Neighbors' concerns spur Palm Beach to reconsider park project paid for by anonymous donor

Feedback from residents has prompted Palm Beach's council to take another look at a proposed park project funded by an anonymous donor.

The council had voted 3-2 at the March 12 meeting, with members Julie Araskog and Bobbie Lindsay dissenting, to accept a nearly half-million dollar donation and approve the design plans for the parks at 240 and 247 Park Ave.

More: Anonymous donor to foot $461,000 bill for updates at two Palm Beach pocket parks

The work is estimated to cost $461,000, a sum that would be given to Palm Beach by an unnamed person, attorney Maura Ziska told council members during that meeting last month.

However, the council on April 9 voted unanimously to rehear the project after several residents contacted the town to say their words or feelings about the project had been misrepresented.

The projects will come back before the council at the May 14 meeting.

Councilwoman Julie Araskog requested the rehearing, saying she received calls from some neighbors who were very upset and would have liked to be notified about the proposed work.

The project originally had been on the council's consent agenda at the March meeting. Items on the consent agenda typically are approved without discussion during the meeting.

The item was pulled from the council's consent agenda on March 12 by Mayor Danielle Moore, who said she received a text message from one of the park's neighbors the morning of the meeting saying she had not received notice of the proposal.

Town staff confirmed that putting the item on the agenda was considered notice, and that no further notice — such as individual mailed letters to neighbors — was necessary, per the town's code.

While voting to approve the project, council members said they would like to see town staff develop a new system to provide notice to residents about similar plans in the future.

The proposed designs that were granted approval by the council but will be reviewed again in May included sidewalks, benches, a fountain and site walls. The walls would be 3 feet high. One of the parks would house the transformer that will allow for power lines to move underground in that area. The transformer would be shielded from view by a 6-foot-tall clusia hedge.

At the April 9 meeting, Councilman Ted Cooney made the motion to bring the issue back at the next meeting. In responding to Araskog's request, he referred to the discussion from March about providing notice and transparency for residents.

"That was murky, and you know we're always best when we have communicated effectively, and I'm not 100% certain we did, and based on the communication it seems we didn't," Cooney said.

He added that he feels that the plan for the parks is innocuous, but he supported the rehearing out of deference to the neighbors and because it was such a tight vote on something that typically would have passed without much discussion.

Former Council President Maggie Zeidman, speaking and voting just before she stepped down from the council on April 9, thanked the donor for their generosity.

"The anonymous donor should be congratulated and understand that even though people want to weigh in, that it is something that is appreciated and that we as a council are grateful for it, and that was part of the discussion," she said.

Three of the park's neighbors spoke at the April 9 meeting and thanked the council for agreeing to rehear the plans.

Dr. Rhonda Nasser said it was she who sent the text to Moore the morning of the March council meeting to share her concerns that she had not received notice.

At that meeting, Ziska said Nasser had received the plans and confirmed receipt.

Nasser, speaking at the April meeting, said that while she received the plans, she responded to Ziska's email with concerns about why the donation was being made and if it would limit access to the public spaces.

"This all came as a surprise to us," said Patrick McGowan, another of the parks' neighbors.

He received a communication about the plans from Ziska in August of last year, he said. Before responding to her, he talked with neighbors and dog walkers who use the parks every day.

"They were all pretty much in agreement that we enjoy the open space, the green space, the clear visibility, the safety issue and the way it is basically laid out, as all parks in residential neighborhoods on the island are," McGowan said, noting that the parks from Park Avenue north to the inlet have clear lines of sight from the street. "There's no obstructions, there's no walls, there's no places to hide."

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach park project paid for by anonymous donor sparks concerns