Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Delray Beach’s identity crisis continues
West Atlantic plan ends; Need for developing The Set goes on
Delray Beach – The Set, the name given to the West Atlantic Avenue neighborhood of Delray Beach in 2016, is dead.
Residents and city officials had spent 18 months brainstorming plans for the neighborhood, which they wanted to market as a place to raise a family, open a business and build a sense of community. It encompassed West Atlantic Avenue from Interstate 95 to Swinton Avenue and neighborhoods to its north and south.
But on Tuesday, residents and city officials said there was confusion about its boundaries, residents’ support of the plan and who was in charge of its future. The Community Redevelopment Agency, which includes all five members of the City Commission and two additional members, decided to consider a different name and marketing plan in the future.
“It’s time that we rein this in,” City Commissioner Shirley Johnson said. “The name grates on me. The idea that the community accepted this, and likes this, is not telling the full story.”
The city has been working to redevelop West Atlantic and its surrounding neighborhoods for more than 20 years. In 1996,
officials created the West Atlantic Redevelopment Coalition, a nonprofit designed to oversee the street’s transformation plans. A Fairfield Inn & Suites opened in 2014, the street’s last completed project.
Chuck Ridley, chairman of the coalition, said he was disappointed with the city’s action Tuesday. He said the neighborhood liked the plan for The Set because it gave residents some control over their future. Developers are beginning to show interest in the area as an offshoot of booming East Atlantic Avenue, which is filled with cafes, nightclubs, entertainment and new apartments.
“We didn’t want developers deciding what our brand would be,” Ridley said. “It sounded like they were getting ready to gentrify. Our community will never allow the City Commission to decide this for us.”
The name The Set had several references, including the nearby West Settlers Historic District, which is Delray Beach’s first African-American neighborhood, established in 1894. It also referred to the sun setting in the west and the sets of tennis played at the Delray Beach Tennis Center at 201 W. Atlantic Ave.
“As far as we are concerned, we love that brand,” resident Ernestine Halliday said. “Everybody who lives within The Set is pleased with it.”
But Johnson, who lives in the northwest neighborhood of The Set, said her neighbors were either unfamiliar with the plan or didn’t like it. She said she sees West Atlantic as part of downtown and believes it should not have a separate designation.
Commissioner Angeleta Gray agreed there should be a “seamless downtown.”
“Business owners don’t want it to be called The Set,” she said.
Several agencies that work on downtown projects, including the CRA and the Downtown Development Authority, plan to meet in the near future to decided on a new marketing plan for the area.