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The Ag Reserve's 22,000 acres: A look at Palm Beach County's growth and preservation today
As Palm Beach County's population swells, the desire to develop has followed suit. But amid the rise of new residents and construction, county officials also have worked to create a harmonious relationship between the need for new development and the preservation of some of South Florida's last relatively untouched land.
Recently, an overview of the county's Agricultural Reserve — which is about 22,000 acres of mostly farmland and limited development in the northwestern part of the county — was provided to county commissioners, detailing current projects, preservation, the land's history and where it's at today.
And as a frequent source of great controversy among residents, developers, and farmers alike, county officials are attempting to forge ahead in a way that addresses the often competing interests as effectively as possible.
'The established goals were to preserve and enhance ag and environmental and water resources,' county planner Stephanie Gregory said during a recent public meeting when an Ag Reserve overview was presented to commissioners.
When the Ag Reserve master plan was created, the objectives, according to Gregory, 'included a heavy emphasis on preservation, including enhancing agriculture, environmental resources, water management capability and open space while also creating a sustainable form of development and minimizing the costs or impact to taxpayers.
'While the focus was preservation, there was also an understanding that there would be some form of development included,' Gregory told commissioners.
As it stands, a 2025 Ag Reserve 'snapshot' breaks down how the land is divided:
— 6,530 acres, or 30% of the reserve, is made up of residential development.
— 881 acres, or 4% of the reserve, is made up of non-residential development.
— 13,374 acres, or 61% of the reserve, has been set aside for preservation, primarily through either agriculture or natural, conservation land.
— 489 acres, or 3% of the reserve, is undeveloped 'remaining lands.'
— 670 acres, or 3% of the reserve, is considered 'other uses' such as canals.
But it took a lot of planning, policy changes and time for that snapshot to be the reality, and county officials are still working on how to keep development regulated while preserving Ag Reserve landowner rights.
Reserve boundaries were first created in 1980 when 'the emphasis was the preservation of agriculture and very low densities,' according to county documents. A prominent rule for development in existence time was the '80/20 rule,' which allowed 20% of a plot of land in the Ag Reserve to be developed on while the other 80% of that same plot would be dedicated to preservation. This eventually led to the creation of the 60/40 rule, which is the same principle but with 60% preserve and 40% development.
In 1989, the boundaries of the reserve were revised, cutting out about 5,000 acres and leaving about 22,000 acres that make up the Ag Reserve of today. Shortly after, the county had an economic impact and land-use suitability analyses conducted, a goal of which was to determine how best to protect and intentionally build on the land.
'Through extensive public engagement by the consultants, the goals of the master plan were defined,' Gregory said.
Then, in 1999, county voters approved a referendum that authorized a $150 million bond to purchase agricultural and environmental lands. More than 2,000 acres have been purchased since. That same year, the county adopted a 'managed growth tier system' to identify 'different tiers in order to acknowledge and protect the differing lifestyles of the community,' such as Urban and Suburban, Exurban and Rural.
In the more than two decades since the bond was purchased, the Ag Reserve has gone through many developmental and policy changes, such as the addition of different land-use designations.
Most recently, two different land-use designations were adopted by the county commissioners: Essential Housing and Commerce.
The Essential Housing land-use designation was approved to foster the creation of higher-density multifamily residential development so people who work in and right around the reserve have places to live.
The Commerce land-use designation was approved to support 'light industrial uses.' For example, food production could be considered a light industrial use while a chemical plant could be considered a heavy industrial use.
'There are various changes that have occurred on what is allowed and what is not allowed in the preserve area through the years,' said Thuy Shutt, the county's planning director, during the recent public meeting.
And various changes are likely to keep occurring as more people move into Palm Beach County and as developers crane to find land ripe for building.
For now, several projects are either under construction or awaiting potential approval. Those include:
— Park West North and Park West South, which proposes warehouses, a fitness center, manufacturing and processing space, and self-service storage in West Delray. These two projects were recently approved for transmittal, which means it goes before the state for review before coming back to the county commissioners.
— West Boynton Ranches is a proposal for 259 homes, 65 of which could be workforce housing. This plan is attempting to rely on the Essential Housing land-use designation, though planning commissioners recently voted to recommend denial for the project. A recommendation by planning commissioners does not determine how county commissioners vote, however.
— GL Homes received final approval for a plan to bring 481 homes on a plot of land called Whitworth South in West Boynton, adding to a cluster of other suburbs, including others by GL Homes, such as Valencia Sound, Valencia Cove and Valencia Reserve.
— Bedner Bros Farms Inc., representing Bedner's Farm Fresh Market in West Boynton, received approval to bring warehouses and office space, applying under the commerce land-use designation.
These types of proposals often face opposition at some point during the approval or denial process, and the concerns tend to be the same: increasing traffic, inadequate county infrastructure and taking away too much of the Ag Reserve's preserve land.
Sometimes, these concerns prevail, and a proposal is rejected.
Take GL Homes' land swap, for example.
This proposal had aimed to take land inside the Ag Reserve and exchange it for land outside of it to build more than 1,000 homes, a synagogue, school, a park and more.
Approving the plan would have set a new precedent for other developers to swap land outside the Ag Reserve for land inside of it, which county commissioners ultimately decided against.
The commissioners often find themselves as the mediators among developers, residents and environmentalists, and not everyone leaves satisfied after decisions are made.
'It's enlightening to see what's happened, but I think the issue here was also that we didn't properly plan from the get-go, and I'm glad that this board has been able to shift and adjust to the times,' Commissioner Joel Flores said during the meeting where the Ag Reserve overview was presented. 'Our population has grown tremendously, and we've been able to to adjust to that.'
