Did you know that the Planning and Zoning Board only reviews a small percentage of the building permits issued in Juno Beach?

The building permits issued in April 2023 and May 2023 by staff can be viewed by clicking on the date. There is no doubt about the pace of change in Juno Beach. The Building Utilization Reports for 2019, 2020 and 2021, are required by State law to be published on our Town's website.

Workshop on Priority List by Planning and Zoning Board

While May's workshop yielded additional items ultimately approved by Council for our priority list, not so in June. We were shut-down from substantive discussion of our priority list. Clarification is being sought through our Town Manager.

Top Three on Prioritized List from Town Council

1.   Setbacks within Commercial General Zoning District – above the second story to require a set back of 5 feet (whether or not adjoining residential zoning district)

2.   Retaining Walls – clarify height limitations for single retaining walls and a series of retaining walls; and determination about appropriateness to raise elevation by adding fill, when not required by flood resistant building requirements.

3.   Preserving our Dunes – clarify building requirements so our secondary dune is not removed when structures are built.

June 5th - Planning and Zoning Board Meeting

• Residential in Commercial General Zoning District Mixed Use – Our code allows by right - a maximum of 75% of the gross floor area used for residential and a minimum of 25% commercial for mixed-use within the commercial general zoning district. Recently, while the Corretta Project was pending, Town Council changed the Code to allow a site area development option with a minimum of 5% commercial and maximum of 95% residential, when a project is ”creative or innovative design” and provides an exceptional benefit to the Town. Council asked the P&Z Board to review changing this mixed-use site area modification to allow a minimum of 20% commercial and a maximum of 80% residential as the site area development option for these exceptional benefit projects. 

The P&Z Board in a 3-2 vote with Diana Davis (Cooke), Michael Stern (Cotronakis), and Nancy Wolf (Hosta) in favor, approved recommendation to Council to move forward with the maximum 80%/ 20% and not the 95% / 5%. Jim Ferguson (Wheeler) and Laure Shearer (Halpern) voted against changing the status quo of 95%/5%. The Board majority thought that our Town will benefit from more commercial - retail, doctor's offices, restaurants, gyms, etc.. As a walkable bikable community, we need destinations within Town. We have less than 20% of our total area zoned as commercial. It would be ashame to lose our cherished local businesses to more condomiums. 

• Residential Spill-Over Lighting – Planning and Zoning Staff provided a draft ordinance benchmarking the Town of Jupiter and the Town of Palm Beach, that would create an ordinance that prevents neighbor nuisance type lighting that spills onto someone else’s property. Laure Shearer (Halpern) brought this item onto the priority list. There are provisions in the Commercial General zoning district to prevent this, but nothing for our residential areas. The Board suggested some amendments such as creating a chart to describe wattage and/or lumins for sconces and other up-lighting such as landscape lighting. 

• Saturn Lane - The Board was unanimous in its approval of an assessory structure, garage, on historic Saturn Lane that met the historical zoning criteria.  

June 5th - Planning and Zoning Board Lecture Series

• Lecture on Historical Preservation - Amiee Sunny gave an informative lecture about the benefits to a community of historical preservation, including potential incentives such as potential tax relief, and some relief from Florida Building Code. She outlined the first step as exploring community interest, then performing a historical survey, and drafting ordinances for the Town. Exploring historical preservation opportunities and the ability for residents to opt-into incentive programs within Juno Beach was removed from the P&Z Board’s priority list and added to the Council’s goal setting list. Kudos to Council on this important issue.