Gardens approves 515 homes in Alton, new road, traffic light

Signal will be at intersection of Hood Road, new Alton Road.

Palm Beach Gardens officials approved a plan for 515 more homes in the Alton development, plus a new road and traffic signal to make it safer to turn left out of the Mandel JCC.

The 316 single-family homes and 199 townhouses will be built south of Grandiflora Road on a roughly 95-acre parcel.

The entire Alton property — formerly known as the Briger tract — is about 680 acres, Planner Don Hearing said. The City Council approved the site plan at its May 4 meeting.

Developer KH Alton, a subsidiary of Kolter Homes, will com- plete Alton Road between Hood and Grandiflora Roads. Alton Road will connect to Beckman Terrace, a new east-west road to be built by Kolter. Beckman Terrace will start at the entrance of the Mandel Jewish Community Center.

Eventually, there will be a traffic signal at the intersection of Alton and Hood Roads. Left turns from Gross Pointe Road will then be banned, according to a city staff report.

“That is an increase in safety for our residents,” Erin Kelley, a senior planner for the city, told the Council.

The overall plan for the Alton community between Hood and Donald Ross Roads approved in 2010 included about 2,700 homes, close to 2 million square feet of office and retail space, 2.6 million square feet of biotech research and 300 hotel rooms, Hearing said.

Even with the houses approved at the May 4 meeting, developer KH Alton will have built about 1,000 fewer homes than approved, Hearing and Kelley said.

The single-family homes are in contemporary, island or Mediterranean styles of architecture, Hearing said.

Vice Mayor Mark Marciano complimented the homes for the architecture and layout.

“It separates Palm Beach Gardens. It makes it kind of special,” he said. “I’m happy with what you’ve done.”

A recreation center for residents approved last May is under construction at the intersection of Alton and Grandiflora Roads, Hearing said.

A roughly 8.5-acre public park is on the plans for the future.