Community Forum Addresses Growth Management

Commissioner Santamaria

Commissioner Santamaria

(l-r) Principal Planner Bryan Davis, Senior Planners Erin Fitzhugh, Patricia Behn, Lisa Amara and Maria Bello, and Planning Director Lorenzo Aghemo

About 60 west-central area residents attended the gathering at the original Wellington Mall.

Growth management and master planning were the main discussion topics of the monthly community forum on Feb. 16 hosted by Commissioner Jess Santamaria.

A panel comprised of Palm Beach County Planning Director Lorenzo Aghemo, Principal Planner Bryan Davis, and Senior Planners Erin Fitzhugh, Patricia Behn, Lisa Amara and Maria Bello gave a comprehensive overview of the county’s draft Environmental Appraisal Report (EAR).
The EAR is required by the state every seven years to ensure compliance with the comprehensive plan, which serves as a long-range blueprint for development.

Major elements include current land uses and proposed changes, population projections and residential densities, demonstration of need, environmental protection, urban services, infill and redevelopment, incorporation of neighborhood plans, the future of the Glades, and potential obstacles to established goals and objectives.

Questions from the audience included the fate of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, water supply, development in the Ag Reserve, and the Northlake Corridor.

Aghemo said the draft EAR will be reviewed in a BCC workshop in May and a Local Planning Agency public hearing in June before final adoption by the BCC in the fall.