Commissioner Sara Baxter tried to quietly initiate an amendment to Palm Beach County’s comprehensive plan last week.

The matter was not an item on the Board of County Commissioners’ Aug. 19 agenda. Baxter snuck it in toward the end of the 4-hour-long meeting, during a section of the meeting known as “board direction.”

The amendment would create an exception for a resident to enable him to subdivide his property.

“Here we go again with Commissioner Baxter sending the county staff on another goose chase, wasting taxpayer dollars,” Acreage Landowners Association (ALA) president Bob Morgan said. “It gets harder by the day to keep up with all of her pet projects and keep the western communities informed.”

Multiple commissioners and their attorney questioned whether Baxter’s proposal constituted special treatment for a single resident. Multiple commissioners, including the mayor, also expressed concerns about Baxter’s proposal setting a precedent.

Despite their concerns, Baxter repeatedly pushed them to vote on the spot to initiate the comprehensive plan text amendment.

“She is attempting to push a text amendment through that will allow one resident to not have to go through the normal process of splitting a property into several plats,” Morgan said. “Not only would this single resident be able to bypass the whole process, but the county would foot the bill that a regular resident submitting the same application would have to pay for out of pocket. This would open up a serious can of worms, to include lawsuits from others that may want the same preferential treatment.”

Baxter, who represents District 6, could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

The ALA encourages residents of District 6 to watch the commissioners’ full conversation and come to their own conclusions. The conversation starts at the 3:43:35 mark and continues until 4:02:30. Click here to watch it now on YouTube starting at that mark.

If you’re pressed for time, though, we’ve rounded up highlights here:

• Commissioner Bobby Powell Jr. (District 7), who noted that he’s a planner who has dealt with such issues, was the first of several commissioners to express concern over who would cover associated costs.
• Commissioner Joel Flores (District 3) opined that it’s not the commissioners’ place to get involved to begin with: “I have a hard time supporting this. I think that this should be an applicant-led process, and it should not come through the board,” Flores said. “I don’t think that’s our role to be, on one specific lot, be making decisions. If they want to do that, they should go through the proper channels and do it the way that everybody else in the county has to do it. That’s my personal opinion. I feel like we’re opening Pandora’s box.”
• Palm Beach County Mayor and Commissioner Maria Marino (District 1) pointed out another reason for which the commissioners shouldn’t intervene: They don’t know whether the resident has sold the development rights for his property. Marino cautioned her peers: “We can’t give people permission to develop on their property if they’ve sold off all of their development rights. We have to be careful to not mix what we’re doing.”
• Marino went on to side with Flores: “Without stepping into a can of worms and affecting everything else that happens, if this gentleman wants to privately initiate this, I think that’s the way to go. I agree with Commissioner Flores in this. I don’t think this is something that the board should be doing. I think this should be a private initiation. And this way we’re not setting the precedent for other people to just come to our offices and say, ‘Hey, I want to do this. Can you sponsor it for me?'”
• Commissioner Marci Woodward (District 4) asked if the county has a process in place that would allow the resident to initiate his request independently, rather than going through Baxter. Whitney Carroll, executive director of Palm Beach County’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department, indicated there is such a process in place.
• Woodward then told Baxter: “I can appreciate that you were approached by a constituent. We all get constituents approach us with these items. But to Commissioner Flores’ point, I need to know for sure that we’re not making a special exception for something like this,” Woodward said. “Everyone needs to play by the same rules, and if this is about waiving the fees, I would not be in support of that.”
• Even after all that, Baxter again pushed her fellow commissioners to proceed: “We’re prolonging it one more vote by not just initiating it. We can still turn it down,” Baxter said. “Having it not be initiated but just bringing the information back doesn’t do any — I think it’s, um, a moot point.”
• Powell went on to cite “the AICP code of ethics” — meaning the American Institute of Certified Planners’ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct — and express concerns about voting on the matter without first having all the information.
• Commissioner Gregg Weiss (District 2) said the least of all the commissioners but sided with Powell. Speaking immediately after Powell’s second speech, Weiss said: “I’ll just go along with what Commissioner Powell said.”
• Carroll then indicated that her staff would have more information for the commissioners as soon as Wednesday, Aug. 27.

The matter is now on the agenda for the commissioners’ Aug. 27 meeting. It’s titled “5.B.1 Heritage Farms Tract 72 Comprehensive Plan Text Initiation” and states:

“On August 19, 2025, Vice Mayor Baxter requested the Board to initiate a Comprehensive Plan text amendment to exempt Tract 72 of the Heritage Farms unrecorded subdivision from the lot combination requirements. Desiring additional information, the Board directed staff to come back at the August 27, 2025, Comprehensive Plan hearing to provide more background on the proposed initiation. Staff will provide a presentation with the history of the Tract and the related Comprehensive Plan policies.”

The meeting will air on Palm Beach County’s website and PVCTV Channel 20.

How residents can make their voices heard

For residents of The Acreage/Loxahatchee who oppose West End Crossing and want to make sure their opinion is heard, options include:

• Sign the ALA’s West End Crossing petition. Visit www.ala-petition.com to sign it. Read this ALA article to learn more about it.
• Contact commissioners directly. All seven commissioners will vote on West End Crossing, so tell them all how you feel. Click here for their email addresses and phone numbers.
• Speak at commissioners meetings. As of publication time, they were scheduled to vote on land use and zoning for West End Crossing on Aug. 28.

• Vote in local elections. In particular, when the District 6 commissioner seat is on the ballot, vote for the candidate with the best track record for putting their constituents first.
• Join the ALA as a full member ($20/year) or a free member (no cost), and follow the grassroots nonprofit organization on Facebook.