Boynton Beach has halted plans for a new police training center in the city's east side after residents in the Golfview Harbour neighborhood pushed back hard against a proposed 12-lane shooting range they said would bring noise, lost trees, and falling property values to their doorsteps. District 1 Commissioner Angela Cruz announced the project would be paused following weeks of resident pressure, even though the city had already sunk roughly $60,000 into initial design work.
The proposed Public Safety Training Center was slated for a site in East Boynton Beach, according to WPTV, which first reported the halt. City staff said the facility had been requested by police to meet growing training demands in the area, and it was designed to include a 12-lane, 50-yard shooting range along with dedicated equipment storage, a defense tactics room, a virtual reality training room, and a staged apartment for scenario-based exercises, per the same report.
Cruz, who represents the district and was elected to a term running from March 2025 through March 2028, met with residents at the Golfview Harbour Clubhouse to hear their concerns firsthand. She said city staff had conducted initial research and surveys on the site before the extent of neighborhood opposition became fully clear, the station's report noted.
Neighbors Describe What They Stood to Lose
Peter Fitzpatrick, who has lived in the Golfview neighborhood for 44 years, warned that noise would travel up the canal once trees were cleared for the project. He and other residents raised broader concerns about noise and environmental impact tied to the proposed center, according to the article. One Golfview resident said they didn't understand why the project kept landing in their backyard.
Tony Cenk told WPTV he supports the Boynton Beach Police Department but wanted the gun range built somewhere else, arguing the project would destroy one of the few remaining blocks of woods in East Boynton and negatively affect property values in the neighborhood. Stacey DeLoye said her stomach turned inside out after learning about the proposed development, and she described valuing the view from her renovated home and the birds she enjoys watching there. DeLoye has asked the city to take firmer action to preserve and protect the land.
Residents also raised concerns about negative financial impacts and property values more broadly, a worry that isn't detached from what has already happened in the neighborhood. In September 2025, Boynton Beach police investigated a shooting in the 1000 block of SW 27th Place inside Golfview Harbour that left one victim hospitalized, according to The Boca Raton Tribune. The neighborhood borders the 64-acre Caloosa Park, and the clubhouse where Cruz met with residents also serves as a municipal voting precinct.
Why the City Says It Needs the Facility
The push for a dedicated training center isn't arbitrary. Under Rule 11B-27.00212 of the Florida Administrative Code, certified law enforcement officers statewide must complete 40 hours of mandatory retraining every four years, including firearms qualification standards on approved firing ranges. The Boynton Beach Police Department, headquartered at 2100 High Ridge Road under Chief Joseph DeGiulio, would need to meet those state standards regardless of where officers train.
Other agencies in the region have found workarounds rather than building new ranges from scratch. Palm Beach State College operates a 143,000-square-foot Public Safety Training Center on its Lake Worth campus — the largest dedicated public safety facility in Palm Beach County, hosting criminal justice, fire science, and EMS training programs, per The Boca Raton Tribune. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office also runs a dedicated 300-yard rifle and firearms training facility in Loxahatchee that other municipal departments already use under interlocal agreements, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission operates the Palm Beach County Shooting Sports Complex in West Palm Beach, which includes supervised rifle ranges up to 300 yards and handgun ranges.
What Happens Next
The city commission's current agenda does not include the police training center project, and Cruz said approximately $60,000 of the project's $434,266.50 architectural planning contract had already been spent before the pause. City officials have invited the public to voice concerns at the next Boynton Beach City Commission and Community Redevelopment Agency Board meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, August 11, at 6 p.m. in Commission Chambers at City Hall, 100 E. Ocean Avenue.
It remains unclear whether the city will pursue an alternate, non-residential site within Boynton Beach, seek an interlocal arrangement with a regional facility like Palm Beach State College or the Sheriff's Office range in Loxahatchee, or move to reimburse or reallocate the remaining design budget. Those decisions could come into focus at the upcoming meeting, where residents who packed the Golfview Harbour Clubhouse are expected to keep pressing the case for their neighborhood's woods and quiet.
