Palm Beach mayor: Traffic, parking among challenges town will strive to meet

Palm Beach faces numerous challenges in the years ahead, but town officials will work collaboratively with residents and staff to address them, Mayor Danielle Moore told a gathering of the Palm Beach Civic Association Monday.

During a state-of-the-town presentation at The Flagler Museum, Moore addressed a variety of concerns including traffic, commercial growth, parking and resiliency.

She also touched on undergrounding, development, and code review during her address, a portion of which was pre-recorded.

"The challenges we face are also being faced by other municipalities around the state," Moore told more than 350 association members who had gathered for the group's annual meeting. "We are not alone, and I will continue to work with my fellow elected officials throughout Florida to meet these challenges. I believe the challenges we face are opportunities to learn and grow as a community."

According to Moore, these challenges include:

• Traffic: Moore described the town's issues with traffic congestion as a 'multi-pronged' problem, and noted that a traffic study commissioned by the town was sent back to Miami-based consultant The Corradino Group for further tweaking after it failed to address a number of key items, including the metrics used to predict the town's population and employment growth rate.

"There's no way that I think anyone would have anticipated the growth in our population, not only on the island, but certainly in West Palm Beach and the surrounding communities," Moore said. "And we are the closest beach. It's not just construction traffic. It's not just more people. It's not just the bridges. It's an amalgamation of all those things coming together in a perfect storm. AI technology will help with traffic signalization. Keeping the bridges down during rush hour will also help with that. There's a plan to sort of help construction workers get off the island earlier too. But at the moment, there's just so much traffic."

• Parking: Moore praised the seven-point parking plan created by council members Lew Crampton and Bobbie Lindsay that includes elements such as pre-paid parking stickers for residents, paid parking expansion using the ParkMobile app, and more free half-hour parking spaces.

Resident parking permits, which were introduced in November and allow for two-hour parking at any metered spot in town, have been good for residents, Moore noted.

She added that the town will start rolling out metered parking this summer.

"Everyone will get used to the fact that there will be paid parking on the island of Palm Beach," Moore said.

• Water contract: The town will continue to consider a choice of providers to supply water to the island once its current agreement with the city of West Palm Beach ends on Oct. 1, 2029, Moore said.

After reviewing six options provided by environmental consultant Kimley-Horn in 2022, the town narrowed its list to two: continuing the current water-supply contract with the city of West Palm Beach and collaborating on a membrane-technology upgrade at its treatment plant; and contracting with the city of Lake Worth Beach to provide water.

Moore said both options have advantages and disadvantages, and the council will carefully weigh all of them.

"The city of West Palm Beach does not yet have the membrane technology that I think our residents demand," she said. "Lake Worth Beach does have that availability, but has infrastructure issues that would be very disruptive to the town. So the council is going to have to work long and hard to continue to study the issue and figure out which is the best."

• Code review: The town has slowed its approach to overhauling its aging zoning code, with a new timeline established last July to include a full draft to be ready for public review in November.

Moore said the town must make sure that the code review process is heard and seen by residents.

"If they see it and understand it, it is less frightening," she said. "You hear about code reform, and then you see traffic and density, and everybody gets very anxious about it. I certainly understand that, and so does the council. So we're taking it very methodically, and it's coming together very, very slowly, piece by piece. But it's important that we get it right."

• Undergrounding: Moore said the town's efforts to bury its overhead electrical, phone and cable television lines are "really coming along."

The $128 million town-wide undergrounding project is expected to be complete during the 2028-29 winter season, she said, and extra revenue from the Town Marina is helping to cover some of the overages.

"The council made it very clear to staff that we would not go back to the residents to ask for more money. We won't do that. It's a promise we made to them, and we're happy with that promise. We will find other ways to pay for the rest of the project."

• Phipps Ocean Park/North Fire Station updates: Moore praised plans for the revitalization of Phipps Ocean Park, which is being spearheaded by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.

Work is expected to get underway this summer on the $33 million project. Foundation officials are targeting an August 2025 completion date.

"What an amazing gift the Preservation Foundation is providing for the town," Moore said. "I think it's going to be exciting."

The North Fire Station renovation is expected to be complete in January 2025, Moore told the audience.

Work began in 2022 and will include a complete renovation of the landmarked structure, which was built in 1927.

"I think everybody will see some remarkable progress," Moore said. "The roof is on. That will allow them to pick up the pace."

Also Monday, the Civic Association handed out its 2024 Raymond J. Kunkel Awards to Palm Beach Public School teacher Katie Judge, who was named Palm Beach County's Teacher of the Year in February; Sergeant Kendall Reyes of the Palm Beach Police Department, who saved the life of a woman who was threatening to jump from the roof of a condominium last June; and Lieutenant Michael Bennett of the Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Department, who helped save the life of a teenager and a rescuer who were struggling in the water near the Four Seasons Hotel in November.

Distributed annually since 1976, the awards recognize heroic or meritorious service to the Town of Palm Beach.

Monday's meeting was one of the final events attended by Maggie Zeidman as a member of the town council. The longtime public servant announced in October that she would not seek a fifth term.

Her Group 3 seat will be filled by Bridget Moran, who defeated John David Corey last month in a close race. Moran will be sworn in Tuesday.

Zeidman was honored by the Civic Association Monday for her service to the town, and she addressed the audience afterwards.

"It has been a privilege for me to serve the people of this town," Zeidman said. "It has meant so much to me to have your trust, that I would do for you, which sometimes you could not do for yourselves, but you elected us to do it for you. I also want to thank my colleagues. It was an honor to work with such an incredibly intelligent group."

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Mayor: Traffic, parking among challenges Palm Beach will strive to meet