HomeMy WebLinkAbout1955-07-10 Planning Experts To Set Pattern For New Development (Palm Beach Post)panning Ex s To Set Pattern For New
Development North Of Town Of Lake Park
Establishment of a new resi-*
de.,ial community of North Palm
Beast, along U.S. 1 and the shore
^f Lake Worth, north of Lake
Pa:'-, was farecast here Saturday
in a ,, pint am, nnncementt from the
John L. MacAi,t,ur interests of
'hicago ail 1 Ross. Construction
coma -an of West Palm Bea 'h,
Approxi_ -<t;.e'-7 3,500 homes, a
business distraca and all the tecre-.
ational and cultural facilities of
a modern community plan to-
gether with water and sewerage
service, will be included in the
area according to the developers,
following the overall plan approv-
ed by the MacArthur interests.
Thansfer of 970 acres, wit
three miles of frontage on U.S
No. 1 and about two miles o
riparian frontage on the wes
shore of Lake Worth, was corn
pleted Saturday, at a price o
$2,870,000.
MacArthur, president of the Ban
ers Life and Casualty Company
recently purchased most of th
Town of Lake Park and adjacen
lands to the north.
In June MacArthur signed a con
tract with the Ross firm for con
atruction of a sewage and wat
stem to serve his vast holding
the Lake Park area and this proj
t the system will cost $1,700,
0 — and the land sale brough
e total amount involved in th
nsaction to more than $41/z'mit
n, the' MacArthur organizati
nounced.
The Chicago business executive
o in the past few months ha
ested heavily in property her
nd at Miami, said ,the land sol
to the local firm represents th
first part of his holdings which wil
be released for development.
The parcel purchased by th
Ross interests — a company to b
known as North Palm Beach, Inc.
—extends from the northern limit
of Lake Park north to the Inlan
Waterway at Juno Beach. East an
West the area extends from th
shores of Lake Worth west to Pros
perity Farms Road. The area sur-
rounds the Palm Beach Winte
Club which was retained by Mac
Arthur.
The future envisioned for the
Lake Park area — founded as Kel-
sey City and later purchased by
the late Sir Harry Oakes — has
been lauded by many residents,
among them County Commissioner
Kenneth Foster in whose district
the new development is located.
Foster expressed confidence in the
men who will have a part in shap-
ing the future of this large unde-
veloped tract.
Commissioner Foster said Mac-
Arthur brings to Palm Beach Coun-
!ty "the same wealth of good ideas
and sound business judgement that
have earned him international suc-
oess."
The new development includes
plans for construction of 3,500 new
homes, plus shopping centers and
associated commercial facilities;
schools, parks and playgrounds,
churches and all other facilities' for
modern Florida living.
MacArthur said a site for Palm
Beach Junior College could be
made available in lands which he
holds outside the area sold to the
IRoss firm.
In .preliminary plans drafted by
the engineering firm of Brockway,
lWeber and Brockway, the commu-
nity is shown as a. city of canals
(with extensive waterfront property.
61The network of canals will be
in with, the Inland waterway
the Earrnan Riv-
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Page 36 THE PALM BEACH POST -TIMES, Sunday, July 10, 1955
BIG TRANSACTION —When 970 acres of land north of the Town of
Lake Park was transferred from John D. MacArthur, of Chicago, to
the Ross Construction Co. of West Palm Beach Saturday, these two
men represented the seller. Left is George English, Fort Lauder-
dale attorney who drew up the contracts, and right, Charles A.
Cunningham, Chicago, MacArthur's personal representative:
er on the south. Future develop-
ment of these two main waterways
will furnish the new community
with its own chain of waterways
with facilities for boating and fish-
ing. Plans for the project include
a marina anchorage near the in-
land Waterway on the north. For
air travel, a heliport is planned for
the south section of the area.
T h e development corporation
said ,the Lake Park area will be a
"planned community" with the
pattern of progress and construc-
tion to be shaped by land planning
experts.
Wbrk on the water and sewerage
plant is expected to be underway
in about 90 days and starting of
these improvements will be follow-
edfby over-all development of the
area.
North Palm Beach, Inc., stock-
holders are Richard E. and Herbert
A. Ross, John S. Schwencke and
Jay H. White. All have been asso-
ciated with the Ross firm for the
past several years.
Completing the land sale were
William Blakeslee and Raymond
C. Alley, attorneys for the Ross
interests; George English, Jr. Ft.
Lauderdale, attorney for the seller;
and Charles A. Cunningham, per-
sonal representative for MacArthur,
hion and fit!
:Continued from Page one)
Town Writes
:representative Charles A. Cunning-
; ham, proposed a franchise arrange-
; ment June ,70, withdrew his pro-
posal eight days later and ordered
the town to vacate the municipal
buildings at the expiration of the
current lease, July 15.
Cunningham announced earlier
this week that the local law firm of
Burns, Middleton, Rogers and Far-
rell had been retained to prepare
a suit to dissolve the Town of Lake
Park or, as an alternative, with-
: draw the vast MacArthur holdings
from the town limits.
