Tequesta Notes
an initiative for the citizens of Tequesta
a beautiful Florida live oak
Sunday, May 9, 2021
Stop the Sale of
Tequesta’s Parks!
Thursday, May 13 at 6 pm: an important Council meeting. The Council suddenly and surprisingly is scheduled Thursday to vote on two crucial motions of strategic importance for the Village and they both must be opposed.
Mayor d'Ambra and Council Member Prince are pushing to move forward with a plan that includes the sale of nearly three acres of Tequesta's Village-owned green space, including one park of 1.75 acres. Mayor d'Ambra wants these sales in order to pursue the very ill-advised purchase of three-acres of parcels at Paradise Park, a purchase that would cost more than twice as much as the Village would make in selling its parks (and which would result in a significant loss of natural, green space for the Village). There was just one workshop that included discussion on the proposal (last Monday). That discussion offered no strategic vision articulating clearly the long term interests and priorities of the Village of Tequesta. On Thursday, the Council will vote on whether to proceed with the first sale of Tequesta’s last remaining public green spaces.
→ Please tell the Council to vote NO, do not sell this public land. There is certainly no need to waste money preparing a sale of valuable public assets until the stated reason for the sale—the purchase of other property—actually occurred.
→ Please tell the Council to direct the Village Manager to include Remembrance Park in this year's budget and make it a beautiful park. At the Council workshop last week, the Village Manager declared that he would not allocate any funds to Remembrance Park. (May 3 Council workshop youtu.be/RuGYMUvwhqg 1:24:29). This must change.
→ Please also tell the Council to vote NO on the separate motion to authorize the Village Manager to negotiate the purchase of Paradise Park. This proposed purchase is the justification given for the above referenced sales. It is a terrible idea in its own right for several reasons, including the following (also elaborated further below):
First, the tax revenue that would accrue to the Village if the Paradise Park parcels were developed privately and commercially would substantially benefit Village finances. Commercial properties generally generate more tax revenue than residential properties. And then this revenue would be available to the Village to invest in the land that the Village already owns.
Second, there is already a Master Plan covering the Paradise Park parcels. This Plan would provide a private owner with guidance, under Council oversight, in developing the Paradise Park parcels to the benefit of Tequesta anyway—at no extra cost to the Village—and the Council would have control over the salient planning and design aspects of that project, including the incorporation of green spaces. So, assuming the Council does its job in reviewing a private development at Paradise Park, there would be nothing to fear from allowing private development on those parcels. To the contrary, the retail assets that would move in are apt to be beneficial to the Village.
Third, the terms of the proposed purchase transaction would be unfavorable to the Village because of the process currently underway. The proponents are rushing to sell Village-owned land that they dismissively describe as "of no value" to the Village whereas in fact this land is of immense strategic value to the Village and residents as natural, green spaces. The proponents would then be negotiating to purchase other parcels from a savvy seller who knows the pressure on the Council to buy in order to justify the absurd sale of valuable Village land.
Fourth, the contemplated transaction would not increase green space in the Village. Rather this transaction involves the sale of nearly three acres of Village land that should be natural, green space in exchange for three acres of land that cannot be natural, green space because it is zoned mixed use.
Fifth, given the respective locations of all the parcels in play and their strategic potentials for the Village, the purchase of the Paradise Park parcels is not worth the loss of the Village properties that the Mayor wants to sell.
Sixth, residents have not been advised on how the Council would develop the acquired parcels, nor have residents been advised of the cost to purchase or of the cost to develop.
To email Council Members on this important issue, see the section, What to do, after the discussion below.
As a strategic imperative, we must save all that remains of our already too-scarce public lands for public use.
The Village-owned land off of Cypress Drive. The plan to sell a one-acre parcel of Village land (Cypress Drive Land) that runs along the railroad track behind the Cypress Drive shops is up for a vote by the Council on May 13. This land could easily and inexpensively be turned into a beautiful green space planted with luxuriant Florida plants to the great benefit of property values in the Village and to the nearby local businesses. The Mayor and Councilman Prince have expressed a strong desire to sell this great piece of land. The process that is currently underway, however, is effectively a fire sale not at all apt to yield an advantageous price for the Village and therefore is not in the Village's best financial interest. (See, also, More Details on the Cypress Drive Land.)
The May 13 vote would authorize the Village Manager to begin the process of selling the Cypress Drive Land. We should not take one step down that path.
The mere exploration of this sale will result in the Village incurring costs—almost none of which has even been considered publicly by the Council. In contrast, it costs the Village nothing to hold on to this valuable land (which will only become more valuable with time). And there are many other reasons not to sell. (See More Details on the Cypress Drive Land.) The Village does not even pay taxes on this land.
Remembrance Park. The sale of the Cypress Drive land is manifestly a prelude also to selling Remembrance Park (the nearly two-acre parcel of vacant land on the West side of Seabrook Drive, just South of Tequesta Pines) to be built out as a residential project by a private interest. Such a development in that location would be far less beneficial than a beautiful, natural park to our entire community of Tequesta, as well as to property values.
Two years ago, after public deliberation, the Council had resolved to turn Remembrance Park into a beautiful park. This would result in innumerable benefits to residents and to the community. (See Tequesta Needs More Natural Parks.) But Village leadership has so far failed to honor that commitment. There is no justification in Tequesta's best interest for delaying any further the creation of a beautiful, natural green space at Remembrance Park. (See, also, Remembrance Park.)
Paradise Park. Mayor Frank d’Ambra has signalled the desire to sell the Cypress Drive Land and Remembrance Park in order to purchase Paradise Park. The process currently underway creates the worst possible negotation posture for the Village, essentially ensuring that the Village would get the lowest dollar for the Cypress and Remembrance Park parcels while the Village would be paying out the highest dollar for the Paradise Park parcels. See Paradise Park, a better approach. And it looks quite likely that the Village would end up selling its last remaining green spaces without even getting the Paradise Park parcels.
Tequesta residents have been provided no meaningful idea of how the Council would seek to develop the Paradise Park parcels even if they were acquired. At the workshop, the Village Manager mentioned a water park as an example. The Mayor mentioned an amphitheatre. Neither of which is green space—certainly not worth the exchange of the Cypress and Remembrance Park parcels. These kinds of vague suggestions with no articulation of strategic purpose or consideration of long term Tequesta interests and priorities are not reassuring, but rather weigh strongly in favor of letting the private owner develop the Paradise Park parcels to achieve a better result for the Village without the Village having to pay anything or lose any other green space. Let's not waste any taxpayer money on preparing a potentially terrible deal for the Village.
Council Member Bruce Prince agrees with Mayor Frank d’Ambra that the Village should sell its last remaining Village-owned park and green spaces. Hopefully, he will change his view on this.
For more information on why the proposed Paradise Park transaction is ill-conceived and why it is not necessary to waste money on this transaction, see Paradise Park, a better approach.
What to do:
→ Email Council Member Kyle Stone. Ask him to vote against both motions: He should oppose all sales of public land and he should not support preparing any negotiation to purchase Paradise Park in the present context which is so adverse to Tequesta getting a good deal and so lacking in any consideration of the strategic, long term, vital interests of the Village. Residents can email Kyle Stone at kstone@tequesta.org.
→ Please also email Council Members Laurie Brandon lbrandon@tequesta.org and Molly Young myoung@tequesta.org noting that you support them in their opposition to wasting tax dollars on exploring bad sales prospects of public land under a process which manifestly does not secure any important interests of the Village of Tequesta. Also support them in their defense of the Village's green spaces.
→ Email Mayor Frank D’Ambra fdambra@tequesta.org and Council Member Bruce Prince bprince@tequesta.org and express your opposition to exploring a sale of any public land.
→ Come to the May 13 Council meeting at 6 pm. Please arrive early and submit a comment card for New Business Agenda item numbers 26 and 27. (Also, bring a book and your crochet projects! These agenda items have been scheduled as the last items for the meeting.)
If you can’t make the May 13 meeting, please write a comment on the form at the Tequesta website (VOT Comment Form) and the Clerk will read your comment into the record at the meeting.
The Survey. If you plan to answer the Village’s survey (emailed last week), write in that you oppose the sale of the Cypress Drive Land and Remembrance Park. The question was written in a way that does not explain the unacceptable trade-off that is at issue. Here is an image of the question:
image from the VOT survey, May 2021
If you already responded to the survey but your responses no longer reflect your preference in view of more complete information, please let the Council know.
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