CITY NEWS 50 THINGS WE LOVE

Issues that divide us

♥ The ongoing Old School Square controversy

♥ Development vs. non-development: The most recent flare-up was The Delray Golf Course.

♥ Downtown overcrowding: Is success too much of a good thing?

♥ Development of the Ag Reserve (which should not even be an issue since we all voted to preserve it with a bond issue referendum in 1999), which comes up like clockwork before the Palm Beach County Commission. The latest outcome with GL Homes spells curtains for future preservation.

♥ Golf carts on city streets (Especially when they are going 10 mph on A1A and you can’t pass them). Having said that, we are dying to own one...

Biggest turnaround

Delray’s municipal election in March of this year upended the formerly highly divided city commission, bouncing out Juli Casale, who famously helped terminate the lease at Old School Square in August 2021 alongside Mayor Shelly Petrolia and commissioner Shirley Johnson (who was term-limited). The move was controversial and divisive for the city and resulted in a lawsuit brought forth from Old School Square against the city for “allegedly breaching the lease,” violating the Sunshine Law and even “civil conspiracy.” With the election of Angela Burns and Rob Long, now serving as deputy vice-mayor, the shift in power on the commission has changed the direction and tenor of the body. In fact, in one of its first moves, the new board voted 4-0 to accept Old School Square’s settlement offer, hold a workshop with Old School Square and chart a course for the future. Al- though the Downtown Development Authority currently operates the Old School Square campus, the idea, according to Commissioner Ryan Boylston, is to “mend the fences”— and figure out how to move forward in collaboration. It’s a new day in Delray, and a long-awaited one.

Longevity award

Since Delray City Manager David Harden retired in 2013 after 23 years, Delray has had eight city managers, four of them on an interim basis. Of the non–interim city managers, terms have ranged from six months to 24; Terrence Moore, the current city manager, is coming up on 24 months.

We may be looking at a Delray record.

Best new neighborhood(s)

Osceola Park is on a gentrification upswing.

The Andre Design District off Congress north of the Tri-Rail station is an innovative and artsy cluster of shops and warehouses. There are murals everywhere, and small businesses that have moved in include Pixelworx, Zuke’s Refillery, Rose Marcom, GOAT, the Spark Boutique, Prima Tanning, Butterbelly (bakery) and others. Also, Old School Square relocated its beloved 6x6 painting exhibition and sale there this year, and there are also open house/art walks the first Saturday of the month. designdelray.com

Do gooders

Best city service

Unlike most cities we read about, Delray Beach has a virtual love affair with its police department. After the city’s “rehab capital of the world” was cleaned up, the department also became known for its innovative programs like reaching out to the city’s homeless population, and its youth and community programs such as Teen Center, its after-school programs, baseball camps and more. The department is an integral part of the community— not its adversary.

The never-ending promise

The “redevelopment” and addition of a grocery store in a West Atlantic Avenue “opportunity zone” is still a pipe dream, mired in litigation and delays.