Commission denies request to remove public access to Old Palm Grove; neighbors and nearby residents clash over liability and walkability

The Delray Beach City Commission on Oct. 21 denied a quasi-judicial petition to abandon public access rights on roads and open-space tracts within the Old Palm Grove subdivision, rejecting a bid by the neighborhood’s developer and some residents to remove the public access dedication from privately maintained streets.

The hearing drew more than an hour of testimony from residents and representatives for the applicant. Anthea Gianniotis, development services director, read the resolution and recounted the plat language that currently grants public rights for vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian ingress and egress over Estuary Way, Old Palm Lane, Eastview Avenue and several open-space tracts.

The applicant’s attorney, Andrew Kaiser, said Old Palm Grove’s roads and sidewalks were not originally intended to be public in the form they exist today and argued the community is being unfairly asked to shoulder…