Riviera Beach’s Planning & Zoning Board held a workshop on Jan. 23, 2025 to review draft language for the comprehensive plan’s capital improvement and infrastructure elements, hear how the city scores and prioritizes capital projects, and discuss water, stormwater and transportation objectives. The board unanimously approved a motion to grant the alternates present voting rights for the meeting and unanimously adopted the agenda.

The workshop centered on how the city will prioritize projects in its five‑year capital improvement program (CIP), how the city defines and applies concurrency criteria for new development, and how infrastructure objectives address water supply, wastewater, stormwater and coastal vulnerability. Principal planner Suneet Simon led the presentation and asked the board to review goal and objective language; Assistant Finance Director Nydia Reynolds described the departmental process that feeds the CIP.

Why it matters: the capital improvement element sets the projects that guide the city’s budgeting and capital spending for the next five years and is attached to the comprehensive plan that officials will use to evaluate development and long‑range investments.

Simon described a hands‑on review method used in the workshop and summarized the CIP’s role: "This one is to ensure that the public facilities that we manage are available for our community and meets the needs of our community... we review it every year as we prioritize what needs to be on the top of the list of what we are going to be putting tax dollars towards for improvements in our city," she said.

Reynolds summarized how projects reach the CIP: each department fills a project form in the annual budget cycle; staff score projects against criteria and meet as a group to prioritize funding. "Every year during the budget process... we meet and we send out a criteria, like a form to each department director. They would complete this form," Reynolds said. She listed the types of criteria the city uses in scoring projects, including life/health/safety needs, regulatory compliance, strategic alignment, resiliency, environmental protection, and the ability to leverage external funds.

Board members pressed for more transparency and clearer language. Multiple members asked staff to post CIP attachments and scoring documents on the city website so residents can review project lists and ranking. Simon and Reynolds agreed the plan’s attachments will be made available on the Riviera2040 website.

Concurrency and staff roles: board members questioned the draft reference to the "concurrency management system." Several members said the phrase was unclear to the public and recommended replacing it with plain language — for example "concurrency criteria" or an explicit reference to a multidisciplinary analysis. Board members also asked the plan to define who is included by the phrase "city staff." Simon said she will add a definition listing the participating departments (development services, public works, utilities, finance, procurement, city engineer and the city manager).

Transportation wording: the board debated whether to call transportation a "system" or a "network." Members recommended language that both reflects current assets (roads and sidewalks) and leaves room for future modes, suggesting an explicit phrase such as "roads, sidewalks and waterways" to capture potential water taxis or other future connections. Simon said the language will link to the transportation element and allow for future multimodal options.

Water, wastewater and conservation: board members discussed utility infrastructure and water‑supply planning. Staff told the board that Riviera Beach participates in the regional water supply planning process under the South Florida Water Management District and that consumptive‑use permits and regional population projections drive water demand projections (reported in million gallons per day, or MGD). The draft infrastructure objectives call for a water supply work plan, maintenance of utility infrastructure to protect public health and environment, and compliance with the South Florida Water Management District’s consumptive‑use permit.

The board debated whether the water conservation objective should state a numeric target. Some members favored keeping the permit‑based, per‑capita language to allow flexibility; others recommended adding a percentage goal so the city can measure progress. Staff said the current wording follows the SFWMD permit requirements and noted the tradeoffs between binding numeric targets and trend‑based goals.

Coastal, wellfield and submerged‑land protection: the draft includes an objective to limit public expenditures that subsidize development in federally designated coastal high hazard areas and an objective to follow Palm Beach County’s wellfield protection ordinance to protect recharge areas and drinking‑water sources. Board members also noted the plan’s future‑land‑use chapter already addresses submerged lands and recommended harmonizing terminology across elements.

Stormwater and solid waste: the infrastructure draft adds objectives to improve stormwater resilience and flood mitigation, including better stormwater management principles to reduce flood risk and improve water quality. The board also supported language promoting resident and business participation in recycling and solid‑waste programs.

Public comment and local issues: one resident, Mary Bram, urged the city to address a local sand pit on 8th Street that she said is washing sand into nearby drains and threatening drainage and water quality. "We cannot continue at this pace... with what is happening over there on 8th Street with that sand pit," Bram said. She also announced a memorial service for Marion Dozier on Jan. 26 at 1901 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach and provided contact information for the family.

Actions taken: during the workshop the board recorded three formal actions. At the start it moved and approved by unanimous vote to allow the alternates present to exercise voting rights for the meeting. The board then moved and adopted the meeting agenda by unanimous vote. At the close of the public session a motion to adjourn was made and carried.

Ending note: staff said revised language and defined terms will be brought back for further review; Simon invited board members and residents to submit written comments via the Riviera2040 web page. The board’s next scheduled meeting was listed as Feb. 13, 2025.

Votes at a glance: the meeting recorded unanimous votes for (1) granting alternates voting rights (yes votes: Miss Burgess; Miss Joseph; Mister Gallant; Mister Brown; Mister Fernandez; Vice Chair Guyton; Chair Wiley) and (2) adoption of the agenda (same yes votes). A motion to adjourn was made and carried; a formal roll call was not recorded in the transcript for the adjournment.