New York-based company abandons plans to provide free ride-share service in Palm Beach

Calling it an "amicable" parting, Town Council member Lew Crampton announced Tuesday that New York-based micro-mobility company Rove had abandoned its plans to provide free ride-share service on the island.

Acknowledging the community's concerns about advertising and commercialization, Crampton said the app-based company, headed by Jack Brinkley-Cook, the son of model Christie Brinkley, and Gianpaolo de Felice, son-in-law of fashion designer Donna Karan, had decided to take its business to another South Florida location.

Rove, which utilizes a fleet of Tesla electric vehicles, had been expected to fulfill one of the elements of the town's seven-point parking plan that was created to address Palm Beach's long-standing parking challenges.

Related: Palm Beach works to find solutions for traffic congestion

Other elements of the plan include expanding paid parking by utilizing the ParkMobile app; creating a multi-layer residential parking pass program; increasing the quantity of free 30-minute parking spots; improved traffic and parking signage; revitalizing parking enforcement; and valet parking on Worth Avenue and South County Road.

"This program will not be going forward in the town," Crampton told council members during their monthly meeting Tuesday at Town Hall. "They have decided to take their talents to Miami Beach, or Indian Creek, or someplace down there. It's no longer a seven-point program. It's a six-point program."

Discussions with Rove and the town began during the summer, with Crampton, who heads the town's Business and Administrative Committee, leading the way.

Rove, which already operates in the communities of Montauk, East Hampton and Sag Harbor on New York's Long Island, had sought approval to bring the service to Palm Beach for the winter season.

The company presented its plans to the council at its September and November meetings, but ran into resistance from council members who voiced concerns about its advertising model.

Rove makes it money by covering its vehicles in advertising, and the company initially planned to display ads for Casa del Sol Tequila, a "luxury sipping tequila" co-founded by actress Eva Longoria.

But council members pushed back on that plan at their September meeting, with some expressing concern about the company advertising alcohol on its vehicles.

At the council's November meeting, Brinkley-Cook said the company hadn't committed to an advertising partner in Palm Beach, but was considering working with NetJets, a business jet charter and aircraft management company.

A photo of a Rove vehicle displaying an ad for NetJets was presented to council members, but no other photos were provided.

Council members said they wanted to see more photos of what the cars would look with the advertisements displayed on them, and they also wanted to see ads with smaller lettering.

Some council members also objected to what they consider the "Hamptonsification" of Palm Beach if Rove began service on the island.

"We're not interested in alcohol, we're not interested in NetJets, and we're not the Hamptons," Council President Maggie Zeidman said last month. "We need to make this extremely clear. This is a town that wants to be quiet. It doesn't want a lot going on. We've got a lot going on anyway."

Council members agreed to defer a decision on Rove until December, but that opportunity never came after the company decided to pull its request to operate within the town.

Crampton said he was disappointed with Rove's decision, but he understood the concerns of residents and town officials.

"I thought Rove had a chance of providing a real service to the town," he said. "But clearly there were people who didn't think that way, and I'm certainly not in favor of trying to push anything down anyone's throats. We've parted ways amicably."

Rove would have been the only free ride-share service operating on the island if the council had moved forward with approval.

Circuit, which provides rides around town and into downtown West Palm Beach, began charging a fee Nov. 6 for any ride booked through the Ride Circuit app and beginning or ending outside West Palm Beach city limits.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: N.Y. company drops plans to provide free ride-share service in Palm Beach