Palm Beach County commissioners on July 14 rejected Calvary Chapel’s proposal to build a K-12 Christian school in Jupiter Farms after more than four hours of testimony, siding with residents who argued the project was too large and dense for the rural community.
The proposal called for a two-story, 110,000-square-foot school on 19 acres at the southeast corner of West Indiantown and Rocky Pines roads. The campus would have accommodated nearly 900 students and included a 30-foot-tall gymnasium, pavilions and greenhouse structures.
The board voted 6-1 against the project, with Mayor Sara Baxter casting the lone vote in support.
“It is the right thing, but it is the wrong place,” Commissioner Maria Sachs said.
Commissioner Gregg Weiss echoed concerns raised by opponents who argued the school was incompatible with Jupiter Farms’ rural character. The school would be about a mile from the existing Calvary Chapel church, on Indiantown about 3 miles west of Interstate 95.
County planners concluded the project failed to meet five of the eight required standards, and any one of them would have been enough to kill the project.
Baxter, however, urged support of the project, arguing that it offered an opportunity for a faith-based education. So many Christian schools, she noted, have waiting lists. This is an opportunity to meet a need, she said.
County commissioners expressed concerns at how many students would come from outside Jupiter Farms and that the tuition needed to attend would be unaffordable to most of that community’s residents. Commissioner Joel Flores pressed Calvary’s agent to say how much tuition would be. He did not get an answer.
Residents complained that Rocky Pines Road, a dead-end roadway, could not handle the more than 700 trips that the school would generate. And many of them questioned the impact of such a large school on the well system in Jupiter Farms.
One speaker, a 10-year-old boy, wins praise
Receiving “the most adorable speaker of the day award” from Baxter was 10-year-old Wesley Pike.
“If you are going to build a school, why not look at a place a few miles away?” Wesley asked. “Why build one behind residents’ homes? And you are going to reduce the wildlife population.”
Other critics echoed Wesley’s comments.
“This school would urbanize Jupiter Farms,” said Pamela Prey, who moved to Jupiter Farms from Texas to avoid the massive traffic jams she experienced in Houston, noting: “We wanted to get away from that.”
“Please don’t bring Jupiter into Jupiter Farms,” Juan Alvarez said. Kevin Walsh called Jupiter Farms “one of the last vestiges of peaceful living” in Palm Beach County.
Calvary Chapel, though, had its supporters as well.
It is a nondenominational, Christian church in Jupiter Farms that has served the northern Palm Beach County community for nearly three decades.
Its supporters, wearing blue shirts emblazoned with “I Support Calvary Christian school,” noted that far too many parents have to transport their kids to schools outside of the area.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County rejects Calvary Christian school in Jupiter Farms
Reporting by Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
