Land designated for preservation may shrink

Hotel, retail, apartments could be built on land

On Friday, the Palm Beach County Planning Commission endorsed an $84 million development that could place a hotel, assisted-living facility, restaurants and price-capped apartments in the 21,000-acre Agricultural Reserve, whose mission is to preserve farming in South Florida.

A hotel, assisted-living facility, restaurants and price-capped apartments could be built in a farming region west of Delray Beach.

The Palm Beach County Planning Commission endorsed the$84million project in a 5-4 vote Friday, despite concerns from county planners that it could undermine the 21,000-acre Agricultural Reserve’s mission to preserve farming in South Florida.

County commissioners on July 26 are expected to consider whether to waive some rules on building in the region, allowing developers to preserve less land in exchange for the construction of pricecapped apartments geared toward teachers, police officers and other moderateincomeworkers.

The development would be on 51 acres on the northeast corner of Atlantic Avenue and Starkey Road, west of Florida’s Turnpike.

Developers are proposing a 130-room hotel, a 115-bed assisted-living center, 75,000 square feet of retail space and a 360-unit apartment building, including 144 price-capped units. They are pledging to preserve 15 acres in the Ag Reserve, which is less than the 30 acres that would traditionally need to be preserved for such a project.

Theproject addresses pressing needs for additional assisted-living facilities and affordable housing, said Neil Schiller, an attorney representing Morningside Partners