Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Large Residential Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board backs major amendment to Family Church RPD, equalizes two residential towers
Summary
The West Palm Beach Planning Board unanimously recommended approval of a major amendment to the Family Church residential planned development that equalizes two residential towers at about 30 stories, modifies podium amenities and updates previously approved waivers including a minimum-acreage waiver (projected site area 9.897 acres).
Tyler Woolsey, representing the applicant, told the West Palm Beach Planning Board on Oct. 21 that the proposal for the Family Church residential planned development (RPD) would equalize the heights of two residential towers on a site south of downtown and refine podium and tower architecture.
The board recommended approval to the City Commission after staff said the amended waivers meet the zoning standards. The vote was unanimous.
The amendment would reduce the previously approved discrepancy between the North and South towers—transferring floors so both towers come in just under about 330 feet and are described by the applicant as 30 stories each. Woolsey said the change reduces the maximum building height on the site overall by about 19 feet compared with the prior approval and programs additional rooftop amenities on the west podium. He said the historic family church building on the north half of the site would not be changed.
Senior planner Luzus Santini told the board staff considered the revised architecture and waiver changes and recommended approval. “Staff has no objection to waiver number 1 for the minimum acreage for the RPD as well as waiver number 2 for the building heights and impact with the side setbacks,” Santini said during the board presentation.
The amendment alters two previously approved waivers: (1) minimum acreage for an RPD where the code requires 10 acres; the project site is now listed as 9.897 acres following abandonment of a portion of Chadbourne Court that had previously been included in the site area, and (2) a waiver relating building height to side setback requirements. The applicant explained the change in the South Tower footprint shifts some setback dimensions: a corner setback decreases by about 3 feet 2 inches while another east-side setback increases by about 6 feet 2 inches. The west podium structure will see a roughly 7-inch increase in podium height tied to enclosed amenity programming (recorded as a 4-inch change in one required setback), according to the presentation.
Woolsey described the architecture changes as a response to market feedback and earlier board comments about a perceived disconnect between the podium wrap and tower facades: “We think it is a nice blend and a much better way to address the architecture throughout the project,” he said.
The board’s motion recommended approval to the City Commission with previously adopted conditions remaining in force under the original resolution (Resolution No. 225-24). The planning board’s motion cited the application, staff report and testimony as the competent, substantial evidence for its recommendation and explicitly referenced the reduced acreage (9.897 acres) and applicable zoning section (Section 94-207(c)(2)) in its findings.
The amendment now goes to the City Commission for final action under the same conditions set in the earlier approval.
Clarifying details discussed at the hearing included the exact acreage after abandonment (9.897 acres), the approximate equalized tower heights (both just under ~330 feet), the specific setback adjustments (corner down ~3'2"; east side up ~6'2"), and the podium height increase (about 7 inches) that affects a setback calculation. Staff said all other previously approved conditions would remain in effect.
