Near Palm-Aire, Collier City park plans hit snag in Pompano Beach

An 11.5-acre park planned for Collier City, an area some residents say is neglected by the city, might be too good to be true. The city and the donor of the large piece of undeveloped land, J.P. Orleans Development LLC, can't agree on the terms of the donation.

The company wants the city to spend $1.5 million building a road to get to the land, which now is inaccessible and boxed in by other developments. That would give J.P. Orleans access to the rest of its land, about 60 acres on which it plans to build homes or apartment buildings.

The city rejected the land donation, which J.P. Orleans hoped would make the city amenable to a land-use amendment that would allow the company to build residential units on land that used to be the Pines golf course of Palm-Aire Country Club.

The park, off Northwest 31st Avenue east of Florida's Turnpike, was to include a running track, a regulation soccer field, a regulation football field, event parking, restrooms and concession stands. The park would cost between $5 million and $8 million to build and might require the city to take out a bond.

There is no other piece of land in western Pompano Beach large enough to build such a facility. The city would have to find several neighboring and willing sellers or resort to condemnation. The city of Pompano Beach is both looking for a new location and hoping to renegotiate with J.P. Orleans.