The letter, which outlines t h e
history of Lake Park . since its in-
corporation in 1923, states: "We
wish only to sit down on an equal
basis, arrive at an agreement that
is mutually satisfactory and get on
ith the business of making Lake
rk the best residential commu-
tv in Florida."
Taken one -by -one, the issues
hich have forced the split between
e town and MacArthur are ex-
ained in detail.
"1. THE COLLEGE. By a voice
over 80 per cent, in a recent
aw vote, the people showed they
cognized that a college would be
asset, and enhance the value
surrounding properties. When
invited the college to Lake. Park,
e Tesdern Corporation, former
ners and holders of therever-
on rights, made the building
ailable for town use and waived
e reversion clause on the Town
11. THIS MOVE WAS TO BE AT
e COST TO' THE TOWN, HOW,-
VER, IT WAS NECESSARY TO
s' END OVER $5,000.00 for moving
om the town hall, but a token
rental of $10.00 only, per year, was
charged the School Board. This ar-
rangement continued for three
I years, until July 1954, at which
time, anticipating a similar cost of
$5,000.00 when the college finds a
permanent home, the Commission,
by lease, arrived at a yearly rental
of $2400.00 for the use of the Town
;Hall, an arrangement most satis-
:factory to the School Board,
"The Town tried to make Lake
Park a permanent home for the
College, but not having sufficient
lands of its own, appealed to the
then owners of the property you
`have acquired. They were very
sympathetic, but did not have auth-
ority to act. Mr. MacArthur, we
still feel and have told your repre-
sentative many times. that a wor-
thy college would benefit all con-
cerned. We have demonstrated
plans to accomplish this, but he
speaks of plans to revamp the golf
courseand repeats that he wants a
water and sewage franchise, favor-
able to him.
"2. REVERSION CLAUSE. Due
to reversion rights reportedly pass-
ed to you by deed, a heavy sword
hangs by a slender cord over our
beautiful lake front park ball field,
our town hall, boat basin, serv-
ice alleys and many other assets.
A misstep on the part of an unin-
itiated person, or by some mis-
chance, could deprive the town of'.
one or more of its remaining as-
sets. Your local representative
hows little interest in this, merely
dicating he would consider
orking it out" when he gets a
ater and sewage franchise favor
le to him.
"3. SALE OF ISOLATED' LOTS..
or 30 years hundreds of people
awe been ready and anxious to
urchase Iots for building their own
homes in other than a project
town. Practically all individually
owned lots have been sold and
built on. You hold many such par-
cels, now having adequate ' 'ater
supply, which could not profitably
b developed- on -a large scale. -Your
local representative was asked if
i he would consider sale of these,
parcels, as a gesture of good faith.
He replied that he had shown good.
faith when he paid your taxes; that
these lots might be released when
he gets what he wants, and -he
wants a franchise for water and
sewage, favorable to him.
"Your recent order to vacate
the premises presently used as a
town hall, within 15 days, came as
a surprise'. It is true we pay you
but $1.00 per year as rent, but we
maintain the building, pay the tax-
es on it, and carry insurance cov-
ering it, ,at a cost exceeding $1200.
per year. We trust and hope that
your act was not motivated by a
desire to sever relationships with
the town.
"Since the utilities seem to be
the issue upon which negotiations
must needs hinge, let's outline
some comparative plans:
"1. GENERAL BOND ISSUE.
First suggested by your represen-
tative, wherein he requested that
the Commission float a general
bond issue which you would likely
purchase. This plan was not pur-
sued further. Also, it is not con-
sidered favorably by this Commis-
sion; nor by the residents, we are
sure, because of the undue burden
it would place on them.
"2. FRANCHISE PLAN, as pre-
sented by yourrepresentative(and
Withdrawn shortly after being ta-
bled for a few day's study/by the
commission.)
(a 30 year franchise, -town to
have purchase option, at -
then market value, upon er- (Continued from Page one)
piration.
(b Franchise to be sold or as- Sewage, Water
signed by you.
(c Water rates: 30 cents per
1000 gallons.
(d) Sewer rates: 85 per cent of
water bill.
(No sliding scale on either on the water and sewage disposal
water or sewer rates) plant, for which MacArthur signed
No written agreement asto
fire hydrants.
Present' system to be pur-
chased by ybu, or franchise
holder, at a figure to be ar-
bitrated. (Stated value of
new tank: $15,000.00)
"3. SPECIAL ASSESSMENT.
Plan now being considered and
studied by Town Commission (to
be presented to residents as "town
owned" plan, as alternate choice
to equitable "franchise plan" we
hope you will approve; at least in
substance.)
(a) Each property benefited to
be assessed- its proportiop-
ate share.
(b) Venture backed by antici-
pated- revenue warrants.
(c) Estimated warrant maturity
— 10 years.
(e)
(f)
mg interest.
(e) Water charges — try to
maintain present low rate of
$2.25 for first 5000 gallons,
10 cents per 1000 gallons
thereafter.
