Town mulls uses for $3M land buy

Jupiter has finalized the $2.8 million deal to buy two acres next to Jupiter High School — and the next step is what to do with the vacant property.

Preliminary plans call for building a roundabout on the parcel on Indiantown Road at Daniels Way. Using the land for recreation and municipal services is another consideration, Mayor Todd Wodraska said.

“We’ll look at all options. Nothing will happen for at least a couple years,” said Wodraska.

Daniels Way could be diverted with an opening at Philadelphia Drive. That would reduce the need for U-turns onto Indiantown Road by motorists going west. Adding a traffic light with signalized crosswalks would make the area safer, Wodraska said.

Jupiter High has about 400 student drivers. About 1,500 students are dropped off daily. The school has about 200 employees. About Bill DiPaolo 48,000 vehicles a day travel Indiantown Road between Military Trail and Center Street, according to Jupiter records.

There have been 27 crashes since 2012 adjacent to the property, including three involving bicycles and one involving a pedestrian. Most crashes happened during peak high school traffic periods, according to the town.

Trash and homeless people are growing problems on the tree-covered property. Stolen bikes, furniture and mattresses are dumped there, according to town records.

The property, which is twin equal-sized parcels, was bought by Storm73 LLC in December 2009 for about $1.4 million, according to Palm Beach County records.

Rebel Cook, the Realtor representing the Jupiter-based property owner, said the property brought a strong price because it’s one of the few large vacant parcels on Indiantown Road east of Interstate 95. The property was for sale for seven years, she said.

The property, next to Wendy’s restaurant, is walking distance from Jupiter High, Town Hall, the police station, the town’s Community Center and the El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center.

Two other large properties on Indiantown Road east of I-95 are vacant. They are:

■ A 58-acre parcel straddling Island Way in Jupiter that was bought last summer for $11 million by Crossroads 6101 LLC. The land, just east of I-95 and north of Indiantown Road, was owned by DDR Jupiter Falls, an affiliate of Beachwood, Ohio-based DDR Corp. Hotels, restaurants, warehouses, clinical research, day care and light manufacturing are among the uses allowed under the current zoning.

■ The Hawkeye property on 82 acres is just south of Indiantown Road and east of I-95. Preliminary plans call for 1 million square feet of corporate/high tech office space.