A draft plan with handwritten edits, which WPTV obtained through a public records request, shows that city officials and consultants hired by the city had different opinions on the contents of a report aimed at to re-envision the West Palm Beach waterfront.

Although Street Plans consultants found that the amount of time people spend at the waterfront suggests potential for additional amenities and activities, some recommendations are “crossed out,” suggesting their removal from the final report.

For example, Flagler Road currently has four lanes. Consultants highlighted that a reduction to two lanes would support the number of cars using the road while managing pedestrian safety challenges, including reducing the average speed of drivers to posted limits. The recommendation is crossed out.

In another example, consultants found inadequate bicycle parking along the waterfront and highlighted the need for more dedicated bicycle parking solutions. The entire section is blocked off whilst remaining within the cycle parking schemes currently in place.

The changes also dilute waterside issues. In a section titled “Maintenance of Public Spaces,” the consultants said the diversity of private and public properties and the level of resources available to the city and other maintenance partners are clearly not keeping pace. He continues by saying:

“…Stakeholders are fielding numerous complaints, including inadequate cases for facilities such as toilets, cleanliness issues, poor landscaping maintenance and deteriorating sidewalk infrastructure. The current maintenance program does not meet the desires or expectations of the community and highlights a clear need for additional resources to maintain the waterfront.

This entire section is boxed out and replaced with “…is a challenge.”

WPTV contacted a city spokesperson Friday evening about the changes and did not receive a response via publication. A call to Street Plans, the consulting group, went straight to voicemail.

The consultants suggested 10 big ideas to help “activate” the waterfront. They include:

• Adopt a waterfront management model
• Rethinking the waterfront into a premier unified open space
• Rethinking the waterfront + Access to water
• Activate the waterfront promenade
• Complete the Lake Trail Loop
• Redesigning Flagler Road as a Complete Street
• Implement rapid impact initiatives
• Creating an organized and coordinated program schedule
• Prioritizing waterfront stewardship
• Improve safety perceptions

The term “stewardship” refers to finding a group, such as a department or designated entity, to oversee waterfront planning. The report attributes this to the consistent redevelopment of the waterfront, predicted in previous studies.
It also calls for the city to add more shade and places for people to sit, particularly on the waterfront promenade. The consultants’ report says making it easier to walk and bike along the waterfront promenade is a central focus of the document.

Notably, the report does not include any plans or recommendations to build a new marina. Street Plans was hired after the city rejected an unsolicited proposal to build a private marina after backlash from people organized by a nonprofit called the Downtown Neighborhood Association.

Mayor Keith James supported an unsolicited bid from a company called City Harbor, LLC, based in Jupiter, to create a second marina. This would transform public land into an 84-slip marina stretching from Clematis to Fern streets.

The consultant’s report clearly mentions the current marina as a visual barrier, preventing the public from seeing the lagoon. But the part was crossed out, along with a section where the consultant discussed ensuring future developments to prioritize clear visual access to waterways.. He also repeatedly crossed out mentions of support for a new marina.

The consultant’s report also shows strong support for upgrading current docks to better accommodate different sizes of boats. The sentence was also crossed out.

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