Riviera Beach City Council on Feb. 5 approved an ordinance to abandon portions of Avenue C and East 20th Street to allow redevelopment of the Safe Harbor Marina campus and separately approved a related text amendment that lets waterfront projects request a payment in lieu of some landscape requirements.

The council voted unanimously on the abandonment ordinance (first reading) after staff and the applicant described the project footprint, an approximately 4.81-acre development area within an 18.72-acre site, and a staff-calculated privilege fee tied to adjacent property values. Clarence Sermons, director of development services, said the project footprint, zoning (Downtown Core/Downtown Marine) and future land-use designation (downtown mixed use/working waterfront) were presented to council and that staff had reviewed the applicant’s privilege-fee calculation with the finance director.

Why it matters: The abandonment clears public right of way to consolidate property for a new marine service area, maintenance office and parking; council and neighbors repeatedly pressed for assurances that revenue from the abandonment would benefit the adjacent Lakeview Park neighborhood and address long-standing infrastructure issues there.

Discussion and changes: During deliberations councilmembers, staff and the applicant addressed two distinct concerns: the ordinance language that identifed a dollar amount and the question of how any privilege fee would be allocated. Councilmember Spiritus and others pressed staff on whether the ordinance should permanently appropriate a specific dollar amount; City Attorney Winn and staff noted that typical practice is to avoid hard dollar amounts in ordinances and to place project conditions and funding allocations in a site-plan resolution. Councilmember Spieridis offered an amendment to strike the section of the ordinance that fixed the privilege-fee language and to place the fee and the negotiated community conditions in the site-plan resolution instead. That amendment was adopted by unanimous roll call.

Public comments: Three residents who live immediately north of the site spoke in support of the project so long as improvements and funds are directed to Lakeview Park. Scott Lewis said Safe Harbor “has worked consistently for the 6 months that I’ve been involved,” and urged council to direct revenue toward road, seawall and drainage repairs. Brandy Davis Balzano, president of the Lakeview Park Neighborhood Association, told council the abandonment was necessary for the project and urged that funds be used for neighborhood infrastructure. Margaret Shepherd also urged that the community receive benefits once the land is redeveloped.

Separate but related text amendment: On the same agenda the council approved Ordinance No. 4278, a text amendment to city code allowing working-waterfront projects and projects in the Port future-land-use district to provide a contribution in lieu of certain landscape requirements. Principal planner Kurt Thompson told council the Safe Harbor project would contribute approximately $277,023.61 “plus or minus” to meet that requirement, subject to inflation and final site-plan calculations. Staff said the amendment would give developers an option where landscaping requirements would otherwise require removal of substantial concrete and create practical issues.

Votes: The abandonment ordinance and the amendment to remove the privileged-fee dollar figure were adopted unanimously (5-0). The landscaping text amendment passed on first reading 4-0, with Chair McCoy recorded as absent for that vote.

Next steps: Council directed staff to include the privilege-fee calculation and the community conditions in a forthcoming site-plan resolution and to bring the fully documented site plan back for the council’s action at second reading. That resolution will detail the conditions staff says were negotiated with the applicant and the community and will carry enforceable conditions tied to the site plan.