A controversial plan is coming for a vote in West Boca on whether to allow building 1,000 luxury homes and 277 workforce-housing units in Palm Beach County’s Agricultural Reserve. The developer’s deal would come in exchange for a donation of land to both the county and religious organizations.
The developer, GL Homes, said it will donate hundreds of acres for farming, water treatment, a public park and multiple religious purposes, including a synagogue and a Jewish school.
GL Homes President Misha Ezratti called the land proposal that encompasses land in both West Boca and northern Palm Beach County “historic” — that “residents in Palm Beach County [would] benefit for generations to come.”
The Agricultural Reserve is a large swath of farmland in Palm Beach County, bordered by Hypoluxo Road and Clint Moore Road, with Florida’s Turnpike on the east and the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge on the west.
It’s some of the last remaining vacant land in Palm Beach County as developers seek new places to build. While GL Homes said it will be a project that creates much-needed housing with numerous benefits to the public, environmental activists say the vote would be precedent-setting if approved and would encourage more developers to build in the area.
The issue also is at a crossroads, with multiple county commissioners publicly doubting if it should be approved. The last time they voted, in February 2022, they narrowly granted preliminary approval to the land swap but some noted they only voted yes to allow for more discussion at a later date.
“We think the merits outweigh any negatives,” Ezratti said. “We’re hoping everybody can see all the possibilities.” He said “nothing like this has been tried” in terms of such a considerable donation of land.
Opponents argue it’s not a deal that should even be considered.
“In this proposal, GL Homes is attempting to use the affordable housing crisis and water-quality issues to score millions more in profits,” the conservation committee of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group wrote in a prepared statement.
Drew Martin, chair of the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group, said land that would be dedicated for farming is already being used for farming, and he questions how affordable the “affordable housing” would really be.
“If they rezone this, it will destroy the Ag Reserve,” he argued. The developer would be “taking conservation land and turning it into housing.”
Activist Bruce Rocheleau, of Delray Beach, said he is worried this would encourage more development in the area. He called the vote a “turning point” and fears a “quick beginning of the end of the Ag Reserve.”
[ RELATED: Plan to build 1,000 luxury homes in West Boca in doubt after new commissioners elected ]
A spokeswoman for the developer said it is scheduled next week to be the first of two required public hearings before the Palm Beach County Commission for a proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, a blueprint for growth. If it’s approved, it goes to the state for review, and then back to the County Commission for final approval Aug. 30.
Ezratti said the public would benefit from the land swap, and it allows much-needed housing, especially affordable units.
“We know there’s a need for it,” Ezratti said of the workforce housing. “It will have a huge impact on the area.”
The plan is to take a 5,000-acre property that GL Homes owns adjacent to the new city of Westlake and shuffle 1,277 units (homes approved for construction but that haven’t been built yet) and move the units elsewhere.
The new development would be built in West Boca, west of State Road 7, on farmland that GL Homes has owned since 2005. GL Homes has been leasing its 5,000 acres to Hundley Farms, which grows beans, peppers and sugar, and the produce winds up in grocery stores.
Plans for the West Boca property:
- 800 acres would be set aside to maintain farming.
- Another 750 acres would be set aside in Loxahatchee for a reservoir to treat and clean water that flows from the L-8 canal that connects to Lake Okeechobee; that reservoir would be 800 acres in total with the buffers and berms. Known as the Indian Trails Grove Water Resource Project, it will be an above-ground reservoir with six new pump stations.
- 100 acres for parks: 75 acres around the lake for a passive park with walking, jogging and equestrian trails, and another 25 acres for an active park appropriate for ball fields.
- 4.2 acres would be donated to the Jewish Association for Residential Care to build housing for seniors with developmental disabilities.
- 8.1 acres would be donated to a religious Jewish organization; half would go for Chabad of West Delray to build a synagogue and the other half would go to Torah Academy of Boca Raton, a private school.
Both the farmland and reservoir would be turned over to the county to maintain, and Ezratti said rent from the farmland would offset the cost for the reservoir.
Essential South Florida
Weekly
What every South Floridian – newcomer or native – should know. Get insider tips, information and happenings.
Then, the developer wants:
- 477 acres for 1,000 single-family homes for seniors age 55 and older. They will likely all be one-story homes, but some models might have a second-story “bonus room” for visiting grandchildren. The homes are expected to range in price from $950,000 to $1.5 million. Amenities will include pickleball and tennis courts, a clubhouse and ballroom, three pools, an on-site full-service restaurants; and 100 golf memberships are set aside at the neighboring Stonebridge Country Club.
- Another 277 condos and townhomes built for workforce housing, with their own set of amenities; 152 homes will be for sale, and another 125 for rent. The rent will depend on the applicant’s income, which could mean a studio could rent from $966 to $2,254 a month, up to a range of $1,435 to $3,349 for a three-bedroom home. The range for the townhomes for sale would range from $189,630 to $352,170, also dependent on income.
Ezratti said he knows there could be some opposition; two new county commissioners — Marci Woodward and Sara Baxter — who won election in last November’s election have publicly questioned the deal.
Leading up to the election, Woodward opposed the project, saying in her South Florida Sun Sentinel candidate questionnaire that “it is apparent by the number of citizens who took time from their daily lives to attend the latest commission meeting, public opinion is against the proposal.”
Baxter told WPTV in September she was open to “having a discussion about it but just at a mile-high glance, I am not for the precedence it sets. It opens up the door of swapping Ag Reserve land going forward and so I’m not really in favor of that.”
Attempts by the South Florida Sun Sentinel to reach Woodward and Baxter were unsuccessful.
Said Ezratti: “We think the merits outweigh any negatives. I’m sure there will be some resistance.” But still, “we’re hoping everybody can see all the possibilities.”
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash