LWB voters could cast ballots in March on city charter changes
Lake Worth Beach city commissioners are scheduled Aug. 19 to consider seven potential referendums, some that would allow development at beach, golf course
Lake Worth Beach voters may soon be asked to approve city charter changes to allow hotels at the beach and golf course, raise building heights, extend city commission terms, and eliminate election runoffs.
On Aug. 19, city commissioners are scheduled to consider seven potential charter changes for the March 2026 ballot, which will not include any City Commission seats.
“This is a good opportunity to engage the city-wide electors regarding potential charter amendments,’’ according to a memo in the backup material.
To meet a Dec. 5 deadline for submitting ballot questions to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, commissioners would need to approve ordinances for the referendums by November.
Although the charter changes are not being put forth for discussion because of a single proposal, city officials said, two of the potential ballot questions would also serve as a straw poll of what city voters think of the unsolicited Horizons redevelopment proposal to renovate the city golf course and to build Hyatt hotels at the beach and golf course.
The charter only allows for leases of less than 30 years on city-owned land east of A1A and less than 20 years on land west of A1A. “The limit on lease terms may be prohibitive of investment and redevelopment in the City,’’ the memo says.
The charter changes would allow for longer-term leases, such as 50 or 75 years, which Horizons is seeking as part of a private-public partnership with Lake Worth Beach.
The commission may consider making the question specific to a certain property or properties, certain use or uses or related to a specific project.
Also on Aug. 19, city commissioners are scheduled to finalize a formal policy on public private partnership proposals. The so-called “P3” policy and the potential charter changes would help the city deal with new investment and redevelopment opportunities.
Horizons submitted its proposal early this year, but the City Commission has yet to host a formal discussion or presentation of the project.
Still, representatives of the Horizon private investment group have been trying to drum up support for the project by offering presentations to neighborhood groups this summer, with more set for the fall.
The next two presentations are Aug. 13 at the Vernon Heights Neighborhood Association meeting and Aug. 18 at the Parrot Cove Neighborhood Association meeting.
“There will be many people that may not like it, but we happen to believe, and we have some data to support it, an overwhelming majority would support it,” Richard Pinsky, a former city lobbyist working as Horizon’s lead representative, said at a presentation last month.
“We would like to see it go to referendum so the city elected officials can see firsthand what the silent majority, for a lack of a better term, feels about it,’’ he said.
Three potential charter changes would affect city commission terms and elections:
Extending the term limits for the mayor and commissioners to three consecutive three-year terms instead of two straight three-year terms, which was approved by voters in 2022. A commissioner could run for mayor or a mayor for commissioner after serving nine years, but the maximum time they could stay in office without a break would be 18 years.
Eliminating runoff elections, which cost at least $52,500, by allowing the winning candidate to be determined by whoever gets the greatest number of votes.
Allowing the County Elections Supervisor to certify city election results instead of the City Commission.
Another potential ballot question is whether to delete the sections of the charter related to the city’s police and fire departments. Those departments no longer exist since those services were taken over years ago by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
And another potential charter change would increase building height limitations, currently limited to 65 feet east of Dixie Highway, 100 feet west of Dixie and 87 feet (matching the Gulfstream Hotel) in the small area north of First Avenue South and south of Lake Avenue and east of South Lakeside Drive and west of South Golfview Road.
The city might face a challenge on the building height referendum because of a state law approved in 2023 that prohibits the use of an “initiative or referendum process in regard to any land development regulation,’’ according to the city memo.
“The City Commission may consider putting forward a referendum question to remove the building height limitations out of the Charter and put them in the Comprehensive Plan and/or the Land Development Regulations,’’ the memo says.
An ordinance for each referendum question authorized by the commission would be placed on a future agenda for consideration.
As long as they're proposing more changes to the City Charter, let's go back to citywide elections for commissioner seats and No No No to extended term limits. Serving as a local Elected was never intended to be a career! Happy to vote yes to eliminate run-off elections. And please, give voters the chance to restore "Lake Worth" as our city's name. And not for nothing, let's limit the number of Charter changes the Commission can initiate.