Palm Beach’s growth plan dissected

State regulators put the brakes on several aspects of Palm Beach County’s comprehensive plan for growth, including a major setback for Callery-Judge Groves, a 3,746-acre site just outside Royal Palm Beach where its owners want to build 2,996 homes and 235,000 square feet of commercial space. An earlier plan failed to pass muster with county commissioners, and this revision was designed with an elastic interpretation of a Florida land-use law that limits eligible agricultural enclave sites to 1,280 acres, unless the density of the surrounding property exceeds 1,000 residents per square mile. In its application, Callery-Judge met this density measurement, but Florida’s Department of Community Affairs rejected the landowner’s contention.