January 2023 - OnGardens

Denied 4-2: County Commission sides with racing fans over warehouses

After a motion to approve warehouse zoning at the former Palm Beach International Raceway died for lack of a second, Palm Beach County commissioners tossed aside concerns over being sued and voted to deny the plan.

History repeats itself.

Faced with a room full of avid racing fans fighting for their way of life, a county board once again rejected plans for warehouses on the site of the former Palm Beach International Raceway.

Palm Beach County commissioners voted 4-2 Thursday to deny the application from property owner IRG Sports & Entertainment to convert the shuttered racetrack on the Beeline Highway west of Jupiter into a 2.2-million-square-foot warehouse complex.

Emails show how county helped racetrack-to-warehouse conversion

County staff moved quickly to help landowner avoid zoning obstacles but never publicly told the commission or the public why.

Last May, Palm Beach County staff rushed to avoid a legal challenge over the zoning board vote that blocked warehouses at the former Palm Beach International Raceway site on Beeline Highway west of Jupiter.

Top county officials from multiple departments responded to urgent requests from county attorneys for speedy action to get a seemingly mundane item before county commissioners at their May 26 zoning meeting.

While appearing innocent, the action would clear the way for the conversion of the racetrack to a warehouse complex by removing a potential hurdle for the developer — an action staff never made public or clear to commissioners.

Call him ‘carpetbagger’ but leave Mayo vs. James to the voters, attorney argues

West Palm Beach mayoral race between Keith James and Rodney Mayo comes down to decision from Circuit Court Judge G. Joseph Curley.

Home is where the heart is.

That’s the message from Rodney Mayo’s lawyer, fighting to keep the West Palm Beach restaurateur on the ballot for a March 14 faceoff with West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James.

But to James, home is where your drivers’ license says it is. Or your voter registration card. And for Mayo, that’s a Lantana-area address on Pine Drive, not a “crash pad” above a bar on Clematis Street, James’ attorneys argued Tuesday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.