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The P & Z Board unanimously recommended for Town Council to develop local requirements to mitigate the impact from the consequences of SB 102, which pre-approves supersized housing projects, equal in height to the tallest building within one mile radius of the new project. For Juno Beach, it is State pre-approval of 12-story buildings (130 feet tall) within our commercial areas, so long as it has 40% affordable units for 30 years. The City of Boca Raton, City of Weston and Orange County by Resolution have already developed local requirements.
Bravo to the Town Attorney, Len Rubin, who suggested ideas to mitigate the impact of these projects to safeguard our Town. Local requirements we need, include; the requirement for a mixed-use project of at least 25% commercial, required setbacks for 12-story buildings, sufficient parking, attractive landscaping, open space, and the requirement of "equivalent treatment." The equivalent treatment concept is that the market-rate units and the affordable-housing units must be the same size, have the same access to common areas, entrances, and amenities to avoid super luxury market-rate units on upper floors. We also need monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, so that the State mandated requirements remain in place for the 30 years required.
Time is of the essence! Once the Town Council approves moving forward with a vote to adopt local requirements, all subsequent applicants for these super-sized housing projects will be held to the new requirements even if ordinances are not yet in place.
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