This article, originally published by Al Zucaro on BocaWatch.org, is preserved for historical purposes by Massive Impressions Online Marketing in Boca Raton.
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Ocean Strand is relatively large parcel of land the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks District owns and maintains on the west side of AIA between Gumbo Limbo and Spanish River Park. It’s off limits to the public and there are no plans on the table for how that will change any time soon.
The District’s ability to keep the Boca National golf course project moving forward, absent funds coming from anywhere else, also moves forward the idea of liquidating Ocean Strand. One alternative is that the District could raise your taxes, keep Boca National moving forward and keep Ocean Strand belonging to the public.
We’ve made guesses before on how much the golf course opening and improvements to Gumbo Limbo will cost. Let’s just say for argument’s sake it’s $50 million. What if all Boca property owners had to split that cost to save the green space?
What’s YOUR opinion about saving green space in Boca Raton?
Would you support an increase in your taxes so that Ocean Strand isn’t sold to private developers?
Ocean Strand Poll
So you understand the nature and mind set of the anti-growth, CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) people, you have to understand its our own special breed of small town socialism. Throw in a bit of the welfare state and you have sort of an organized freeloader mentality. Its EVERYONES green space until everyone has to pay for it! Spend $7MM here on Wildflower Park, $20MM there on a golf course that no one will use because why the City (i.e. the taxpayers other than yourself) pay for it. Further the people who pay the most taxes such as commercial property owners and folks with large homes are vilified as the evil and greedy developers, etc.–never mind they are also property OWNERS who paid millions for their properties and pay millions in taxes. City and Beach & Park property belongs to ALL the taxpayers not just the “Save our Homes” bunch who live in 1970’s homes. You will never if rarely see a multi-million dollar homeowner or luxury apartment renter whining and complaining at a City Council meeting about traffic this that or the other thing. As a taxpayer I don’t want my taxes spent on money losing, golf course bailouts, frivolous parks only a few will use, buying oceanfront property because 30 people don’t want exactly 2 homes built on the ocean. Andrea O’Rourke who paid a whopping $3K in taxes doesn’t care? Nor does the rest of the freeloader crowd. Further the City makes a good deal on selling its (money losing) western golf course albatross and the freeloaders want to use that money for the new soon to be money losing golf course–why bother? Or worse yet use taxpayer money to SAVE Ocean Strand? Save it from what? taking a $50MM property and actually have Beach & Parks pay their own way on their own insane idea? So back to taxes, if Beach & Parks raises taxes, effectively raising taxed on most Boca City residents they know full well there will be a revolt of epic proportions–no one will survive election. So plan B is to dump this on City tax base. The City in its brilliance just frittered away $3 BILLION (with a B) in investment in Midtown, they bought themselves lawsuits that if victorious would BANKRUPT them……folks this cannot continue and no the City won’t go bankrupt they will just double taxes! The business cycle could run out in 2 years? I told everyone two years ago that whatever the cost to redo the golf course it would be double, NOTHING will delivered on time. The level of fiscal irresponsibility borders on gross negligence. It really has to stop.
In Boca it’s not the ability to pay for what we want. It’s the willingness to. With over 200 million in reserves, taxes should not be raised for any reason…
I agree but I am also thinking the reserves are for unfunded Fire & Police pensions Bill.
NO NEW TAXES ! USE THE RESERVES !
Once the green space is gone there is no going back “to the way it was”.
What in the world are people thinking when it comes to what made Boca Raton a desirable place to live, in the first place? It is not too difficult to figure out who are the people/companies that benefit from the change and why!! Seems like it always comes down to the common denominator, “MONEY” for the choice few.
That’s always what people who don’t contribute their fair share of taxes and money to the situation say–someone else should pay for it, Boca has 1,000+ acres of green space, actually a lot more if you count the open space requirements in the zoning code. No one has used Ocean Strand in decades, it generates no income or taxes. Boca is a desirable place to live because of the employment base, the airport, the mall, 10 million square feet of office space, and lots of expensive SFR, Condo, luxury apartment housing. It has low crime and good infrastructure, great restaurants, Two (2) colleges FAU, Lynn. Great schools both public and private that is the actual reason why Boca is a desirable place to live Ocean Strand, building two homes on the beach or the Wildflower Park which will be a homeless paradise are NOT EVEN IN THE EQUATION. The Mandarin Oriental just like the Ritz Carlton is worth 1000 Ocean Strands, which currently is worthless unused thicket of garbage and scrub.
This is a LOADED misleading question, and not applicable.
Taxes do not have to go up to keep Ocean Strand.
Taxes may have to go up to build a fancy golf clubhouse or other items, but they do not have to go up a penny to keep Ocean Strand. NEVER Sell Green space! Any of it, EVER!
No clubhouse or upgrades to any park is worth losing Ocean Strand. It should not be sold as a trade for something else. Then forget the golf clubhouse and let them use portables till they have the funds.
NO Sale of any park land for ANY reason. Especially Ocean Strand with it’s pristine location.
How about this? We borrow money to fund a study to see if theres actually a willingness to pay more taxes? Then we raise the taxes regardless of what the study says, in order to pay for the study? Just acting on it and being decisive one way or another isn’t resident friendly.
LOL what a reasoned and FLEXIBLE response.
Just stop the incessant construction particularly on East side of Boca; roads are inadequate to accommodate the current traffic and it will be interesting to see what the intersection at Dixie and Camino Real will be like when the planned construction begins on the Northwest corner! Talk about gridlock!
A you a professional engineer? What’s your traffic background?