Joel Engelhardt | Stet News

The county’s largest city, West Palm Beach, added the most people since the 2020 U.S. Census, with 9,529 more residents, annual estimates released in October by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research show.

Completion of a sewage lift station arose last month as the main obstacle behind the delayed opening of Nautilus 220, a $300 million waterfront condo building in Lake Park. Town commissioners are worried it could keep the building off the tax rolls for another year.

The conflict that started five years ago when Palm Beach Gardens began collecting a city fee from developers to help pay for local transportation projects and stopped collecting a county fee to pay for roads has spawned a new twist that echoes an old one.

More than a dozen years after an aborted attempt to add Dick’s Sporting Goods to The Gardens Mall, the mall’s owners have proposed bringing an even larger version of the national sports chain to the two-level space formerly occupied by Sears.

Palm Beach County’s unremitting growth and a relentless surge in property values are fueling a $457 million increase in local government tax collections for the upcoming year, data analyzed by Stet News shows.

In a stunning setback after the fiscal year began July 1, the Florida Department of Transportation cut the money it pays to maintain and operate 80 miles of track for Amtrak passenger trains, CSX freight trains and the Tri-Rail South Florida commuter service.

For years, Palm Beach Gardens has stood alone among cities trying to redefine county rules for collecting and spending money from developers to pay for roads. Last month, the city suffered a setback in its four-year legal battle with Palm Beach County. A judge threw out a 2023 challenge that the city had used to justify its refusal to pay the county $3.1 million in fees it collected but didn’t share with the county.

To anyone living in Palm Beach County, it has become clear that rapid growth means more traffic and fewer ways to get around. Growth expected to increase demand for buses and trains; plan to make case for taxpayer support.

The first railroad quiet zone in north county quietly went into effect Thursday in Palm Beach Gardens. After more than two years working to meet stringent federal safety standards at a cost of $125,000, city officials announced July 22 on the city website that the milestone had been achieved.

To anyone living in Palm Beach County, it has become clear that rapid growth means more traffic and fewer ways to get around. Welcome to the countywide transportation master plan.

Palm Beach County’s lawsuit against Palm Beach Gardens over impact fees is in its fifth year and showing no signs of abating.

Larry Robbins doesn’t play goalie but the billionaire hockey fan and philanthropist may have just made his greatest save. Robbins pledged $41.5 million to meet a July 3 deadline to line up the financing and start construction of a two-rink ice complex at Plant Drive Park in Palm Beach Gardens.