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To the Boca Raton resident,
BocaWatch offers its platform to all announced candidates running in the March 2017 municipality elections to publish their position papers and platforms. Below is the first of these articles.
Andrea Levine O’Rourke, running for the City council Seat B has published this essay on ‘Preserving Golf and Green Space in Boca’ This is the first candidate paper submitted.
BocaWatch is interested in the platforms of all candidates.
BocaWatch will provide unrestricted access to the readership to all candidates. However, BocaWatch is most interested in identifying those candidates that support a ‘resident friendly’ platform.
Boca Raton has seen enough damage done by those elected officials that are and remain ‘Developer Friendly’.
You, the reader, will know the difference…..
YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE; MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN MARCH 2017
Al Zucaro, Publisher
Open Letter From Andrea Levine O’Rourke, Candidate Boca Raton City Council
November, 2016
As the elected officials of Boca Raton move closer toward a final decision on “golf in Boca Raton,” it prompts me to reflect on certain issues that remain important to me; the beauty and advantages of open green space.
Open Green Space
The Ocean Breeze Golf Course issue is similar in some ways to the citizen’s initiative that protects our city owned Intracoastal waterfront properties. The latter issue won resoundingly on the November ballot, indicating the residents of Boca Raton are very protective of their open green space.
Parks and green space have always been an iconic treasure in Boca Raton. Entering Boca Raton from the South, on Federal Highway, the first thing that greets the traveler’s eyes are beautiful, large, grassy medians and open space…much different from the cities left behind. That is only a small part of the reason Boca Raton has earned the reputation as “The City within a Park,” a tag line that is effectively used for ‘selling’ the attributes of Boca.
As undeniable growth occurs in Boca, it is important to keep in the forefront the city’s dedication to green and open space. Yes, we can have growth. Yes, we can have new building development. And yes, we can preserve, even expand and beautify our open space. To accomplish all three takes vision, planning and cooperation.
Championship Golf in the City of Boca Raton
We are also known as a playground for fun in the sun with our beautiful beaches, waterways and golf courses. However, with the closing of the neglected Ocean Breeze Golf Course the city lost its only championship, public golf course in Boca. Of course, if one lives in one of the many gated country club communities, getting on a course is easy. For the many thousands that do not have that access, and for the untold thousands of visitors, they must travel outside of Boca for their golf outing. That means resident and tourist dollars leave our city.
Our very own Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks District Commission sees the value in public golf in Boca and has offered to work with the city in the purchase, operation and maintenance of the Ocean Breeze course at Boca Teeca. As an example of their dedication to make golf in Boca happen, Beach and Parks has entered into discussion with Greg Norman for a highly recognized golf instructional school.
With the impending sale and or swap by the city of the municipal golf course on West Glades Road, the decision on negotiations that affect golf at Ocean Breeze now rests in the hands of our city council.
Although some may think golf is not a flourishing business, I believe having a 27-hole championship, public golf course in Boca Raton will be a winner! It can be a driver for economic development…look what the Allianz Golf Tournament brings to our community. It will preserve much valued green space. And most importantly, it will allow public golf to remain in our city, a community known for its beauty as well as recreation. The value doesn’t always come in dollars. One must consider quality of life and legacy.
As a 30 year resident of West Boca who happens to live on the 18th hole of the municipal golf course I feel the golf course needs to remain. It is a beautiful golf course that is busy and necessary for our wonderful community. It is accessible and enjoyed by many. We need green spaces. The impact to Glades Road, if sold to a developer will be a nightmare. What about the impact to the schools in the area? KEEP OUR BOCA MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE!
The West Boca course is a lovely course and it is well used by many in PBC. I see no reason why Boca Raton has to sacrifice it so you can keep the East course. Why not have both? Boca Raton is great at allowing development; what they are not great at is planning for traffic. PBC is just as guilty. As more and more people move here, our green spaces become more important to us and it is more important to preserve them. I live on the closed Mizner Trail course and as a resident here since 1998 when it was a running course, I fought for 10 years to stop development. Golf is not a dying industry; that is what the developers want you to believe to justify their purchase of a golf course to develop homes.Don’t buy into it.
I could not agree more.
no more construction in Boca….. It is destroying our way of life
Please don’t try to sell me on the idea that Boca has no golf course. While the municipal course off Glades Road is not within the Boca city limits,it is certainly only a few minutes outside the city limits by car.It is a beautiful golf course that gets a lot of play from Boca residents. Is it really necessary to sacrifice this wonderful course just to have the Ocean Breeze course which would be within the city limits? Looks to me like our city council does not care what happens to the existing course which will be sold to developers and thereby increase the traffic on an already congested Glades Road.I guess that the city council is already counting on the votes of the Boca Teeca residents to help keep them in office. The council cares little about the impact of selling the existing course.
The municipal golf course sell is a done deal so stop whining and realize that the numerous PUBLIC golf courses in west Boca have pushed out the need for the Bica course. I live in East Boca for over 20 years & when I travel west on glades road for golf I do nit stop at the muni course as it only a few more minutes to the preferable Osprey Point.
Why do we have to sacrifice the West Boca course? Why can’t we have both? Glades road is so congested now it makes no sense to sacrifice this green space for more condos. Common sense and quality of life planning will keep Boca as a desirable place to live long after the developers have cashed in and packed up.