' on Dixie Highway where good parking spots will flourish. Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network-Florida. He can be reached at fcerabino@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Where to park at Palm Beach Atlantic University? Stay tuned | Opinion
