Palm Beach Town Hall has added extra guardrails to a law that allows some North End houses to be built closer to the street.
The revised ordinance offers an extra level of scrutiny for North End property owners seeking to move a house 5 feet closer to the street than the zoning code allows. For years, the town has allowed such a move, as long as the backyard is increased by the same amount.
But now, owners interested in shrinking the size their front yard will have to apply for a “waiver,” one which will require notices to be sent to neighbors to alert them about the proposed position of the house on the lot. The request also would require a go-ahead from either the Landmarks Preservation Commission or the Architectural Commission, according to the ordinance.
For owners to be granted the waiver request, they must satisfy the ordinance’s four criteria:
The measure was unanimously approved with little discussion during the Town Council’s March 4 meeting.
It’s among a recent wave of ordinances aimed at revamping the town’s aging zoning code. Those included an ordinance passed during the March meeting that updated the zoning code to allow flood vents for basements.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach OK’s new guardrails for North End residential developments
Reporting by Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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