(f) Sewer. charges _ to be oper-
ated on a non-profit basis,
approximately by $1.50 per
family, per month.
"4. A FRANCHISE PLAN. PRO-
POSED BY THE TOWN.
(a) Negotiablefranchise issued
to you for equitable amount.
(b) Adequate fire hydrants. with
maximum charge, or no
charge.
(c)• Expiration In 30 years.
(d) System to be depreciated in
33 1-3 years.
(e) Option to town to purchase
at expiration, at a price not
to exceed 10 per cent of the
original cost.
(f) Water rates: 30 cents per
thousand for first 10,000 gal-
lons, 20 cents per . thousand
thereafter.
(g) Present town water system
to be purchased by you or
franchise holder at price to
be agreed upon, or on agree-
ment whereby you assume
present assets and liabilities
in exchange- for part or all
of the 10 per cent mentioned
in (e) above.
(h) Furnish only water of equal
or better quality, and from
the same or better strata
presently constituted Lake Park.
Ross said that within 30 days fol-
lowing the start of construction
a contract last 'week in the amount
of $1,700,000 and which will be
constructed by the Ross firm,
building would start on the first
home in the area.
He was emphatic on the question
of whether they would be of the
"project type" homes. He said that
they would all have different- frdnt
elevations and that the nature of
the development would tend to dif-+.
fer from the usual sterotype sub -I
division.
MacArthur. making his first visit
here since purchase of the property
—which also includes several thou-
sand feet of ocean -front property;
on Singer's Island —said that he
deplored the attitude of officials in
the town of Lake -Park- which
forced him to make the decision
to withdraw all of . his property
(d) Estimated average cost — from the town through a circuit
approximately $50.00 p e r cow action. {
year per building lot, includ- he said:rating upon the situation
"Control of the town of Lake
Park apparently has fallen into the
hands of obstructionists. Even with
a handful of houses and a popula-
tion of less than 400 their water
supply is inadequate. They have 1
no sewer system or sewage. dispo-
sal
plant. They have no money to 1
build them and they refuse to per-
mit them to be built by others. I
would not take the responsibility
of pernfitting builders to put homes
on these lots because I am reliably
informed the health - of the entir
community would be -jeopardized
unless a sanitation system is built.
I propose, with the help of my
associates, to develop North Palm
Beach on a master plan with ade-
quate public utilities.
"I have retained the law firm
of Burns, Middleton, Rodgers and
Farrell to file a suit seeking to
dissolve the city government of
Lake Park. The sewage disposal
plant we are building in North'
Palm Beach will be large enough;
to accommodate the territory now
incorporated in Lake Park. This
is also true of the water plant and '
we will supply that area when the
litigation is finished.
"Last year we paid to the City
of Lake Park more than $35,000
in taxes. In addition, we gave them {
free rent on the city hall, the fir
station, etc. Further the Pal
Beach Winter Club which we own!:
contributed $5,500 to the city fire
source as is presently fur- department. The city in its tax levy
nished the Town of Lake
Park.
(I) All building lots to be fur-
nished water and sewage
facilities as soon as reason-
ably possible, upon demand
of lot owner, and at an
agreed "hook on" cost.
(j) Sewer rates $1.75 per unit;
50 cents each additional
bath. - - -
The letter - concludes:
"Mr. MacArthur, please bear In.
mind that neither the Commission
nor the people of Lake Park have
broken off negotiations. We have
worked diligently, discussing prob-
lems, meeting with engineers, fi-
nanciers and attorneys, attempting
to formulate plans, . at an early
date, acceptable to all concerned,
which will permit us to furnish
what the townspeople need, and
what you have requested. We feel
that you and your local agent have
never seriously shown the true
spirit of negotiation. We wish only
to sit down on an equal basis, ar-
rive at an agreement that is mu-
tually satisfactory and get onwith
the business of making Lake;Park
the best residential community in
Florida."
made a charge for fire plugs which
did not exist and for municipa
services they did not render. I a
confident any court in the la_
would find there is no justificatio
for Lake Park's existence. The col-
lege is welcome to use the city hall
for their building provided they
pay no tribute. Last year the Lake
Park commissioners collected $2,-;
400 from the college fora building i
they did not build.
"Many civic -minded, capable cit-
izens of this community have of-
fered to cooperate with me in
building North Palm Beach. 'Ross
Brothers, who have demonstrated
their ability, have purchased the
land between the Winter Club and
the northern boundary of what is
now known as Lake Park. Their
purchase included the west shore
of Lake . Worth. Consideration was
$2,870,000. They plan to build 3:
500 homes complying strictly with
the master plan for the new city.
Before the month is out, one of
three competent operators will
purchase the Winter Club and
make it thefinest golf club on the -
East Coast. When the Lake Park
litigation is disposed of, at least
the north half will be developed in
accordance with the master plan.
Charles A. Cunningham, our Flor-
ida representative, has submitted
proposals from four other builders
anxious to join the group. We will
select at least one more within the
near future." -