Editorial: Rules of civility should be norm as Palm Beach discusses controversial projects

As the town and its residents grapple with navigating growth, conflicts are inevitable.

Many residents of this small town are concerned with the pace of growth and want to see it curbed or even stopped completely. Of course, part of the issue is what constitutes "growth."

For some, it's tearing down houses to build mega-mansions; for others, it's building residences where none previously existed. And for others, it's converting or expanding existing commercial spaces.

And some people are troubled by all these things. To use a cliché, change is the only constant of which we can be assured, and so residents and town officials will need find a way forward in light of this inevitability.

Recently, Town Hall bore witness to a remarkably civil exchange among folks who didn't agree with each other. On the agenda for the Jan. 9 Town Council meeting was a proposal from the Frisbie Group detailing its redevelopment plans for mostly vacant land that is now home to landmarked Wells Fargo Bank buildings on South County Road and Royal Palm Way in Midtown.

The plan was both praised and criticized, but the overall tone throughout was such that council members commended the project representatives and the attendees for their civility during the review, which lasted three hours and required no formal vote from the council.

We would like to recommend this approach as the preferred path for discussions such as these.

A day later, at the council's Development Review meeting, the tone was slightly different but still civil when it came to discussing the redevelopment plans for the landmarked Paramount Theatre Building, the former movie house on North County Road at Sunrise Avenue. The large public turnout indicated the level of passion the project has generated. Was it any surprise the debate lasted five hours?

Although some speakers were forceful in expressing their views, the discussion, thank goodness, never devolved into the sort of name-calling and disparagement that longtime Palm Beach residents came to know all too well in 2013 and 2014 when another controversial project was on the table. That proposal centered on how best to redevelop the old Testa's Restaurant site on Royal Poinciana Way, which today is home to the Via Flagler by the Breakers mixed-use project. The lack of civility, in and out of Town Hall, a decade ago appalled many Palm Beachers during those troubled times.

Of course we understand that the dynamics are different for each situation. The stronger people feel, the greater the risk of discussions turning into a shouting match.

There will be more meetings on these topics and others. The council — and, in particular, President Margaret Zeidman — so far has done a good job of encouraging meeting attendees to mind their manners, while still encouraging a robust discussion.

Let's hope everyone continues to observe the rules of decorum as this grand old town wrestles with how it will look in the future.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Editorial: Rules of civility should be norm for controversial projects