Town debates Love Street plan
Jupiter meeting on $30 million outdoor marketplace project goes late into night.
JUPITER — Debate on whether to approve a $30 million outdoor marketplace on Love Street continued late Tuesday from more than 300 people who both blasted and praised the $30 million waterfront project.
Wearing red shirts and toting signs opposing the Love Street development, opponents lined up to tell the council that allowing the $30 million outdoor marketplace would be a wound that will never heal.
“The parking is too tight. The setbacks are too close to the street. The town needs to stop putting the needs of investors before the needs of the people of Jupiter,” said Mike Spellman, a Palm Beach Gardens resident.
Supporters of the proposed outdoor marketplace countered the development will boost business, public access and keep the commercial fishermen operating from the Love Street dock.
A connection to The Riverwalk, water taxi stop, paddle board and kayak rental will boost ecotourism, developer Charles Modica said. The development fits with the town’s inlet village concept. It meets zoning and height requirements, Modica told the council.
“I’m proud of this development,” he said.
Despite Modica’s claims, the development is “just another shopping center,” Cheryl Schneider said.
“We need something that is uniquely Jupiter, such as an artisans’ market,” the Jupiter resident said.
A 45-foot-tall public observation tower and a restaurant-fish market overlooking the Jupiter Inlet are part of the plan. There are about 20 one- and two-story buildings planned. About 36 vacation rental units, each about 400 square feet, would be on the second floor above the retail shops.
A partially underground parking garage with either two or three stories would hold about 200 to 250 vehicles.
Ryan Miller, director of development for Harbourside Place, scoffed at claims that Love Street will be a village.
“This is another major suburban gentrification project. You think you have traf- BOCA RATON — In a potentially sweet deal for a wealthy businessman, consumer-brands company Jarden Corp. might sell its planes to Executive Chairman Martin Franklin after its merger with Newell Rubbermaid.
It’s unclear how much Franklin would pay, but the federal tax code lets owners of business jets depreciate planes’ value to zero in five to seven years. Jarden declined to comment.
“That is a very unusual transaction in a publicly traded company,” said Charles Elson, a corporate governance expert at the University of Delaware. “It ought to give the investors in the company some pause. You begin to wonder: Were the aircraft more for the benefit of the corporation, or for the benefit of the executive?”
According to a deal Franklin and Jarden signed before the company announced its $15 billion merger, if Franklin loses his job, he can buy any of Jarden’s jets at their “value for federal income tax purposes.”
fic problems now. Wait till later. The 250 parking spaces will be used up by the employees,” he said.
Like Harbourside Place and the proposed Suni Sands development, the proposed $30 million Love Street plan has sparked emotional debate in Jupiter. People on both sides of the issue overflowed the 153-capacity council chambers. Another 200 watched on the Internet from other rooms in Town Hall.
More than 3,000 residents signed an online petition opposing the development. Many attached some emotional comments.
Approving Love Street would increase business at the Jupiter Outdoor Center, which rents kayaks on the Jupiter Inlet, said manager Ryan Sullivan. The company employs up to 15 people during the busy season.
“It would help get people in the water on the Jupiter Inlet. That’s what Jupiter is all about,” Sullivan said.
Opponent Kathryn Fagan said all the red shirts in the crowd should tell the council there is strong opposition.
“Look at all the red shirts. We’re not an urban area. We’re a beach town. Let’s stay that way,” said Fagan, a Jupiter resident.