Downtown Action Committee approves variances for Nora project gateway on North Railroad Avenue

The West Palm Beach Downtown Action Committee on May 14 approved three variances for the Nora development at the corner of Seventh Street and North Railroad Avenue, allowing reductions in required active frontage and storefront transparency and permitting a 10-foot exterior wall on Seventh Street under conditions requiring porous block and maintained landscaping.

The variances alter three downtown master plan standards that apply to primary pedestrian streets: a reduction in minimum active use along North Railroad Avenue, lower glazing/transparency on North Railroad Avenue and Seventh Street, and an exception to the 4-foot maximum fence/wall height on Seventh Street. Committee staff recommended approval with conditions; the committee voted to approve each variance individually by voice vote.

Applicant Joseph Fuerst said the project includes new construction added to an existing adaptive-reuse building and that tenant programing required some back-of-house space that could not be glazed, but that the design still…