Fellow Neighbors, we stand today at a crossroads with our local government, who seem poised to greenlight the destruction of Wellington’s last remaining wetlands, at the request of but a handful of developers. Surrounding the gateway to Wellington near Forest Hill Blvd and State Road 7 / US 441, these wetland preserves are our essential frontline to safeguard our very way of life.
 
On Tuesday, March March 23rd, both at 7PM, The Village of Wellington Council will meet at the Municipal Building, 12300 Forest Hill Blvd., to decide whether to save these wetlands as environmental conservation or to allow their destruction.  Will they remain Conservation Land or will they become Commercial/Residential Land open for development? We need you to attend this meeting and write the council members and representatives to say NO to the modification of the future land use and the impending destruction of our preserves!

Contact the Council at: (561) [phone redacted].
Email Mayor & Council Members at these addresses:
1. [email redacted]
2. [email redacted]
3. [email redacted]
4. [email redacted]
5. [email redacted]
6. [email redacted]

Send short Letters to the Editors (250 Characters Maximum) @:
1. [email redacted]
2. [email redacted]
3. [email redacted]

DETAILS:
These wetlands refresh our aquifers and gift to us the water we drink, they sequester carbon and clean the air we breathe, and they serve as VITAL mitigation for the drainage and containment of stormwater as our last line of defense in tempering storm surge flooding. Lastly, they provide lush wildlife habitat for small mammals, reptiles, and a documented 35 species of native and migratory birds and must be protected at all costs.

In the late 1990’s, in exchange for the right to build our Wellington Green Mall, Brefrank Inc (the mall’s developer) entered into a comprehensive binding agreement with the South Florida Water Management District, to maintain in good faith, through obligation and duty, to FOREVER, preserve two “Conservation Easements” totaling +40-acres of Remnant Wetlands and Cypress Habitat Preserves (the bare minimum which was required to adequately maintain proper drainage necessary for the mall’s master plan development). Just 20 years later, retail vacancy is at an all-time high. The mall is marked with empty retail, closed anchor department stores, large-scale outparcel storefronts and restaurant spaces, some of which have been closed since 2012 and are destined for demolition, all in an uncertain economy. In short, mall retail on the +460-acre former Northern Everglades site, is failing. Yet the original developer is back, with a request to change the lawful zoning designations of the conservation easements, to residential/commercial, with formerly submitted plans for 185 additional Axis Rental Apartments and a 12,000sf restaurant (atop the 2 Natural Preserves).   
 
Just across the street, between the Wellington Regional Hospital and Smart Stop Storage, JKM Developments proposes an additional +60-acre mixed-use project, that if approved will feature 191 residential units, medical offices, a daycare and an assisted living facility.
 
Residents and Neighbors, Wellington has reached maximum land-use capacity, and this will drastically impact our already bad traffic congestion into and out of Wellington. Should development be allowed to continue, it should ONLY be through the urban-renewal and reclamation of older dilapidated properties; it should NOT any longer be over surviving Wetlands, Preserves, or Conservation Easements which provide necessary Habitat for Wildlife, Tree Canopy Forestry and much needed Stormwater Mitigation Banks.

We at the Palm Beach County Environmental Alliance, implore you to join our fight and help insure the survival of these last remaining Wildlands. Please SIGN & SHARE our urgent Petition www.ThePetitionSite.com/338/258/518, and leave us heartfelt comments. Please attend our Protest/Demonstration Event on March 23rd at 5PM, www.facebook.com/events/423428312287279.  Please submit “Letters to the Editors” of our local newspapers (Palm Beach Post, Town Crier, and Sun Sentinel) urging an immediate “Stop” to these developments. Finally, please contribute to our GoFund.Me Fundraiser, https://gofund.me/33fc8036 to assist us (all funds will be collected and dispersed accordingly by the Palm Beach County Environmental Alliance, Inc.), with mounting legal defenses and organizational expenses required to save these wetlands and conservation easements and others for our future generations. Sign onto and Join Us “Officially” as Local and National organizations. Find Us on Social Media, Like our Facebook Fanpage and Join our Facebook Group. Together, we can save our Community from over-development.
 
Sincerely,
Palm Beach County Environmental Alliance
Friends of the Wellington Garden Club
PBC Environmental Caucus of Florida
Climate Reality Leadership Core, PBC
Citizens Climate Lobby Palm Beaches
Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group
Audubon Society Everglades
Lake Worth Waterkeeper
And Others