The proposed home at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. would have two living floors, basement and a rooftop terrace with pool Renderings provided
City Council will have the final say
By Steve Plunkett
Boca Raton’s Environmental Advisory Board has delivered a strong “no” to plans for a scaled-back residence on one of the two remaining vacant parcels in Boca Raton east of State Road A1A.
The board, meeting Sept. 26, voted 4-0 to recommend that the City Council not approve a variance to build on the ocean side of the Coastal Construction Control Line, despite city staff’s recommendation to approve the application.
The vote is not binding on the council, which was scheduled to take up the matter Oct. 8.
Azure Development LLC and its affiliate, 2600 N Ocean LLC, originally proposed a duplex on its property at 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. with four living floors, an uninhabitable basement and a rooftop terrace with pool. It now wants to build a single-family home with two living floors, the basement and rooftop terrace with pool. The residence would have 6,931 square feet of air-conditioned space, four bedrooms and a garage. The rooftop would also have a gym room, a summer kitchen and a spa.
The new design has 2,550 square feet of glass facing the Atlantic Ocean, down about 29% from the original plan’s 3,600 square feet.
Rick Newman, chairman of the advisory board, was not swayed.
“It’s still a tall building. I don’t know why they didn’t go for a lower building,” Newman said.
Only four members of the public spoke at the meeting, all opposed to the beachfront home: a lawyer for the Yacht and Racquet Club of Boca Raton, north of the property; Jorge Salinger, president of its condo board; longtime opponent and Yacht and Racquet Club resident Michael Laszlo; and Grant Kelly, a nearby neighbor on Lake Wyman Road.
The Yacht and Racquet Club’s residences are on the west side of A1A, with only a gated dune crossover on the east side. The condo also has a permit to keep vegetation trimmed so as not to block the ocean view.
Tamashbeen Rahman, the city’s chief planner, said her department had included a number of conditions for the developer to meet, including installation of an astronomical clock that will automatically turn off any pool lighting no later than 9 p.m. during sea turtle nesting season, and submitting a tree-pruning plan every two years for city review.
Brandon Schaad, Boca Raton’s director of development services, said the city’s comprehensive plan, zoning code and zoning map all designate the property for use as residential development.
“We believe at this point, with the mitigation measures that the applicant has incorporated, with the design that they have set forth, and with the robust and extensive conditions that we have placed in the recommended development order, that that constitutes reasonable use,” Schaad said. “It’s up to the board to determine if you agree or not.”
After the meeting, attorney Robert Sweetapple, who represents Delray Beach-based Azure, said he was pleased by the city staff’s recommendation for approval and looked forward to the City Council’s deliberations.
“There’s nothing that the Environmental Advisory Board would ever approve, because they want the beach to remain in its natural state,” he said.
In August, the city and Azure agreed to put two contentious lawsuits behind them and to decide within 90 days whether to allow the home to go up on the beachfront.
The settlement calls for both sides to pause legal activity for at least 90 days or until the City Council makes its decision on the CCCL variance. If the variance is denied, the settlement becomes void and legal action will resume.
The agreement also calls for Azure and Boca Raton to pay their own attorneys’ fees and costs. Sweetapple has said the legal tabs on his side exceed $1 million.
Notable in the settlement language is this: “The City recognizes that 2600 is entitled to construct a single-family home on the Property, subject to satisfying the CCCL variance criteria as set forth in the City’s Code of Ordinances and all other zoning, building and other applicable regulatory requirements.”
In 2020, a panel of Palm Beach County Circuit Court judges ordered a rehearing of Azure’s variance request and disqualified then-Council members Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte from voting on it based on email messages they sent to constituents and to each other that showed they were not impartial.
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