Meeting: Town Council

Meeting Time: December 12, 2023 at 9:30am EST
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Agenda Item

IX. COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS - 3 MINUTE LIMIT PLEASE

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    Public Comment, Town of Palm Beach Admin admin over 1 year ago

    Received via email 11.29.23:
    Dear Members of the Town Council:
    The North Shore Beach Club, Inc., founded in 1963, is a cabana association serving fifty-three eligible households on Reef, Dolphin, and Seagate Roads and adjacent sections of North Ocean Boulevard and North Lake Way. We would like to express our concern with the proposal to approve a new advertising-based ride share service in Palm Beach for reasons including the following.
    First, we believe that the use of similar services in other locations, such as Southampton, NY, has led to increased beach crowding and environmental degradation by shuttling residents and visitors from the business district to oceanside locations with limited or no parking and inadequate accommodations for persons who do not live in the area.
    Second, we object to the Town encouraging cars wrapped in advertising to circulate on our streets. Our area is exclusively residential, with no commercial activity other than three private clubs with minimal signage. Rolling advertisements would cause visual pollution and would seemingly violate the spirit, if not the letter, of local ordinances prohibiting fixed and mobile billboards.
    Third, this proposal provides no public benefit because, to the extent our residents seek to use ride share services, they are already amply served by Uber, Lyft, and similar companies with a transaction-based business model. The advantage of the transaction-based model is that the only person who pays for the ride share is the one using the ride share. The advertising-based model sells advertising impressions, which means that all of us pay for the service by being forced to watch the advertisements, whether we use the service or not.
    Based on these considerations, we respectfully recommend that you vote against the proposed advertising-based ride share service. In the alternative, we suggest that the service be geographically limited to prevent pick-ups or drop-offs North of Wells Road.
    Yours truly,
    Jack Cooney
    President
    140 Seagate Rd
    Josh Harlan
    Treasurer
    160 Reef Rd
    Joe Crossen
    Director
    118 Dolphin Rd
    Jay Dewing
    Director
    156 Dolphin Rd
    Varick Foster
    Director
    162 Dolphin Rd