Town of Jupiter nixes plan for public boat dock at new Cornerstone development on US 1

Cornerstone, a five-story building with 15 high-end residences at the southwest corner of U.S. 1 and Indiantown Road in Jupiter, is slated to be completed by September. However, it will not include a 14-slip public boat dock as previously planned.

Construction workers are putting the final touches on the white, modern coastal-style structure with blue canvas awnings. Planting on the parking garage’s landscaped roof has begun, with several types of mature palms already installed and more to follow. The park-like “green” roof area is highly visible from the intersection across from Harbourside Place but will not be open to the public.

The Jupiter Town Council on June 20 agreed 5-0 to allow Cornerstone Jupiter LLC to pay the town what the dock would have cost in lieu of building the structure. The amount has yet to be determined.

While the building is nearly ready for occupancy, plans for the dock were nowhere near complete. The town and the developer disagreed over the type of materials with which it would be built. The state Department of Transportation wouldn't issue a permit for the dock until all design decisions were made.

The dock was a condition of the town's approval of the project, and the standoff imperiled Cornerstone's ability to obtain a certificate of occupancy, potentially leaving people who bought high-priced residences there unable to move into them.

Emily O’Mahoney, a partner in 2GHO, the Jupiter-based landscape architects and planners who represented the owners, presented the council with three options.

• A timing change to allow the docks to be completed after the certificate of occupancy is issued for the building instead of before.
• A public-private partnership for the docks.
• A fee in lieu of building the docks.

“We want to know what you want to do,” O’Mahoney said.

Mayor Jim Kuretski said he wanted to find a path forward. In 2017, the planning staff raised concerns about liability, management, maintenance, and potential safety and security issues that would have fallen on the town, and it still has those same concerns.

Complications in obtaining state approval to create an access point under the Indiantown Road bridge delayed the process.

The council directed the developers to meet with the town engineers to arrive at a fair amount for the fee. The council wants the amount to be determined within 30 days and set the payment deadline for 60 days. It will decide later how the funds will be spent.

The town’s engineering and planning staffs recommended a concrete dock as the safest and most durable option, while the contractor said a less expensive composite dock would work. Concrete costs have doubled in the last few years.

Town Engineering Director Thomas Hernandez estimated that a concrete dock, including permit fees and a connection to the Jupiter Riverwalk, would have cost $1.6 million. The project’s general contractor, David Seach, said he could build a floating dock for under $1 million.

After some discussion, the council agreed the murky shallow water wasn’t an ideal location for the docks, and that payment was the best option.

Vice Mayor Cheryl Schneider, who was on the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2017, said she has never supported the docks.