West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James said he was pausing his effort to create a waterfront park in the city’s downtown after a public outcry over the plan, which included moving both Flagler Drive and a landmark restaurant.
James said he instead would hold a series of listening sessions to gauge residents’ wishes for the waterfront.
“I’m going to pause this waterfront project,” James said at an April 27 city commission meeting. “We’re going to come directly to you as residents and show you the plans for the downtown waterfront and engage in visioning and listening sessions across West Palm Beach.”
James’ announcement came five days after The Palm Beach Post revealed the plans and the mayor’s efforts to persuade the owners of E.R. Bradley’s Saloon to sell their waterfront location to developer Related Ross to make way for the park.
James said that if residents indicate support for the park plan, which included closing Flagler Drive and shifting traffic west onto Narcissus Avenue, he would resume his efforts.
The mayor said Related Ross, the city’s largest developer, had agreed to pay to build the park and acquire the land and would give it over to the city, an offer he called a generous act that had been misinterpreted.
“It is also unfortunate this philanthropic and a once-in-a-generation offer for a public park is being portrayed in such a negative light,” he said.
But some residents have expressed support for a park, hundreds of others have raised an outcry over the potential traffic effects of closing Flagler and the fact that Bradley’s owners said the city was bullying them into selling.
James’ vow came after he criticized the owners of Bradley’s for making public the details of their negotiations, saying that the owners’ accounts gave the public a one-sided impression of the plan.
“The stories you’re reading about ‘Save Bradley’s’ is nothing more than a marketing campaign,” he said. “There is nothing to save.”
James did not give details of the planned listening sessions and declined to comment after the meeting. A city spokesperson said the sessions were still being planned.
Some commissioners said they had been flooded with messages of concern and worried that residents increasingly felt they didn’t have a say in what happens to important city assets.
Commissioners would have to vote to approve any plans to create an expanded waterfront park.
Commission Cathleen Ward criticized the city’s handling of the negotiations, saying the public should have been made aware of the mayor’s vision for the park before private negotiations started.
“We are not hitting the mark on transparency,” Ward said, adding that “now the public does not trust what they’re hearing and what’s going on.”
James said he took the commissioners’ concerns to heart but that “we are where we are.”
“Can we do better with community engagement? Yes,” he said.
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm mayor puts waterfront park plan on hold amid outcry
Reporting by Andrew Marra, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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