Voters in Lake Worth decided Tuesday to change their city’s name to “Lake Worth Beach.”
The change to the Lake Worth charter means it will join the many other South Florida communities with “beach” in their names: Boynton, Dania, Deerfield, Delray, Golden, Hallandale, Highland, Hillsboro, Juno, Pompano, and Sunny Isles.
Unknown is whether the change will draw the kind of tourist crowds attracted by the most famous South Florida city with a beach name: Miami Beach. (There’s also North Miami Beach.)
The vote was close: 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent, according to unofficial returns. Just 2,710 of the city’s 18,185 registered voters participated in the referendum. That means the decision was made by just under 15 percent of the city’s voters.
When the issue came up, Sun Sentinel news partner WPEC-Ch. 12 reported that a city spokesperson estimated upfront costs would be about $100,000, including material to reach out to residents about the change, and marketing.
WPEC also reported that proponents believed a name change would eliminate confusion with unincorporated areas of Palm Beach that people call Lake Worth. The same thing happens with unincorporated areas of west of Delray Beach, which many people don’t distinguish from the city along the coast.
Several Palm Beach County communities have “Palm Beach” in their names including, of course, Palm Beach, plus North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach Shores, Royal Palm Beach, South Palm Beach and West Palm Beach.
aman@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4550 or Twitter @browardpolitics