The Village Council of Royal Palm Beach on Dec. 19 approved a 9-month extension to a purchase-and-sale agreement for Artemis Investments LLC and granted related land-use approvals to add parking for an adjacent academic use.

The council voted unanimously to extend an existing deadline that originally ran to Dec. 30, 2024; staff's backup had proposed a six-month extension to June 30, 2025, but after discussion the council amended the motion to a 9-month extension to provide the applicant additional scheduling cushion. Staff told the council the remaining approvals are preliminary plat and building permits and that much of the permitting can proceed administratively once deadlines are extended.

At the same meeting the council approved Landscape Waiver application LW24-04 to reduce a required 9-foot perpendicular divider strip to 6.3 feet for roughly 70 feet along newly proposed parking at 30400 Royal Commerce Road and 6846 Seminole Palms Drive; staff recommended the minimum waiver as necessary to allow reasonable use of the parcel and noted required planting materials will still be provided. The council also approved a site-plan modification, special exception and architectural approvals to treat the parcel as part of the existing academic institution tract (listed in staff materials as the Primrose School) and construct the additional parking.

Applicant counsel said the developer had originally asked for a six-month extension and remained confident the approvals could be completed in that time, but requested a nine-month extension to avoid returning to council if survey or permitting delays occurred. "We do feel confident that we could accomplish it in 6 months, but . . . if we could get a 9 month extension that would give us a cushion," the applicant said during the meeting.

Staff emphasized the landscape waiver affects an internal divider strip and does not reduce perimeter buffers that protect neighboring properties. The planning and zoning commission recommended both the waiver and the site-plan modification for approval by votes recorded in the staff packet. The council approved motions for the extension, waiver and site-plan modifications unanimously.

Next steps for the project include finalizing the preliminary plat and obtaining building permits; the applicant and staff said they expect to complete administrative steps within the new extension window.