The Lantana Town Council unanimously voted down a height exception request for a planned Hypoluxo Island home.
Owner Edmund Gonzalez made the request for a house to be built at 907 N. Atlantic Drive so he could extend the chimney 18 inches and a mechanical room for elevator equipment 30 inches above the maximum allowable building height of 35 feet on a new residence.
A representative for the owner told the council during its Sept. 10 meeting that neither the chimney nor mechanical room would be visible from the street and that the design of the residence would reflect “an upscale living condition.”
Council member Tom Deringer said nobody else on the island had a height exception.
“Once we allow a height exception for this, the other people are going to come in and want to keep up with the Joneses,” Deringer said. “It could be built without a variance and still be a spectacular house.”
The three-story, 5,609-square-foot home design includes an elevator and a third-floor pool.
Mayor Dave Stewart said he could not support the request and that the house could be overpowering. “I don’t feel it is in keeping with other houses on the island,” he said. “There are people living on the island since 1977, and there’s never been a (height) exception.”
— Mary Thurwachter
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