Free tennis at Gaines and South Olive would end under proposed deal
Proposed court fees, a lawsuit over a convention center hotel, a retreat request on county land and pumpkins on Lakeview.
In West Palm, two big deals are moving ahead over residents' objections. The city would pay a tennis firm $920,000 a year and still charge residents for courts their taxes just rebuilt, and hotel opponents say the county gave them five days' notice before its vote.
Residents have never had to pay to play on the hard courts at Gaines Park and South Olive Park, which were just rebuilt with millions in tax money. That would end under a proposed three-year contract with Let's Play Tennis, based in Palm Beach. The terms come from a draft of the contract Stet obtained from the city while negotiations stay private. Once the deal is final, the city would hand the firm Gaines and Howard right away and South Olive in May.
Under the city's fee schedule, residents would owe $6 an hour in peak hours at Gaines and $9 at South Olive, with lower midday rates. Nonresidents would pay nearly double. An annual pass good at all three centers would run up to $1,380. Howard, with its costly clay courts, has charged for years.
The city would still pay the firm $920,000 a year to staff and run the centers, plus $60,000 a year for Howard's clay, and would keep the first $300,000 the firm earns from lessons, court fees and the like; after that, the firm keeps most of it. In the first year, the city would also pay nearly $100,000 for pro shops and supplies and $80,000 for retention bonuses and startup costs. The deal would push out at least one longtime pro, possibly two. Skip Jackson can stay at South Olive through April 30 under the settlement of his lawsuit. Mark Jones, who has run Howard for decades, says neither the firm nor the city has contacted him: "I'm open for negotiations."
Michael Williams, who organizes clinics at Gaines, called the hard-court fees "absurd." He also objects to different rates at the two parks: "Why should I pay more to play on courts near my house than I would if I drove to ones farther away?" he asked.
Trump club wants county land handed to Washington for a presidential retreat
Trump International Golf Club wants Palm Beach County to give part of the land under its course to the federal government for a presidential retreat, with the course designated the "permanent United States Presidential Golf Course." Club attorney Harvey Oyer made the request in a letter to the county's elected board. The county owns the property. The club would design the lodging with the government and cover the cost of building it.
The White House has confirmed the proposal. Trump said the idea came from the military and Secret Service, not him, but he backs it. A White House statement said the site is "minutes away from the Donald J. Trump International Airport" and has no houses along the course. Oyer's letter says any president, past, current or future and of either party, could use it, as could visiting heads of state.
Arya Tea Bar brings its Clematis Street teas to the GreenMarket
Sophie DeWaal moved to West Palm partly because of the GreenMarket. This season her shop, Arya Tea Bar, is one of five new GreenMarket vendors. The Clematis Street storefront opened in January and pours matcha, loose-leaf tea and fruit refreshers mixed with either tea or lemonade; salted date matcha is the bestseller. DeWaal has drunk tea all her life and says she has "only ever had coffee literally three times." The shop takes its name from Arya, her horse from her show-jumping years in Wellington.
Residents sue to stop a second convention center hotel
Neighbors have sued the city to stop a second convention center hotel, filing the day after the County Commission approved Related Ross's 400-room plan. Residents say the project would ruin the historic Grandview Heights neighborhood; their suit says the city didn't study, before approving the zoning change, whether water, sewer and drainage lines could handle it. City and Related officials declined to comment on the suit.
The 18-story hotel, estimated at $349 million, needed both county and city approval; the city changed its zoning rules Aug. 31. Under the deal, the county takes the 1.8-acre site, paying a net $20 million, Abruzzo said, and leases it to Related for 97 years; because the county will own the hotel, Related won't pay property taxes on it. County commissioners said it would help the Okeechobee Boulevard convention center, which has long struggled, draw big national events.
The residents' attorney said the county broke its own rules by giving just five days' notice of the vote; the county attorney called the notice legally sufficient. Joe Abruzzo, the county administrator, said the timing was partly to suit Related and to protect the county: Related had warned, he said, that every month of delay past Sept. 30 meant a $1.6 million hit to the county. Related officials said the added traffic would mean only three more seconds at the Rosemary Avenue light on Okeechobee, but the suit says that figure came from a 2019 study. City officials say Related still lacks building permits.
Pumpkin patch is open on Lakeview Avenue through Nov. 1
- When
- Through Nov. 1 · Mon. to Thu. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Where
- Mr. Jack O' Lanterns
- Address
- 419 Lakeview Ave.
Pumpkins run from tiny jack-be-littles to giants topping 50 pounds at a seasonal patch at 419 Lakeview Ave., open every day through Nov. 1. Every one comes pre-picked. Visitors can bowl with pumpkins, decorate them and visit the farm animals, with activity tickets sold at the patch. It's run by Mr. Jack O' Lanterns, a family-owned company that also runs patches in California.