(This story has been updated with new information)
Boca Raton officials have rejected an effort by a property owner to fill in a cove above partially submerged property off the Intracoastal Waterway.
Property owner William Swaim, known for claiming ownership of submerged land across Florida, wants to build a row of houses on 4 acres of the new land at the cove at the end of Northeast Eighth Avenue, just west of the Intracoastal Waterway channel and opposite the south end of Spanish River Park.
Last year, code enforcement issued an order against Swaim’s company, NE 32nd Street, LLC, for unpermitted filling of submerged land. However, on May 16, a special magistrate issued a nonbinding recommendation that the city council allow him to build on the submerged property. The council had until June 30 to approve or deny.
Ultimately, the city rejected the recommendation, maintaining that Swaim could not fill in the cove.
The second-largest city in Palm Beach County, Boca Raton has been known for its influx of money and transplants from the north. And since the COVID-19 pandemic, more wealthier people have decided to make South Florida their permanent home. Subsequently, land is more coveted and property values are rising in the city of about 100,000. The housing market remains flush with wealthy buyers looking for coveted waterfront property.
The ultra-luxury Bristol condominium, which sold out its units for $600 million, and the swanky One Watermark Place condominium, both in West Palm Beach, are built on formerly submerged land.
A 2018 Army Corps review of the Boca Raton parcel notes that development of the site would not adversely affect endangered and threatened sea turtles, smalltooth sawfish or manatees.
Swaim attended the council meeting on June 10 in another attempt to get his permit application approved.
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“The property itself, originally, was high and dry until the mid-1950s, when the subdivision to the west illegally stole the dirt off the property and filled in what’s now called Blue Inlet,” Swaim told the council.
The magistrate’s recommendation backed up this claim, saying the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires Swaim to fill in the remaining submerged land because of its illegal dredging.
He claimed they applied for a property permit more than 376 days ago and have since resolved 90% of the outstanding issues. According to Florida law, if a local government fails to deny or approve a permit to applicants within 30 days, application fees will be reduced by 10% each day that passes.Hope Calhoun, the attorney for NE 32nd Street, LLC, urged the council to adopt the magistrate’s findings, which included a recommendation that Boca Raton purchase the property if it did not issue Swaim a development permit.
This property application is part of a larger, ongoing issue regarding filling in submerged land in Boca Raton, known as the “Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act” (FLUEDRA). There are two other FLUEDRA cases that the city is facing in court, which Councilman Andy Thomson emphasized to other council members.
Boca councilman wanted more information before voting
In contrast to his peers, Thomson hesitated to vote on the magistrate’s recommendation because of these two outstanding cases. He requested that there be an executive session to discuss all three cases in detail before making a final decision.
Councilman Marc Wigder agreed with Thomson that the council should hold an executive session considering the complicated nature of all three FLUEDRA cases but maintained the council should still vote on the magistrate’s findings.
“The rejection of the non-binding mediation does not put either party in a better or worse case, so I don’t understand the need to postpone the item since rejection of the mediation de facto acts to postpone the item,” Wigder said.
The council eventually voted to reject the magistrate’s recommendation 4-1, with Thomson dissenting.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca Raton rejects property owner’s effort to fill in submerged land near intracoastal
Reporting by Elisabeth Gaffney / Palm Beach Post
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