Planning board OKs Delray Hyundai/Genesis dealership with waivers, asks applicant to seek extra glazing

The Delray Beach Planning & Zoning Board on Oct. 20 recommended approval of a level‑3 site plan to redevelop a 3.22‑acre site at 2612–2650 North Federal Highway as a Hyundai and Genesis full‑service dealership, and granted two regulatory waivers while adding a condition asking the applicant to seek corporate approval for extra glazing on one garage elevation.

The motion, made by Commissioner Mitch Katz and seconded by Commissioner Jim Chard, approved the site plan with conditions including a requirement that the applicant ask Hyundai/Genesis corporate to allow glazing of five bays on the east elevation (and one turning the southeast corner); if corporate denies that request the applicant must submit the denial letter to the city and the approval would stand without the glazing. The board’s tally was recorded as six in favor and one opposed.

Why it matters: The project replaces a long‑standing vehicle storage lot with a two‑brand, two‑story dealership and a multi‑level integrated parking garage. The board’s action clears a major hurdle for construction while highlighting neighborhood concerns about lighting, noise and visual screening of the garage levels.

The proposal and waivers The applicant presented a redevelopment plan for a roughly 3.22‑acre site north of Gulfstream Boulevard between Federal and Dixie highways. The plan calls for a two‑brand (Hyundai and Genesis) showroom and service facility with an integrated parking garage and internal inventory storage. The applicant described a 55,000‑square‑foot primary building footprint for sales and showroom areas and a larger gross square‑footage total that includes the multi‑level parking garage and service areas; staff later summarized the total gross area (including the garage) as about 167,000 square feet.

The applicant requested two forms of relief available under the Land Development Regulations: front‑setback relief in the North Federal Highway Veil district (the code sets a 5‑ to 15‑foot established range; the applicant proposed a much larger setback to allow circulation and fire access) and a reduction in the open‑space percentage allowed for automotive commercial (AC) zoned dealerships. Staff told the board it had reviewed technical issues including water, sewer, drainage, traffic concurrence and parking and found the application technically compliant except for the two areas of relief requested.

Public comment and applicant response A nearby resident, Ingrid Kenimer, urged the board to require physical screening and downward‑directed lighting at night to reduce noise from remote vehicle fobs and light spill from inventory display areas. Kenimer referenced past issues at other dealerships where vehicles parked on rooftop levels or alarms created recurring noise.

Neil de Jesus, the applicant’s chief operating officer, told the board the dealership will use an electronic inventory system that identifies an individual vehicle’s exact location and “eliminates the need to find those vehicles by the key fob alarm,” adding the project team had agreed to comply with the city’s photometric and illumination requirements. “Anything in terms of the illumination criteria that the city has required … we’ve complied with and we’ve agreed to,” he said.

Board discussion and…