Dozens of Palm Beach Gardens neighbors picketed Wednesday outside City Hall and lined up to tell the City Council they do not want their homes to be part of the city.
They object to being part of an annexation of 1,300 acres east of Interstate 95 containing an estimated 8,300 residents.
The City Council told the opponents their messages were heard before voting against them, taking the final steps to place annexation on the March 19 ballot.
“I respect your passion, and I appreciate every one of you and what you had to say and delivered to us,” Council Member Carl Woods said. “You guys are my neighbors. This isn’t us against you, by no means. If you don’t want it, don’t vote for it.”
More than 30 people in the audience of about 100, many speaking on behalf of their neighborhoods, lined up to say they wouldn’t vote for it. About 20 waved protest signs along Military Trail outside City Hall before the meeting.
They fear higher property taxes and fees and worry that Gardens would enforce stricter neighborhood standards and cannot match the police and fire-rescue services they receive from the county.
They also objected to the way the city has approached them.
Opponent Charlie Hollings of Pleasant Ridge summed it up this way, addressing Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Chelsea Reed: “How would you react, Mayor Reed, if I told you I had to move out of my house earlier today and move in with you tonight and stay the rest of my life?
“You probably really wouldn’t be receptive to that idea. And that’s what Palm Beach Gardens has done to us. You didn’t tell us you were coming. You didn’t ask if we wanted you to come and now that we’ve told you ‘no,’ you’ve refused to leave.”
Hollings is among organizers of the political committee, Coalition Against Annexation, which filed Nov. 28 to begin raising money for yard signs, T-shirts, mailers and other campaign matters.
It’s not clear if supporters of annexation will create a rival committee. No supporters spoke Wednesday.
Under state law, the city is barred from advocating for or against a referendum question and is limited to providing neutral information.
Annexation will be on the ballot with the Republican presidential primary. The Democrats have declined a primary in Florida. But the referendum is open to any registered voter, including renters, as long as they live in one of the five zones created by the city.
Lawsuit likely
Residents of the 70-home Hidden Key community east of U.S. 1 at Jack Nicklaus Drive submitted affidavits to the city in anticipation of suing. The Dec. 6 vote starts a 30-day period in which legal challenges can be filed.
Among Hidden Key’s arguments: They say the city erred when it entered into evidence that the Hidden Key entry road is part of Palm Beach Gardens. The city maintains that the entry road helps justify the annexation of Hidden Key because it means the only way in or out of the gated community is through the city.
However, the residents say the city never annexed the entry road. They presented documents showing that in 1967, when the city annexed twin condos flanking the entry road, the city did not absorb the road itself.
They also argue the city has violated the state’s definition of compactness by creating a gigantic annexation zone lumping in dozens of communities from Cabana Colony east across Prosperity Farms Road, the Intracoastal Waterway, Ellison Wilson Road and U.S. 1.
Hidden Key, a community with a taxable value of $107 million, is of particular importance because it is within reach of one of the most valuable communities outside of city boundaries in Palm Beach County: Lost Tree Village, which has a $2.5 billion taxable value.
“If you’re doing your duty tonight, your statutorily required duty, not to do what you want to do but to vote on where the evidence takes you, you have no choice but to say this ordinance does not comply with Florida law and we are forced to vote ‘no’ on it,” Hidden Key’s attorney, Nicholas Gieseler, told the council.
In response to claims that Zone 1 is not compact, City Attorney Max Lohman pointed out that compactness under state law doesn’t mean small.
“It means you cannot annex in such a fashion as to create enclaves, pockets or serpentine patterns … or fingers. You cannot annex to create them. And It does not. This area does not create fingers.”
Fears of land grab
Residents criticized the city for failing to reach out before making its plans public on Sept. 19. They objected to the approach that puts so many neighborhoods in a single zone that one neighborhood could oppose the proposal but still be annexed if a majority of neighboring communities vote for it.
And they accused the city of moving forward not to square off city boundaries but to expand the city’s tax base.
“This effort is more of a land grab worth millions of dollars to Palm Beach Gardens,” said Katharine Murray, who owns a home in Hidden Key.
Retired developer David Brady of Pleasant Ridge said he expected the city to use its code enforcement powers to force out homeowners and take advantage of the rise in property values that would result when homesteaded properties go back on the market.
“You need to roll the neighborhood over,” Brady said. “You need to get everybody to sell at a higher level, so you can quadruple the taxes.”
Countered Council Member Woods: “It doesn’t come down to the money. Do you guys think that Palm Beach Gardens really needs an extra $2 million?”
City studies show that the city would collect $2.8 million more in taxes and fees every year than it would have to spend if all five zones agree to be annexed.
County response
A Dec. 7 letter to the city from Palm Beach County offered some recommendations concerning road ownership but no objections. The county added that if voters approve the annexation, county commissioners want to “maintain regulatory control” over county-owned parcels, such as the 18-acre Juno Park.
The letter from county Planning Director Kevin Fischer added: “Although not opposed to the annexation referendum, the county reserves its right to object to the annexation of the county-owned parcels.”
The county commission more strenuously objected on Dec. 5 to Wellington’s proposed annexation of 158 acres, which would extend the village north of Southern Boulevard for the first time. Commissioners authorized staff to file a formal challenge.
Eight landowners want in
Palm Beach Gardens also unveiled a voluntary annexation of eight properties on 4.6 acres immediately south of the under-construction Ritz Carlton Residences on Ellison Wilson Road.
A map showed one excluded property in the middle of the eight, surrounded by residences in the city — an apparent enclave. State law tries to limit the creation of enclaves but City Council members did not ask about the map before voting in favor.
The voluntary annexation must be approved a second time before becoming effective. The same area is part of a competing annexation proposed by North Palm Beach, which also plans a March 19 referendum to annex several areas, including three sought by Palm Beach Gardens.
Ballot wording
The PBG council’s Dec. 6 vote also included approval of the ballot wording. Here is the wording for Zone 1, the largest area:
“ORDINANCE 20, 2023 ANNEXES AN AREA OF CONTIGUOUS AND COMPACT UNINCORPORATED TERRITORY AS DEPICTED ON EXHIBIT ” A” TO ORDINANCE 20, 2023 AND COMMONLY KNOWN AS ” CABANA COLONY, CRYSTAL POINTE, HIDDEN KEY, FRENCHMEN’ S LANDING, PLEASANT RIDGE, CAPTAIN’ S KEY, MARINER’ S COVE, AND THE MAHEU SUBDIVISION,” INTO THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS.
— FOR ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN ORDINANCE 20, 2023 OF THE CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS.
— AGAINST ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN ORDINANCE 20, 2023 OF THE CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS.
Watch the Dec. 6 City Council meeting here.
For more on potential conflicts among Gardens, North Palm and Juno, see Tuesday’s Stet Palm Beach here.
Joel@OnGardens.org
© 2023 Joel Engelhardt. All rights reserved.
The vote doesn’t matter when the zones have been gerrymandered. The PBG Council’s arrogance is staggering .
No. Leave it alone. Talk about hostile takeovers!
Wouldn’t the annexation have our taxes going to our town instead of some WPB project miles away? Death and taxes are inevitable.. I wish my tax money was directed into my local area and not the giant WOB area.
The city would tax homes that are annexed into the city. Currently, those homes do not pay a city tax but they pay a county tax. If they are annexed, they would still pay the county tax. They also would pay the city tax. Gardens argues that it would save some people money because of various fees they are now required to pay they would not be required to pay. Here is a link to their page where they make this case: https://pbgfl.com/861/Annexations
Want to stay in county no annexing .