Florida City Mayor Otis T. Wallace knows that the housing boom is deflated.

But it will be back, and Florida City hopes to be ready with thousands of acres as one of last communities in South Florida to have so much land available.

So far, about 2,500 acres have been annexed and the city is going after another 2,200 acres or more, according to City Planner Henry Iler.

Worried that other chain restaurants would follow Starbucks onto the island, the council in 2006 imposed zoning-in-progess rules to block chain restaurants while the town staff refined criteria to define those restaurants. Iler Planning Group was hired to develop the new regulations for the Town of Palm Beach.

The guidelines tentatively approved Monday would define a formula restaurant as one belonging to a chain of three or more establishments nationwide and meeting at least two of three additional criteria.