Aug. 06–BOYNTON BEACH — The on-going saga of the Holiday Inn Express to be built in Boynton Beach near Leisureville continues.
The city recently ordered Developer Hardial Sibia to stop construction at the site at 2001 Ocean Drive because of nine violations on the property.
Those violations include palm trees that interfere with pedestrian traffic along Ocean Drive, illegal stockpiling of materials outside the construction fence and using the site as a “temporary staging area” for trash, according to the notices posted July 31.
“I am thanking the building department, the engineering department, for recognizing all the violations for this small lot and have stopped them from doing anything until all these are corrected,” Shirley Cassa, a Leisureville resident, said to the City Commission on Tuesday night.
When reached by phone at home Wednesday morning, Sibia declined to comment. To begin work again, Sibia will have to contact the city for a re-inspection.
Commissioners in October approved the plan for the four-story hotel with 93 rooms after years of opposition from Leisureville residents. Then-Vice Mayor Woodrow Hay, Vice Mayor Joe Casello and Commissioner Michael Fitzpatrick voted in favor of the plan, while Mayor Jerry Taylor and Commissioner David Merker voted against it.
Casello mentioned the site at Tuesday’s meeting before Cassa spoke and said the property looks more like a “landfill dump than a construction site.”
“I was one of the three votes that said yes to it and to my dismay — to my dismay — they now have I think it’s three pages, nine items work stoppage on it for violations of code,” Casello said. “Now I hope I didn’t make the wrong decision, Mr. Mayor, by approving the go-ahead with this.”
Casello called upon the code enforcement department to crack down on the site and said he worries about children walking in the area when school starts.
“Mr. Sibia, I hope he gets on board with this and he starts being a good neighbor to the Leisureville people,” Casello said. “I wouldn’t want to live in Leisureville and go by that eyesore every day the way it is and the way it’s been left in disrepair.”
Leisureville residents have been against this project for years. After the city commission approved it, residents Carol Beach, Carmelann Powell and Sandra Peterson-Hardt filed a suit in November and asked a judge to reverse the commission’s decision.
The women’s attorney, Ralf Brookes, said the site plan violates zoning rules by proposing that Ocean Drive be used as the hotel’s main entrance and exit. Brookes said the site is in a C-3 district that requires a main vehicular access on a major thoroughfare and Ocean Drive is not a major thoroughfare.
In response to their claims, the city said the site was grandfathered in to that requirement as it was zoned C-3 for 20 years and the access criteria came after.
The judge in the case is expected to either schedule an oral argument or rule in the case, Brookes said.
At Tuesday’s commission meeting, Commissioner David Merker reminded the public he didn’t vote for the project and said the code violations enforce the “character and the professionalism” of the developer.
Commissioner Mack McCray said he hopes the site is cleaned up soon and called it an “eyesore.”
