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Lighthouse Point Magazine’s City Beat Reporter Marie Puleo. She can be emailed at puleo.marie@gmail.com

By Marie Puleo

At its June 26 meeting, the City Commission passed a resolution to rename parts of NE 24th Street, NE 30th Avenue, NE 31st Avenue and NE 48th Street along the Intracoastal Waterway as “Intracoastal Drive.”

Two Lighthouse Point residents were behind the proposal to rename the streets – Lighthouse Point-based realtor Kevin Kreutzfeld and former mayor Leo Bentz.

The idea originated with Kreutzfeld, who sells homes exclusively in excess of $1 million. He noted that the most high-end and affluent neighborhoods around South Florida, and the country, have street names instead of numbered streets.

Bentz said that during a conversation he had with the real estate broker, Kreutzfeld mentioned the value of giving streets in Lighthouse Point “fancy names.” He told Bentz, “You could be living on Intracoastal Drive instead of 31st Avenue.” 

Bentz became intrigued by the concept, and the two men created an alliance to bring it to fruition. They soon had the support of other residents. 

“The idea was to enhance the prestige of the street and the neighborhood,” said Kreutzfeld. “We’re also hoping to increase the property values.”

Bentz presented the idea to the City Commission in March. He told the commissioners that if they approved the project, he would raise the funds necessary to purchase and install the new street signs. 

Now that the Commission has passed the resolution, Broward County will perform a formal field review and provide a detailed estimate of the cost to replace all the existing signs. The county gave an initial estimate of approximately $250 per sign, but that amount could change once the field review is carried out. After the city approves the cost and sign mock-ups, fabrication and installation will begin. 

Bentz estimates that about 25 new signs will be needed. They will have the names of the existing streets and avenues underneath the “Intracoastal Drive” designation, similar to the signs on Marina Drive and Lighthouse Drive. The signs could be installed by late September.

Bentz said that friends and neighbors have offered to help with the cost of the new signs because “they’ll all benefit by it.”  

According to Kreutzfeld, he and Bentz have taken the initiative to lay out a comprehensive street-naming plan for the entire city that will be presented to the City Commission in the near future. Getting the Intracoastal Drive designation “was a big step,” and they’d like to continue the momentum. 

“It’s much more appealing to live on a street with a name,” said Kreutzfeld.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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This post was prepared by staff at Point! Publishing. For inquiries call 954-603-4553.

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