News

By Rich Pollack

    A controversial plan to build a 16-story luxury condominium in Highland Beach received a major blow when the town’s Board of Adjustment and Appeals denied a variance request that would have permitted the project to exceed the town’s 35-foot height limit by 174 feet.
    In a unanimous decision last month, the six-member board voted to deny the request by the developer, Golden City Highland Beach LLC, to allow a 209-foot high building on 7.35 acres at 3614 S. Ocean Blvd.
    Before the decision, board members listened to several hours of presentations by attorneys on both sides and environmental experts, as well as comments from several residents who packed the meeting to voice opposition to the project.
    “This has been an eye-opening experience,” said Marny Glasser, a resident from the neighboring Toscana condominium, who spoke against the proposed variance. “It was good to see the process work effectively with the right result.”
    In reaching the decision to deny the variance, several board members said they did not feel the developer met the eight criteria outlined in the town code, needed for approval of a variance.
    Among the criteria required is evidence that special conditions exist and that those conditions represent a hardship. The developer is also required to prove the variance would be the minimum variance needed to make use of the land possible.
    “There were a lot of obstacles in the criteria that the developer needed to overcome,” said Barry Donaldson, who chairs the appointed Board of Adjustment and Appeals.
    During closing comments to the board, attorney Nathan Nason, representing Golden City, argued that the developer did indeed meet the criteria.
    “We have met all of the requirements and we believe we’re entitled to the variance,” Nason said.
    In filing for the variance, Nason contended that there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered so the developer could move forward with the 45-unit condominium project.
    Nason pointed out that the property is primarily wetlands and that only about 10 percent of the parcel is usable for development, with the remaining 90 percent filled with mangroves.
    “There are special conditions that are peculiar to this parcel,” he said. “There are the mangroves and the shape of the land. As a result, we’re left with the inability to develop this property in accordance with its zoning potential.”
    In an earlier letter supporting approval of the variance, Nason also said that the property is already surrounded by condominiums that are taller than the town’s current height limit.
    Those buildings, opponents of the project pointed out, were built before the 35-foot height restriction was adopted.
    In considering the variance, the Board of Adjustment and Appeals heard from lawyers representing Toscana residents as well as an attorney representing the owner of a home across from the site of the proposed development. The board also considered dozens of letters it received from residents of Toscana and other nearby properties.
    “Everyone who wanted to speak had the opportunity to do so,” Glasser said. “The board wanted to make sure it dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every  ‘t’.”
    Earlier in the meeting, the board approved a request by the developers of property at 3200 S. Ocean Blvd. for a variance that would allow for construction of a porte cochère “a covered entryway” within a 40-foot setback area.