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Pompano Beach board backs updated resilient development standards for major projects
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board voted unanimously to recommend the city commission consider a text amendment that replaces the city's Sustainable Development Standards with a new, 100-point Resilient Development Standards applying to major site plans.
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — The Planning & Zoning Board on May 28 recommended the city commission consider a text amendment that would replace the city’s existing Sustainable Development Standards with a new Resilient Development Standards, a 100-point system intended to raise resilience, flexibility and ease of use for developers on major site plans.
The draft amendment, presented by consultant Carla Ebenbach of Ebenbach Consulting LLC and introduced by city sustainability staff, would apply to major site plans and major rehabilitations and lets developers meet the standard either by selecting options from a menu or by documenting third‑party certification. Ebenbach said the update expands the number of choices from about 25 to 52 and reorganizes the scoring to a uniform 100-point scale so projects of any land use can be evaluated consistently. "What we're talking to you about tonight is something that is applicable to major site plans only or major rehabilitations," Ebenbach told the board.
The new standards are designed to emphasize measures not already required elsewhere in the code and to focus on flood, heat, energy and mobility resilience. City staff and the consultant said the options are intended to be verifiable before a certificate of occupancy: applicants would submit a "resilience narrative" with supporting plans, letters or certification documents at plan review. Staff principal planner Max Breams told the board that under the previous system most projects used three to five items to reach the old point thresholds; the new scoring is meant to weight options so projects pick features that add incremental resilience rather than choices that are already mandated by other codes.
Board members asked how the 100-point scale was chosen and whether the update would produce more resilience than the current standards. Ebenbach said the larger scale allows finer weighting and that the draft was benchmarked against examples elsewhere in the U.S.; Breams said typical submittals previously used about three to five qualifying items and that the draft standards remove redundant options to yield new, incremental outcomes. Staff confirmed the draft keeps the same applicability — it applies only to major site plans; minor site plans remain outside this requirement.
The proposal includes two implementation pathways: (1) selecting from a menu of prescriptive options across categories (e.g., flood, energy, heat, mobility) and (2) documenting third‑party certifications that meet defined evidentiary criteria. Ebenbach and staff emphasized the standards are supported by a supplementary manual (not part of the code) that would spell out technical documentation, point values and verification processes.
The Economic Development Council and the Community Redevelopment Agency provided letters of support, and staff recommended approval. Board member Carla Coleman moved to forward the amendment to the city commission for consideration; the motion passed on a roll call vote with all members present voting yes.
The board noted the standards are intended to be adaptable: staff said the code and the accompanying manual could be adjusted over time if certain options are over- or under‑utilized. The presentation also referenced peer jurisdictions in South Florida and major guidance documents such as the ULI business case for resilience to frame the expected benefits.
If the city commission adopts the changes, the new standards would take effect as part of the zoning code review process for major projects. City staff said they would monitor submittals and bring text amendments if point allocations or procedural details need adjustment.
Votes at a glance: The board voted to forward the resilient development standards text amendment (LN7-22) to the city commission for consideration; roll call recorded seven yes votes and no opposing votes.
Sources: presentation and Q&A at the May 28 Planning & Zoning Board meeting; staff materials and consultant presentation on resilient development standards.
