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Board recommends LDR changes to clarify setbacks, pergolas and pool enclosures
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board recommended an amendment to Land Development Regulations clarifying which small building elements — including detached pergolas and pool screen enclosures — may encroach into required setbacks and how duplexes are treated for pool setbacks.
The Delray Beach Planning & Zoning Board on Jan. 27 recommended that the City Commission adopt a city‑initiated amendment clarifying what building elements and site improvements are allowed within required setbacks.
Staff said the changes were largely technical and aimed to resolve ambiguous interpretations that have arisen in permit reviews. The draft ordinance would allow a detached pergola with a non‑solid roof up to 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet to encroach to within 5 feet of interior side and rear property lines, extend the same pool‑setback rules adopted for townhouses to duplexes, and clarify that screened porches not associated with pools follow a different standard than pool screen enclosures.
Planning manager Rebecca Dawson told the board the update grew out of an overall cleanup of the LDR and a prior 2024 overhaul of development standards. Board members asked whether a pergola could later be converted into an enclosed room; staff said an enclosed structure or one with a solid roof would be required to meet full building setbacks and that permits for conversions would be subject to standard building‑permit review.
Action: The board voted to recommend approval of the amendment to LDR section 4.3.4 (base district development standards), subsection H (setbacks), and section 4.6.15 (swimming pools) updating rules on building elements allowed in setbacks. Motion by Allison Thomas; second by Judy Malika. Roll call: Mitch Katz, Yes; Deidre Strong, Yes; Allison Thomas, Yes; Jeffrey Meiselman, Yes; Judy Malika, Yes; Gregory Snyder, Yes. Outcome: recommended to City Commission (unanimous among present members).
The ordinance will be transmitted to the City Commission for final action; staff said the changes are targeted to reduce ambiguity in permit review and to protect safety when a porch or pool enclosure would effectively become a building addition.
