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Name – Why the Village of Loxahatchee?

The FCR committee and residents spent more than five hours, at a publicly advertised meeting on July 24, 2021, narrowing down name suggestions to 3 names, prior to the FCR committee vote.  At that time, it was the understanding of the FCR committee that the name “Loxahatchee” by itself could not be used. Subsequently, there was a postcard mailer by ITID inviting residents to vote in the name poll of the 3 names finalized by the FCR committee, on the ITID website. The final names decided on by the FCR committee were 1. Town of Indian Trail Ranches 2. Town of Acreage Pines 3. Town of Loxahatchee Ranches. The video of that meeting can be viewed here. The result of the ITID poll was the Town of Loxahatchee Ranches.

Subsequent to the poll, ITID was informed by State and County officials that we were not prohibited from using the name “Loxahatchee” by itself. The FCR committee then decided to reconsider the name of the “Town of Loxahatchee Ranches” and changed it to the “Village of Loxahatchee” based on input from the community. A second poll from the committee resulted in Village of Loxahatchee having the highest votes.

When the VoteLox citizens group decided to move forward with submitting the bill to the local delegation, we decided to re-poll the community on the name. The result was, once again, the majority of residents wanted the name “Village of Loxahatchee”.

We appreciate that some people would prefer a different name. Neighborhood names will continue to be used even after incorporation. The Acreage will continue to exist, just as Royal Ascot Estates, Santa Rosa Groves, Sunny Urban Meadows, Tall Pines, Dellwood, Los Flores, etc. will continue to be used for those neighborhoods. However, after many public meetings, discussions, polls etc. the Village of Loxahatchee always prevails. No one person made this name decision despite inflammatory accusations being made by individuals in the community. The community members that engaged in the process and the polls are the ones who decided.

It should be noted that if the community desires to have another poll on the name, it could be done, provided it is completed before the bill is read by the legislature. In the alternative, this is an issue that can be addressed in the future by the Town Council. It is not unheard of for a municipality to change its’ name. A recent example is Lake Worth changing its’ name to Lake Worth Beach.

Also note, people do not confuse the Town of Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, North Palm Beach, South Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach Shores, and Royal Palm Beach – it is understood that these are separate areas and municipalities within the county. People will also be able to recognize that the Village of Loxahatchee and the Town of Loxahatchee Groves are distinctly different communities.

Deciding on a name for our area warrants consideration of the name history of our area. Betty Argue wrote a very detailed post which was shared with the FCR committee and the community during the name debate in 2021. It can be found here. FYI Betty’s choice, Indian Trail Ranches, was not chosen but she isn’t whining and spreading misinformation about the process or what the community ultimately decided on. She respects the wishes of the community.