Juno Beach Planning and Zoning Board, Diana Davis Chair


Update on P&Z Board October *Meeting*

Agenda Item - Floor Area Ratio 

There was one agenda item for the Planning and Zoning Board’s October 2, 2023 meeting, it was a discussion of Floor Area Ratio, which is "the ratio of permitted floor area of a building in relation to the size of a lot. An FAR of 1.00 means that a one-story building can cover 100% of the lot, and a two-story 50% of the lot and so forth"


FAR exploration was one of the priorities of the Board discussed in our June workshop. Town Council adopted in July 2023, Ordinance 763, a definition of “harmony” that is used in our town in its architectural and site plan reviews. Our "harmony" definition mirrors other local government definitions and includes terms such as “mass” and “bulk” and “scale.” There is no objective measurable terminology with the harmony definition to determine what may or may not be "in-harmony." 

 

Architects William Waters and Rick Gonzalez in presentations to the P&Z Board, at our lecture series, described both West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach using Floor Area Ratio in their site plan analysis for some zoning districts as an measurement to aid in determining "harmony." Palm Beach uses a similar concept Cubic Content Ratio. At the Planning and Zoning meeting, there was board consensus that staff should continue to explore what creating FARs for some of our zoning districts would look like for future discussions by the Board and Town Council.   

Other Topics covered included in Board Discussion: Urgent Action on SB 102 Affordable Housing - super sized staff only automatic approval of 12 story heights


URGENT ACTION SB 102 - Senate Bill 102 is legislation where Tallahassee allows for fast track staff-only approvals of affordable housing projects that can be the height and density of any building within one mile of the project. During "board discussion" the need for *urgent action to address SB 102* for Juno Beach was advocated again. At the September 27, 2023, Town Council meeting, I used public comment time to urge Town Council to action on SB 102. I proposed that urgent action is needed to adopt process, policies and enforcement mechanisms for SB 102 in Juno Beach.

Kudos to both Mayor Cooke and Mayor Pro Tem Hosta, acknowledging the need for urgent action on SB 102, however no Council consensus was given. Following the Town Council meeting, two things happened, Town Staff with Attorney Rubin created a *"Live Local" webpage* with information about SB 102 projects in Juno Beach to meet the statutory Oct.1 deadline. David Dyess, our Town manager, acknowledged by *email* that the Town could create processes, procedures, and create enforcement mechanisms for developers who apply for a project under the terms of SB 102. Please call your Town Council members and demand urgent action, as this one-size fits all law that tries to solve the affordable housing problem with a sledge hammer, does not work for our small sea side community with only approximately 10% commercially zoned properties. Oddly, the P&Z Board could not agree by consensous to recommend that Town Council urgently address SB 102 matters, or even agree to have SB 102 as an agenda item for our next meeting.

 

Next Steps on SB 102: Len Rubin, Town Attorney, is to report on progress of benchmarking other municipalities, toward the development of process, procedures, enforcement mechanisms and/or definitions, where needed, at our November P&Z Board meeting. 

 

Seminole Golf Course Major Site Plan Amendment made the Town webpage last item as an *“in-process project"* and described the proposal to build a maintenance entrance on Ocean Drive across from Juno Dunes Townhomes. The Town has had this project in reviews since August, but it has not come before P&Z Board. During Board discussion, I questioned the process of County owned road approvals, along with the need for any traffic study reviews, or other items that the applicant may be required to obtain, specifically to understand how *34-116(3)a2,* applies to this controversial project.

 

Concern for Priority Setting for P&Z Agenda Items. Why isn't the P&Z Board discussing important timely topics such as Palm Beach Gardens bold annexation move for areas that are on the *Juno Beach Annexation Map?* This topic was not on the Town Council agenda for their Sept. 27th meeting and was only brought up in the "discussions from staff" portion of the agenda by the Town Manager. I would expect that Council and staff would spend more time to create an actual Annexation Plan with identified priorities set, time lines, and public meetings to obtain resident input on what annexation actions, if any, are appropriate for Juno Beach.

Planning and Zoning Board members and their Council person who appointed them are: Chair - Diana Davis (Cooke), Vice Chair - Jim Ferguson (Wheeler), Michael Stern (Cotronakis), Laure Shearer (Halpern), Nancy Wolf (Hosta), and Jane Le Clainche (Council alternate).

* Click on bolded blue text for web link to document referenced. *