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Planning board recommends approval for Bear Lakes Country Club amendment
Summary
The West Palm Beach Planning Board voted unanimously Feb. 18 to recommend city commission approval of Planning Board Case 1155D, a major amendment for Bear Lakes Country Club that adds a 4,224 sq. ft. staff/pro-shop addition and upgrades aquatic and racket facilities.
The West Palm Beach Planning Board on Feb. 18 recommended that the City Commission approve a major amendment to the Bear Lakes Country Club community service plan development (Case 1155D).
The board’s recommendation, offered in a motion that cited the staff report and testimony presented at the hearing, covers a 13-acre site and includes a 4,224-square-foot addition to provide a new staff facility and pro shop, a new restroom building, renovation of the aquatic complex, a covered outdoor dining and bar area, and reconfiguration of racket amenities to retain six tennis courts while adding six pickleball courts and one Padel court.
Laurie Hood, representing the applicant firm Kotler and Hearing in Jupiter, said the project team — including project manager Michael Buttress and architect Isaac Campos — intends the changes to improve circulation, safety and operational efficiency while enhancing landscaping and walkability along Village Boulevard and Shenandoah Road. “Approving this application tonight will really help us to improve the circulation, the safety, and the operational efficiency of the site,” Hood said.
Chris Hall, identified as general manager of Bear Lakes Country Club, told the board the club has about 650 members and that the membership approved the proposed amendments. Hall said the clubhouse is original but received an interior extension and refresh in 2018; the current work will align outdoor and amenity upgrades with that prior interior update.
Planning staff recommended approval with conditions. Stephanie Gregory, planning and zoning administrator, told the board the amendment adds just over 4,000 square feet and that staff found the application complies with the amendment standards in section 94-32 and the site design qualitative development standards in section 94-35 of the City of West Palm Beach Zoning and Land Development Regulations (ZLDRs). Staff’s recommended conditions are related mostly to building permit review; the applicant accepted those conditions.
An unidentified board member moved that the planning board recommend that the City Commission approve planning board case 1155D, basing the motion on the testimony, application and staff report dated Feb. 18, 2026, and finding the application complies with the cited ZLDR sections. The motion was seconded, put to a voice vote and passed unanimously.
The board’s recommendation now goes to the City Commission for further consideration. No individual roll-call vote totals were recorded in the transcript; the motion was recorded as passing unanimously at the meeting.
