Why Delray rejected all six proposals for its municipal golf course redevelopment plans

DELRAY BEACH — For years, Delray Beach officials have discussed the redevelopment of the city’s municipal golf course and, in April, they had narrowed the plan to four proposals from outside firms.

But as of May 2, those proposals are apparently all out of bounds and unplayable.

The city commission, after 10 meetings and hours of back-and-forth with residents, voted unanimously to cancel the solicitations and reject all proposals they’d received to revamp the course that opened in 1926 and is showing every bit of its age these days.

The vote came minutes after members from the real estate firm hired last June to solicit the bids — CBRE — presented some slides detailing the remaining proposals. Originally, there had been six.

Of the four that were left, all but one would have restored all nine holes of the historic Donald Ross course. All of them would have included an 18-hole championship course and either a renovated or new clubhouse.

But they also all included selling off some land for commercial development, which is why many residents had an issue.

“There were individuals out there that had misinformation, thinking we were selling the entire golf course,” Vice-Mayor Ryan Boylston said. “Once I explained to them that it really was only 5% of the golf course and this is why we were doing it, their answer was still 'no'.”

For that reason, Boylston voted against moving forward. At a previous meeting, he’d been the deciding vote for two of the final four proposals.

“Moving forward on such a big decision with a 3-2 vote did not feel right to me,” Boylston said after sharing he’d be moving to reject all proposals this time around.

Newly elected commissioner Angela Burns followed, agreeing with Boylston. She, too, had received an influx of emails from residents disapproving of the bids throughout the weeks preceding the meeting.

“Unfortunately, lots of time and money was put into this,” she said. “I appreciate it. But, as I said during my campaign, I support the residents.”

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The renovations for the course were expected to cost between $10 million to $15 million. Most of that would have gone toward underground utility work.

But, as Mayor Shelly Petrolia learned during evaluations of the course, the pipes underneath it have “at least a decade left.”

“The only reason why we were going to do them was because of all the work that was going to be done on top,” Petrolia said.

Her main concern, she’d said before the vote, was not moving forward with the proposals CBRE had solicited for the city.

“I watched this happen for 10 years sitting here now,” Petrolia said. “It’s very troubling to me to get to this point and not do anything.”

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Commissioner Adam Frankel, too, called it “a bad look” to not move forward.

“I'm not saying it's a bad look not to listen to you folks,” he said to the residents there.

But he wished the commission had heard a louder voice sooner from residents opposing the public-private partnership to renovate the course.

Like Burns, Commissioner Rob Long, also elected this March, thanked CBRE before telling the crowd he’d be voting to reject the proposals.

“I know an incredible amount of work went into this and there were some really great proposals,” he said. “But I don't feel that they are the right fit for Delray Beach.”

Following the vote, cheers erupted from the dozens of residents who’d been there to oppose the remaining bids. Next, the room nearly cleared as they left.

“We put forward an idea for the golf course that was innovative in earnest,” Boylston said to the room before the vote. “We thought we could leverage the private sector market and take the burden off the taxpayers to give you what you wanted, which was a championship golf course.”

What's next for the golf course?

While there's no set plan moving forward, residents are determined to get the golf course renovated, even without the public-private partnership.

The community-based group that led the initiative to oppose the proposals wants to focus on fundraising efforts.

Another idea some residents had was to use the $20 million parks bond, which was approved during this year's municipal elections.

However, the municipal golf course was not mentioned when the parks bond referendum appeared on the March ballot. Instead, it stated that funding would go toward improvements such as walking trails, covered basketball courts and staff and meeting room facilities at Catherine Strong Park and other parks across the city.

Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on Twitter at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Delray Beach municipal golf course proposals all rejected