Karen Marcus, one of the champions for growth management policies in Palm Beach County during her 28 years on the County Commission, has announced the launch of a new not-for-profit group, Sustainable Growth P.B.C. Inc., to help find solutions for sustainable planning and growth management.
According to The Palm Beach Post in an article by Joe Capozzi, (Western Palm Beach County braces for Minto West, other development), the new group would have a county-wide focus and include development issues, including Minto West’s impact on water and drainage. She said the goal for the group would be to come up with solutions “before we get to a point where we look at everything separately and not collectively.”
Marcus told the Post the board would meet in about two weeks, and other board members include Lisa Interlandi, attorney for the Everglades Law Center; planner Joanne Davis; Tom Twyford, president of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club; and Chip Block, Jupiter Inlet Colony commissioner. Davis was the 1000 Friends of Florida’s Palm Beach county planner until budget issues at the nonprofit forced layoffs earlier this year.
The Sun-Sentinel reported that Marcus expected her new organization to “tackle concerns about a crush of new development proposed in Loxahatchee, an increase in efforts to build homes on south county golf courses, and creating more water storage as an alternative to draining stormwater out to sea.”
As of Nov. 20, she will also be out from under a county commission ban that restricts former commissioners from lobbying to the county on behalf of clients involving county issues, or serving on county boards for two years after leaving office.