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Highland Beach planning board approves 24,000‑pound boat lift at Boca Highland Marina
Summary
The Town of Highland Beach Planning Board unanimously approved a special exemption allowing a 24,000‑pound boat lift in slip 25 at Boca Highland Marina; building permits and other conditions remain required.
The Town of Highland Beach Planning Board on Jan. 16 approved a special-exemption application allowing a 24,000‑pound boat lift to be installed in slip 25 at the Boca Highland Marina, voting unanimously 6–0.
The approval applies to Development Order application PZ24‑17 submitted by the Michael B. Weisberg Trust and Boat Lifts and Docks of South Florida to install a lift with four pilings in slip 25. The board’s decision was accompanied by standard conditions: the applicant must obtain building permits and begin construction within two years of the planning‑board approval.
Town planner Miss Allen presented the staff report and displayed aerials and the applicant’s plan set. Staff noted the applicant provided FTP approval (file cited in the meeting packet) and that the FTP file indicates a separate U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit is not required. The plan set submitted shows four pilings for the lift and a top elevation for the lift roughly 4 feet 10 inches from the existing wood dock; staff also noted the applicant had not superimposed a boat on the plan but added a note that the installed lift will comply with the town’s definition that a lift may not be higher than the boat’s superstructure when raised.
Board members questioned how the marina’s perpendicular docking relates to the town’s perpendicular‑docking rules and whether the slip is at a canal’s landward end. Miss Allen said the marina was developed with perpendicular docking and that the slip in question is not the landward end of a canal; she also pointed out the town has a minimum waterway width requirement (80 feet) that this location satisfies. The commission is considering amendments to the accessory marine facility regulations, and Miss Allen said that amendment will appear for a second reading by the Town Commission next week.
Applicant Michael Weisberg, identified at the hearing as the property owner, responded to a question about ladders on docks: “ladders are already present. Wasn't placed by me. There's ladders that have been there for years by the Beach Club, Boca Island Beach Club Marina, and I've installed them on those spots. I had no choice. It's they're just there.”
A homeowner association approval letter and the applicant’s written responses to the special‑exception criteria were included in the planning‑board packet. Staff noted the building‑department plan set had not been received by the building department as of Dec. 17, 2024; obtaining a building permit remains a condition of the approval.
Member [mover not specified] moved to approve the application “as stated,” a second was recorded but not named in the transcript, and the board voted yes: Vice Chair Mendelsohn, Member Chanovsky, Member Rosen, Member Brown, Member Axelrod and Chairperson Goldenberg. The board did not record any opposing votes or abstentions.
The approval authorizes the special exemption only; the applicant must secure all required development and building permits and comply with any subsequent requirements from the building department or other permitting authorities before construction starts.
