PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Palm Beach County commissioners have voted to deny a controversial proposal to build a large private Christian school in Jupiter Farms after hours of emotional public debate over traffic, growth and the future of the community’s rural character.
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The proposal from Calvary Church would have brought a K-12 private Christian school to a vacant site on Indiantown Road, with plans for nearly 1,000 students.
The issue has divided residents for months as WPTV's Mike Trim listened to residents who shared their concerns and support for the project.
WPTV's Joel Lopez at the final hearing on Tuesday who said the county commission chambers were packed with supporters who argued the school would provide families with another education option and help meet growing demand in the area.
Opponents also filled the chambers warning the project was simply too large for Jupiter Farms and would fundamentally change the character of the community.
Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter was the only commissioner to vote in favor of the project, citing the need for private Christian education in the area.
For more than three hours, residents lined up to speak — with traffic emerging as one of the contentious topics of the night.
“Preserving the rural residential and equestrian character of Jupiter is the objective of county plans,” one speaker told commissioners. “The scale of the proposed school is larger than the proposed Home Depot, and it’s got more customers in it.”
Supporters pushed back, arguing the school could actually reduce traffic in some cases.
“Everybody is talking about traffic,” another resident said. “I have a vision of my grandkids riding their bike to school that doesn’t create any traffic, there will be fewer buses, it’ll be much safer for the kids there.”
Commissioners also spent significant time questioning details presented by both county staff and project representatives.
One issue centered on concerns from the zoning board that development would cover roughly 80% of the property.
Project officials disputed that interpretation, explaining that required buffer landscaping between the school and nearby homes was being counted as development, along with a planned lake on the site.
Another major point of disagreement involved whether there is actually a need for another school in the area.
Calvary representatives argued nearby schools are already at capacity and said the new campus would help ease overcrowding.
But commissioners noted many of the schools highlighted in the presentation were public schools — while the proposed project would be a private school with tuition costs and different enrollment requirements that would not benefit public school students.
Commissioner Joel Flores also pointed to where public support was coming from during the hearing, saying only about 25% of those who spoke in favor of the project were from Jupiter, while many supporters came from outside the area, including Port St. Lucie and Boca Raton.
Concerns about water impacts and authority over Indiantown Road were also raised during the discussion.
The county’s Zoning Commission Board had already voted unanimously last month to recommend denial of the proposal.
Now, Calvary Church officials say they have not decided what comes next.
Church leaders say it remains unclear whether they will rework the project and try again or move forward with selling the property instead.
The county denied the application "without prejudice" which means the school project could be brought back in a different form, but Calvary officials would have to go through the same administrative process.
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