Commissioners in Palm Beach County, Fla., have decided to allow a daycare center, Lutheran church, and private school to be built on a 10-acre site on Lyons Road, which runs along the club’s boundary. The Delray Beach, Fla., club, along with other opponents, argued that it will make a congested, dangerous area even worse.
Palm Beach County commissioners have decided backed a school project, and an attorney for Mizner Country Club in Delray Beach, Fla., said the club “fully intends” to file suit challenging the decision, My Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported.
Neil Schiller, who represents the club, said his client will argue that the county violated its criteria in approving the zoning request from Divine Savior Lutheran Church and Academy, which already operates a private school in Doral and hopes to open one on Lyons Road next year, the Post reported.
The commission voted 3-2 in favor of Divine Savior’s request, which would allow a daycare center, a Lutheran church and a private school to be built on a 10-acre site. Schiller argued that a full compliment of commissioners—two were absent during the vote—would have changed the outcome, the Post reported.
Commission chambers were packed with Divine Savior backers, dressed in blue, and opponents of the project, clad in red. Opponents of the project, most of whom live in Mizner, said it would make a congested, dangerous area of Lyons Road worse, the Post reported.
“We are clear-headed and rational in our opposition to this project,” said Madalyn Freund of Delray Beach. “It is inappropriate. It’s a force-fitted project. It does not belong on this site.”
Supporters of the school and church countered with pleas on behalf of the work of the church and its school in Doral. They said the school offers a first-rate education and that the church offers a sense of community that would be a boon to the area. Only a few supporters spoke to the traffic concerns of the project’s opponents, the Post reported.
Commissioners had several factors to weigh: the pleas of supporters of the project; the fact that the county’s staff determined that, with a few modifications, it would meet the requirements for approval and the traffic concerns of opponents, the Post reported.
The decision also drew opposition from the Alliance of Delray, a collection of homeowner groups. After the vote, Schiller said his client has 30 days to appeal, the Post reported.
Alan Ciklin, an attorney who represents Divine Savior Lutheran Church and Academy, said he has confidence in the legality of the county’s decision. “I’m paid to worry about these things, but I’m not worried about this,” he said. “We’re in good shape.”
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