Boynton Beach OKs Sibia’s long-stalled Holiday Inn project

From left: Holiday Inn Express and Leisureville
From left: Holiday Inn Express and Leisureville

Developer Hardial Sibia’s plan to build a four-story Holiday Inn Express in Boynton Beach was approved yesterday after six years of opposition of senior citizens who reside at the nearby Palm Beach Leisureville.

Although Mayor Jerry Taylor and Commissioner David Merker voted against it, the Boynton Beach commission voted in favor of the 93-room hotel project at 2001 West Ocean Drive. Residents have expressed concerns about increased traffic posing a danger to pedestrians.

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“I am really going to bat with you, but I’m coming up dry,” Vice Mayor Woodrow Hay said at the meeting. “I see no reason that I can stop that hotel at this point.”

City officials granted a hotel variance six years ago, but the project stalled because Sibia sought to wait for the real estate market to rebound, as previously reported. Sibia asked the city to let the hotel rise five stories, despite a local limit of four stories. In 2007, the city’s planning and development board recommended against the variance, however, the city commission approved it. [Palm Beach Post]Mark Maurer