Planning for Development in the West Boynton Area

In 1995 the West Boynton Area Community Plan (WBACP) was approved by the City of Boynton Beach and accepted by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners in 1995. This plan is frequently cited as the best example of a neighborhood plan.  In November 1996, the Boynton Beach Turnpike Interchange Corridor Plan was added to specify design guidelines. The plan was revised and updated from 2009 to 2011 to incorporate the design criteria and specifications of the Turnpike Interchange Corridor Plan.

The plan was prepared by COBWRA with volunteer help from local land planners, Palm Beach County, and the City of Boynton Beach.  In 2010, COBWRA formed a committee to update the plan and design guidelines. The revised plan notes those goals that have been achieved and makes the WBACP more consistent with county codes and the Florida State United Land Development Code (ULDC.) It is now called the West Boynton Area Community Plan and Design Guidelines and provides the goals and recommended standards for future development. This working project and will be reviewed once completed.

County regulations supersede this plan, and some of our recommendations exceed county requirements. The current committee is comprised of COBWRA members, land planners, representatives from the Palm Beach County Department of Planning, Zoning & Building, as well as a local architect and a representative from the City of Boynton Beach and includes two people who helped write the original plan.

June 25, 2021 – The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations (COBWRA) has published the report from Palm Beach County based Landscape Architects/Land Planners Cotleur & Hearing, led by Donaldson E. Hearing, PLA, ASLA, LEED. The firm conducted research and performed data collection on behalf of COBWRA to provide the organization guidance as pertains to the area within COBWRA boundaries, including the Ag Reserve. The report was commissioned to meet COBWRA’s desire to work collaboratively on a holistic vision to meet the long-term needs of area residents.

COBWRA plans to continue to work closely with Palm Beach County staff and local developers to support the needs of the 125,000 COBWRA area residents and the businesses they support for the few remaining undeveloped parcels in the area. The vision is to ensure adequate infrastructure is provided to support quality of life in the area, and to achieve fair share of County revenues.

Recently, numerous commercial proposals have been put forth for the area, some of which did not take into consideration the impacts of already approved projects. A decades-awaited county district park has broken ground and an adjoining library with flexible meeting space is forthcoming. A middle school will be breaking ground towards the end of 2021 and an expanded hospital campus is in the early stage of development. The Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Central Ag Reserve Station has been approved and construction on a temporary station while the permanent station gains approval will commence shortly. A big picture, holistic approach is needed to provide for sensible growth and the overall needs of area residents.