The final report on West Palm Beach’s downtown waterfront urges the city to appoint a waterfront czar for the city’s signature asset.
It also recommends creating more shade, making the area feel safer and adding everyday activities to balance the major events that dominate the public space.
After the collapse of an effort in July 2023 to allow a marina on the waterfront, Mayor Keith James commissioned the community study to set a direction for the area between the Flagler Memorial and Royal Park bridges.
City staff and consultants presented their 89-page report Monday during a meeting with the mayor and city commissioners.
“The shared perspective here is that the waterfront needs stronger, more unified management or stewardship,” Charisma Adams of Articulate Consulting said during the meeting. “Not just project by project, but as a whole system.”
People who visit the waterfront are concerned about the presence of people experiencing homelessness, and about nighttime safety and lighting, the report found.
They want to see that the waterfront is cared for and that there is a visible management presence, Adams said.
Waterfront quarterback
The mayor countered that he isn’t ready to set up a waterfront staff team, but that he would explore hiring what he called a waterfront quarterback.
“Someone who is thinking waterfront 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said. The operation could grow from there, the mayor said.
Thousands of residents and visitors participated in the study, which included three public workshops. The city hired Articulate Consulting, Miami-based Street Plans, Florida-based transportation planners DDEC and West Palm Beach engineering firm WGI for a total of $164,000 to work with the staff on the report.
Adams outlined the three other themes of the report:
Physical design: The community feedback focused on making the waterfront more comfortable, Adams said. More shade, more seating, better restrooms. She said the consultants found a reluctance to make dramatic changes.
People cluster at shaded areas and well-designed sections, but some spaces are consistently underused, she said.
Designers of the city’s downtown master plan, which is under review, suggested at an Oct. 20 meeting with commissioners, moving or narrowing Flagler Drive to make the waterfront more walkable.
Access: Waterfront visitors shared concerns about parking, finding their way around the waterfront and feeling comfortable walking, especially with children at night.
Access needs to be safer and more connected, the report found. Not just for cars, but for people on foot and bicycles.
Affordable and family friendly activities
Things to do: The community is asking for activities that are affordable, family-friendly and spread throughout the year, Adams said.
Behavioral data collected for the report confirms that the waterfront is event-driven, she said. But between events, she noted, the waterfront should not sit empty.
Changes in how the waterfront is managed have taken hold since the draft report was submitted last year.
The Downtown Development Authority has contracted with Louisville-based Block by Block to staff the waterfront with street ambassadors who empty trash and answer questions from 7 am to 9 pm every day.
Council Member Christy Fox, whose district includes the downtown, asked the consultants whether they recommend adding docks or another marina to the waterfront. “No,” Smart Streets Principal Tony Garcia said. “That didn’t even come up in our conversations.”
