Erin Allen
208 South Lakeside Drive

At the outset of my remarks, I am asking Commissioner McVoy to recuse himself from any vote on the subject that has come before you this evening. He has demonstrated a deep, personal bias in opposition to the L & M project in its totality and the demolition of any structures that would make this project a reality.

In October 2019 the Historic Preservation Board voted to allow the demolition of the dilapidated structures in this zone to open the way for redevelopment. On November 12th Commissioner McVoy’s employer, Thomas Conboy, wrote a letter to the City asking to appeal that decision. Commissioner McVoy also authored a letter to the City at that time, and it mirrored verbatim Thomas Conboy’s letter and was on the letterhead of South Florida Engineering and Consulting LLC, his boss’ company and his employer. This letter was in complete opposition to the project. Unhappy with the outcome of that appeal, Thomas Conboy sued the City of Lake Worth, filing a Writ of Certiorari in February of 2020. That was ultimately denied by a judge in 2021.

Clearly Commissioner McVoy cannot be fair and impartial in this process since he and his boss vehemently oppose this, and therefore for the betterment of the community, and to avoid any appearance of impropriety he should recuse himself from voting tonight.

The city commission had consensus for the demolition of the subject buildings, but when the new commission was seated they required the CRA to expend $100K to hire the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council to do a study to see what was the best, most financially feasible plan, and to see if the structures could be saved. They held 5 days of public charrettes so the residents could weigh in on this and give their thoughts and recommendations. Out of those charrettes came several possible plans. As part of that process the TCRPC determined two of the structures could be saved but two were beyond salvaging and would need to be demoed, which is part of your vote this evening. The most viable plan proposed is “CV6” and is the plan the TCRPC is recommending.

No one on this council is an expert in urban planning. That’s why you hire experts. The experts were hired and did an exhaustive study at great expense and spent a lot of time to give us thoughtful options to consider. Please rely on the experts’ opinions and approve the plan that is the most financially feasible for our city.