Century Village residents crowd commissioners meeting to discuss housing development proposal

More than 550 people showed up to a Palm Beach County commissioners meeting today to voice their opinion on a proposal to bring housing, offices and retail to the site of a golf course near Century Village, the Palm Beach Post reported. The overflowing crowd prompted the commissioners to push back their decision to October, giving the property owners more time to win community support.

The large crowd was not entirely against the Reflection Bay development proposal, in fact the crowd was split about equally. Supporters believe the proposal would benefit the community by bringing more residents and offering new shopping options to current ones. Opponents argued that the village had long ago promised them a permanent golf course, and wanted to see it resurrected. They bemoan the thought of a large new development that could congest the neighborhood.

Some opponents also alleged that the large crowd of supporters were brought in by Andrew and Ana Waldman, the owners of the land, in an effort to keep opponents out. There were so many people there that the commission chambers were filled to capacity and another 400 people were in rooms watching a video feed. [Palm Beach Post]