With the land swap dead, what's next for GL Homes and the proposed water reservoir?

Tuesday's collapse of the GL Homes’ land swap was a setback for the homebuilder that has been extremely active in Palm Beach County.

But the Sunrise-based company won't stand still for long. Expect GL Homes to build nearly 4,000 homes at Indian Trails Grove in The Acreage area now that the preserved land west of Boca Raton will stay preserved. What is not clear is how quickly that will happen.

One issue: there are 21 roads in the area that have been found to be deficient in terms of accommodating existing traffic. GL Homes bought the land in 2005, and received county approval in 2016, prompting County Commissioner Mack Bernard to question whether GL Homes ever intended to develop the property.

In a statement emailed to The Palm Beach Post, GL Homes President Misha Ezratti said his company will “move forward with our approved plans to develop approximately 4,000 homes in Loxahatchee and look forward to continuing our decades of support for the Palm Beach County community.”

What will become of the proposed multi-million dollar water reservoir?

In exchange for being allowed to build on preserved land west of Boca Raton, GL Homes had offered to build a multi-million dollar water reservoir in the northwest part of the county to treat and store water. That proposal is now off the table.

Palm Beach County Mayor Gregg Weiss said he voted against the swap because there was “too much uncertainty” surrounding the project. He expects county staff to now review what type of project should be built to ensure adequate water supply for West Palm Beach. As for financing, he said it is possible that the county may have to consider a bond issue.

Weiss was recently elected chair of the Water Resources Taskforce, which was created to identify ways to provide future water supply. One discussion, he said, is how best to store and treat water as the GL Homes’ project would have done.

Commissioner Maria Sachs, who strongly opposed the swap, told The Post that the government, not a homebuilder, should be building water reservoirs. She also noted that she is hopeful that the county government can work with the Jewish community in the south county to provide the land needed to build a Torah academy and a residential care development.

Sachs said she was pleasantly surprised with the 4-3 vote to block the land swap.

Why the GL Homes land swap deal was killed: 'Don't expect the county to bend the rules'

Critics of the swap argued that approval would have changed long-standing policy of requiring that land swaps occur only within the Agricultural Reserve. Approval would have marked the first time the county allowed a homebuilder to swap land outside the Ag Reserve to build on land preserved within it. Indian Trails Grove is about 20 miles north of the Ag Reserve. Another policy change would have allowed development to occur west of State Road 7.

“I think we sent a clear message,” said Bernard. “Build if you want in the Ag Reserve but don’t expect the county commission to bend the rules to accommodate you. I am hoping that will never again see such a land swap proposal.”

Ezratti said he was “deeply disappointed” by the outcome.

HOW IT UNFOLDED: Why two commissioners flipped, killing GL Homes' land swap deal at 11th hour

“Our public-private partnership would have provided desperately needed solutions to water quality, workforce housing, Jewish community infrastructure and so much more — all at no cost to taxpayers. Ultimately, it’s the county’s residents who will bear the true consequences (of this decision.) We appreciate the thousands of residents from across Palm Beach County who supported our proposal and shared their voice.”

The County’s Agricultural Reserve Tier covers 22,150 acres west of Florida's Turnpike, east of the Arthur R. Marshall National Wildlife Refuge, north of Clint Moore Road and generally south of the Village of Wellington and Heritage Farms. Special rules were enacted to limit development and preserve agriculture there.

To allow the swap to happen, GL Homes offered to build the multi-million dollar water-resource project in the northwest part of the county along with a 250-acre ATV park. It would have reduced its Indian Trails Grove development from 3,897 units to 2,612 units, a reduction of 1,285 units. And it would have then built 1,272 units at the preserved parcel west of Boca Raton. Also planned was a donation of land for a synagogue and a special-needs facility for seniors and developmentally disabled people.

GL Homes pushed the proposal because it could sell homes west of Boca Raton for much more than it could in Indian Trails Grove.

The 4-3 vote against the swap upends Commissioner Sara Baxter's plan to bring two motorsports complexes in the Loxahatchee area.

The county has long discussed building an ATV park on 120 acres it owns at 20 Mile Bend, near a sheriff's office training site. After Palm Beach International Raceway closed in April 2021, disappointing drag racing fans across South Florida, Baxter proposed using the 120 acres for a new raceway and then persuaded GL Homes into agreeing to build the ATV park as part of its Indian Grove Trails project. GL Homes said Tuesday that if the swap did not go through, it would not build the ATV park.

An aide to Baxter said Wednesday she will take a fresh look at the situation this week.

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Valentina Palm contributed to this report.

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him atmdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: GL Homes land swap deal: What's next for the county and the builder?