Tequesta Notes
an initiative for the citizens of Tequesta
a long row of beautiful trees
Sunday, May 9, 2021
Don't Sell
Village Land!
The Village owns a beautiful one-acre parcel of land strategically located right in the center of town. Because of the way this land has been neglected, there is a good chance that you did not even know about this Village treasure. Now the Mayor wants to sell it and he has the support of Council Member Prince. Please oppose this sale.
Strategic location, location, location. At the Council workshop last week, the Mayor repeatedly minimized the value of this parcel to Village residents. In fact this parcel has strategic value to the Village because it is right in the center of town off of a busy thoroughfare. It runs from Tequesta Drive at the railroad crossing and then a good way South between the tracks and the properties along Cypress. As such, it has enormous potential to enhance the aesthetic value of the Village. And so it has a special value as a natural, green space.
Many residents and visitors travel this section of Tequesta Drive every day and we could make that parcel spectacularly beautiful as a natural green space. In this capacity, this space also will enhance the value of all the local business shops along Cypress by providing them with a pleasant green space as a backdrop instead of the harsh glare of all the numerous asphalt parking lots. It would also be a natural barrier shielding the Village in that location from the railroad track. Tequesta is extremely desirable and land here will only gain value with time. And if we are good custodians of the Village, it will become even more valuable. Here below is a picture of less than half of the lot. This view looks North towards Tequesta Drive. It's a perfect space for making a beautiful park. The Village land includes the cocoplum hedge on the left, the palms on the right are well within Village land also.
a partial view of the Cypress parcel
looking North to Tequesta Drive
The Village Manager is sensitive to the aesthestics issue because in talking about a tract of land to the North along Old Dixie, he suggested the need to beautify the land so that travelers on the Brightline train service would have a good impression of the Village. That land does not even belong to the Village. Whereas here we have a perfect opportunity to make a big improvement for the Village right in the center of town with a natural green space on Village-owned land, to boot. It makes no sense to sell this parcel. And if the Village has funds to make the green spaces on leased property look better, first invest that money to improve the Village-owned parks and green spaces that have been entirely neglected. Not the parcels that the Village leases from the Railroad.
Even if the Village were to decide to sell this land, it makes no sense to describe this land in terms that minimize its value. Both the Mayor and the Village Manager have described this land as being of no value to the Village. This disposition that the proponents of the sale have adopted is adverse to the interests of the Village.
The Council should vote against the sale if for no other reason than that the exploratory sale process that has been set in motion would not result in a good deal for the Village because it fails to recognize the great special value this parcel has for the Village. The Village Manager, the Mayor, and Council Member Prince seem not to appreciate the real value of the parcel to the Village. They never even considered the possibility that it might have value to the Village. The Council should also vote against the sale for the simple reason that this parcel is likely to become ever more valuable and it costs the Village nothing to hold on to it. That's why someone else wants to buy it.
In fact there is a good chance that this parcel, if sold, would end up in a consolidated development project including buildings on Cypress to the detriment of the existing small local business tenants. This is a common pattern with these kinds of development projects. And this is another reason for the Council not to sell this Village land. By holding on to this parcel, the Council will retain a strategic measure of control over any redevelopment of Cypress. This alone is a very high value reason for the Village to keep this land. The Council shouldn't even consider selling it. That would be a pure waste of time and money.
Make this parcel into a beautiful park. That can be the first step in the beautification of the Cypress district.
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