HomeMy WebLinkAbout1962-11-04 A Model Town (Palm Beach Post). ,VELOPIviltacr AND
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Point' Offers
eside Lots
NORTH PALM BEACH — Boat-
hig, water sports, beaches, fish-
ing and golf to enjoy all year
long — "and you don't fight tsaf-
fic to enjoy them . . . they're all
right at your doorstep."
These advantages are one sell-
ing point being used to promote
t h e latest residential section
opened at North Palm Beach —
Yacht Club Point.
Yacht Club Point is being de -
'eloped across U. S. 1 from the
present North Palm Beach, right
on the shores of Lake Worth.
The point will be the site c! 217
single - family residences vaiied
from $25,000 to $100,000 each.
Homesites are available on thl
water or inland and are beink,
sold to individual families and 'to
contractors. Each site is c o
pletely improved with all utili-
ties, pi,ved streets, sanitary
sewers anti underground drainage.
A marine. and a yacht club,
motels, a restaurant and a serv-
ice station are to be build at the
north end of the development.
The North Palm Beach Country
Club golf course isjust across
U. S. 1. An extensive moderniza-
tion prograrn is under way at the
club, including an Olympic -size
swimming pool, a new dining
room, a community house a n d
other recreational facilities.
Florida's coast line, in general
outline, is 1,350 statute miles; end
its tidal shoreline, a detailed
nee surernent, is 8,246 statute
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TACOLLE 411; BAIT
"Personal Service for
the Fisherman"
Florida Wotan & Bahama Fishing information
ROO Si RIIL REPAIRS & RENTALS /-
FRESH WATIR LICENSE
349 I. BLUE NINON. MIRA
VI 4-4200
- • -
1,100 acres of barren land in
L)16 to 5,278 residents in 1962 is
tie phenomenal grovvtll story of
th Village of North Palm Beach.
lt was developed by North
Paha Beach Properties Inc. and
chartered as a village Aug. 13,
1956. In 1956 the National Assn.
af H '.ne Builders cited it for ex-
celle. in community planning.
No ••er community in Palm
Beacl County has enjoyed as
much '"owth or praise.
Max. -Him population of 15,000,
set b5 the physical boundaries
of the -iliage and the restrictions
on property use, is foreseen by c
NORTH PALM BEACH — From 1970, according to Village igen-
ager Albin Olson.
Reason for the growth?
"We •are a new community and
we have more to offer than other
communities in the area by being
a new community," was Olson's
opinion. "Another factor may be
we have one of the lowest
rates (seven mills) of any
nicipality in Florida."
The Village of North Palm
Beach had more to offer its resi-
dents before the first homesite
was sold than many municipali-
ties have after years of develop-
ment —a $125,000 village hat, a
city manager, a mayor, town
ouncil, police and fire protection.
ENTRANCE TO NORTH PALM BEACH COUNTRY CLUB
5,278 People In Six Years
Village Booming
That was the plan of Richard
E. and Herbert A. Rose, who de-
signed the community.
Philosophy behind North Palm
Beach's community planning is
told in the citation oti the front of
the village's protective covenant
"A home is not a detached unit
but a part of a neighborhood,
which in turn is part of a town,
and the good quality of the home
umially depends at leastras much
on its. surroundings as on its de -
sin and construction. Hence the
vital importance of ground plan-
ning and control of the develop-
ment of neighborhoods."
The June 30 population of 5,278
lied in 1,302 houses valued at
$2,334,609. (Value of each house
averages more than $22,530.)
At the end of June, 30 houses
were under construction in North
Palm Beach — an indication that
the village is continuing a healthy
g ,owth.
The Village of North Palm
Beach became eligible to become
a city when its population reached
5,400. But Olson predicts, with
the 15,000 maximum population,
that it will continue to be a vil-
lage.
"I think the people would pre-
fer it," he explained.
Interior Lands
Problem Solved
The interior sections of North-
ern Palm Beach County were at
ore time almost marginal swamp
lands, in spite of the fact that,
op -aking in Florida terms, the
land was quite high.
The problem was basically one
01 proper drainage — a solvable
problem, since there was suffi-
ci,nt elevation to provide gravity
flow to the ocean.
One of the many benefits of the
Cmtral and South Florida Flood
Control District has been to pro -
'vide this drainage, and to create
a vast tract of high and dry land
; .( he nroas•
Palm Beach Post -Times, Sunday, Nov. 4, 1962
C-3
North Palm Beach Gets Praised
Model' Town
Few housing developments have
received as much national recog-
nition as North Palm Beach.
The Christian Science Monitor
pointed out that the town started
with a $125,000 village hall, a city
manager, mayor, town council,
police and fire protection before
it had a single resident . . ."
The 'National Assn. of Rome
Building Journal lauded North
Palm Beach promoters for pro-
viding more than Just houses.
"People today want more than
a house when they buy — they
want a new and better mode
of living." North Palm Beach
offered this "extra."
