Email: ddavis@juno-beach.fl.us or DianaDavisJunoBeach@gmail.com

Each Town Council member submitted a maximum of three goal entries to David Dyess who collected the statements on a non-prioritized list of goal statements. (click here to view complete list) The goal list was sorted into like items for a list of seven items that were then ranked by Town Council members. The resulting goals will be voted on at the June Town Council meeting and the budget to fund the goals will be voted on at the September Town Council meeting.

"Pursue a Master Plan with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. Our zoning codes or land development regulations (“LDRs”) and their interpretation do not create a sense of place that maintains our unique character. We need to adapt our LDRs to create this community vision for Juno Beach given future development and re-development of our commercial areas, our beach front condominiums, and our single-family home neighborhoods."

The Master Plan is a long-range planning tool that provides a “vision” for what our Town wants for Juno Beach in the next 10-20 years. It would direct any re-development into this model for our Town. If the Town does not provide this vision for the future, we are stuck with the vision that any developer brings into our Town. A land use attorney, who works with municipalities and non-profits, and does not also work for developers could help with determining what our Town can control within our land development regulations to “Keep Juno Beach, Juno Beach.” At the Master Plan workshop, we discussed a focus on our commercial zoned properties, reducing traffic, increasing safety, and planning for the potential redevelopment of our beach front condominiums. Areas that the Master Plan could influence, are the redevelopment of Plaza Le Mar, Loggerhead Plaza, and Juno Square, and other commercial areas.

Our codes currently allow development that can fundamentally change our Town into a Singer Island or worse. We need experts show us how to craft our codes so that any future re-development will “Keep Juno Beach, Juno Beach.” It will require land use planners, such as Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and land use attorney input. The Master Plan with changes to our comprehensive plan and zoning codes would create a vision for the future that benefits our current residents.

Council members agreed that development of a Master Plan is a priority. A goal is just a "wish" if it is not funded and planned so that there is a path to success. We have a cost range of estimates of approximately $100,000, for this important model of the future of Juno Beach and there are potential grants to reduce the cost to the Town. Contact your Town Council members to encourage their vote and the funding of a Master Plan that will aid in preventing future unwanted development in Juno Beach. 

Strategic Plan to achieve initatives through action plan implementation to ensure that Council and Staff are working toward the same mission & goals

The Strategic Plan concept was described as: "Pursue a Strategic Plan modeled after the Town of Jupiter's strategic plan. Urgency exists to act to create a “Master Plan” and a “Strategic Plan” so it is clear that Town Council and Town Staff are working toward the same results that achieves the shared vision and mission for the Town. The strategic plan for Juno Beach would include strategic initiatives to assure, for example: (1) Preservation of Natural Areas, (2) Slow Growth, (3) Maintain our unique small Town Character and Feel, (4) Fiscal Responsibility, (5) Organizational Excellence, (6) Public Safety, (7) Traffic, and (8) Preserving Local Businesses [or other initiatives agreed upon by Council and Staff]. Town staff would have their key performance indicators for their annual reviews tied to the action plans associated with achieving the strategic initiatives."

Important strategic initiatives such as "slow growth" and "maintaining the character of Juno Beach" cannot be accomplished by the Town Council or volunteer boards and must be part of the job description for Town Staff.

The efficiency of Town Council suffers due to an overload of Town Council agenda items that are not focused on “strategic initiatives.” Adopting a strategic plan would bring the Town Staff and Council together, so that we are working toward the same objectives. It would solve the issue of Town Staff not knowing a direction because each council member has a different idea on how to resolve a particular problem. I also believe that we need a consultant/ facilitator to complete this project because Council members have such different viewpoints. The cost for a consultant to complete is approximately $15,000. The Town Council can only talk to one another at scheduled meetings typically once a month, it makes some of these critically urgent time-sensitive projects impossible. The facilitator can collect the thoughts of each Council person separately along with staff and the public to create this work plan.

Unanimous Goals - Town Beautification and Updates to the Building Site Area Regulations of our zoning codes by benchmarking surrounding communities

The "beautification" of Juno Beach, including maintenance and code enforcement was a priority for each council person. The first step will be for staff to perform an assessment of potential improvements including medians and road right of way.

Another unanimous goal is to update the zoning code "site area requirements" by benchmarking surrounding communities. A Town Council direction from last year to staff to update our land development regulations or zoning codes has not been completed. We have worked on parking requirements and are considering landscape code requirements.

Expanding Town Hall and the Back Porch

Pursuing maintenance, construction and expansion of the Town Hall and the back porch area had a majority of support. There is funding from building permit fees and from the Caretta project for a portion of these efforts.

Not Ranked Goals included: (1) improving the time management and professionalism of Town Council meetings, which is a Town Council objective, and (2) using information graphics for a dashboard view of the Town's finances for easier to read information and the ability to see trends within the numbers, which is a staff objective to be pursued.

Your input and opinions: Public engagement is a vital part of the work that Town Council does for our community. Your comments and thoughts are encouraged and welcomed.

All the Best to you,

Diana Davis

phone: 561-267-7772 official email: ddavis@juno-beach.fl.us

From left to right, Marianne Hosta Vice-Mayor Pro Tem, Diana Davis (me) Council person, Peggy Wheeler Mayor, Jacob Rosengarten Council person,and DD Halpern Vice-Mayor.

Town Council Meeting Today: I hope to see you at the Juno Beach Police Awards Ceremony, today Wednesday 22nd at 5 pm. The next Town Council meeting follows the awards ceremony today at 5:30 pm.

Click here for the agenda and backup materials for the May 22nd Town Council Meeting.