The American Builder praised
the town as "a model in land
planning . . . a model of national
significance . . "
Florida Opportunity Journal
called the town "one of the most
attractive and desirable places one
could hope to choose as a place
in which to live."
Words of praise for North Palm
Beach are words of praise for the
two Men who conceived the mod-
el town — and carried out their
dreams.
In 1955Richard E. and Herb-
ert A. Roes took ,12 acres of
bull grass and scrub pains, on
Lake Worth between the Ear.
man River and the Intracoastal
Waterway, and started dreaming
of a planned residential com-
munity of comfortable homes,
conveniently close to shopping,
schools, churches, already nat-
urally endowed with recreation
opportunities.
So strongly did the Ross broth-
ers believe in "ground planning"
that they actually created a town
with all municipal features before
they ever sold a homesite.
They set aside 10 acres of land
valued at $96,000 for .an elemen-
tary school. They rebuilt a nearby
country club and provided zoning
to protect property value. This
was North Palm Beach.
Success ot the Ross brothers'
dream Is shown in the sky-
rocketing Population of North
Palm Beach — .from 2,004 in
1960 to 4,300 In November, 1061,
is 5,090 In 1962. Maxinnun popu-
lation of 15,000 is forecast by
1970.
The Ross Constriction Co. was
formed in 1946, concentrating on
residential and other construc-
tion in Fort Lauderdale, Miami
and Hollywood.
$1.4 Million Rec
Program
NORTH PALM BEACH —
In
an area where natural recrea-
tional opportunities — the ocean
and beaches — are enough to
attract thousands of residents
from the north, the Village of
North Palm Beach is taking the
extra step:
Providing residents of this
booming village with a $1.4 mil-
lion recreation program.
The program includes a village -
owned country club, complete wtih
golf course and a swimming pool
meeting Olympic and Pan-Amer-
ican swimming competition regu-
lations.
Village property owners gave
unqualified support to the pro-
gram when they voted 570 to
74 for a bond issue to finance it.
Looking into the future this is
what the village residents ap-
proved — a dream of a municipal
recreation program:
Purchase of the North Palm
Beach Country Club of 145.19
acres, including its golf course,
trucks and equipment, at a cost
of $1,015,000. This phase already
Provided
ming pool, with related facilities
such as wading pools for children,
deck areas, dressing rooms shel-
ters for spectators, furniture, din-
ing room and terrace, expanded
parking, golf course improvements
and a new clubhouse. This phase
is to cost $415,000.
The bond debt is to be paid in
27 years. Increasing valuation of
property in the rapidly growing
village is expected to produce
more revenue to help retire it, ac-
cording to Village Manager Albin
Olson.
Assessed valuation of real prop-
erty within the village will be $70
million or more by January, 1970,
Olson predicts.
In addition to tax money, expect-
ed profit from operation of the
golf course and swimming pool
be used to retire the debt.
Indications of success of the vil-
lage -owned country club are shown
in cash receipts during January,
1962, first month of municipal op-
eration. They were $22,542, com-
pared with $17,462 it, ,T,Htilary,
In July, 1950, the company
moved its activities to West Palm
Beach and, under various co,
porate names, developed approxi- 4
mately 12 different subdivisions in
West Palm Beach, Lake Worth
and Palm Beach County. Total
construction was approximately
3,000 homes.
But the climax of their con-
struction activities is North
Palm Beach.
Richard Ross, 48, lives with
his wide and two daughters at
1185 North Lake Trail, Palm
Beach. He attended Pratt Insti-
tute in Brooklyn, where he ma-
jored in architecture. From 1941
until 1945 he worked for major
construction firms in the country
as an engineer, assisting in super-
vising construction of air fields,
aircraft plants and other heavy
industrial construction.
A graduate of Vanderbilt Uni-
versity with B. S. and M. S. de-
grees in chemical engineering,
Herbert Ross, 94, lives with his
wife and five children at 4900
S.W. 80th St., Miami. After grads-
ation from Vanderbilt he was em-
ployed by DuPont. He was dirt -
charged from the Navy at the
end of World War II as a lieu-
tenanietcord isete mander.
Rhaeteher et the
Urban Land Institute and a di-
rector ot the First American
Bank In North Palm Bench.
Herbert is a past president of
the Home builders Assn. of Palm
Beach County and a past national
director of the National Assn. of
Horne Builders.
Dickinson Park
Will Be Major
Area Rec Site
Jonathan Dickinson state park,
at the extreme northeast corner
of Palm Beach County, is being
developed as one of the foremost
outdoor recreation areas of the
county.
The terrain of the park is dif-
ferent from that in much of the
county. Small, rolling sand dunes
create the impression of real hills
to eyes that are accustomed to
the flat plains which exist in most
of the county.
A Girl Scout camp, Camp We -
lake, is already operating in the
park. A Boy Scout camp is near-
by on the Loxahatehee River.
The scout camps have a limited
number of cabins, and they are
much in demand in the summer
camping season.
However, outdoor camping sit,
ha, alrenriv