Planning board approves Woodfield Country Club request for 8‑foot buffer wall

The Boca Raton Planning and Zoning Board voted 7–0 Feb. 19 to recommend a variance allowing Woodfield Country Club to replace a deteriorated fence with an up-to‑8‑foot wall along a portion of its northern boundary on Clintmore Road.

Pam Kitchen, a city zoning officer, told the board the golf course is an accessory recreational use that closes at night and provides limited natural surveillance, creating a ‘‘special and unique’’ condition where a higher wall would improve security. Kitchen said the requested two‑foot increase is the ‘‘minimum deviation necessary’’ and that the wall will be screened by existing and supplemental landscaping in accord with city requirements. "The landscaping plan strengthens the existing roadway buffer and improves the corridor’s visual character," she said.

John Wheeler, representing the applicant, described the existing chain‑link fence along Clintmore as deteriorated and said the proposed precast panel wall would be more structural and easier to remove for easement work. He said the development has about 1,300 residential units and that the requested wall will address security gaps where the golf course provides limited activity after sunset. "We would appreciate approval of our variance request," Wheeler said.

Dan Shannon, general manager with Allied Security, told the board his firm documented incidents near Woodfield and supported an 8‑foot wall as a stronger deterrent than the 6‑foot maximum allowed under code. "A 6‑foot wall is an easily scalable wall. An 8‑foot wall provides a lot more of a deterrence," Shannon said.

During questioning, a board member asked why the higher wall is proposed only for the Clintmore stretch. Wheeler replied that other edges of the development rely on drainage canals or existing walls or have not experienced the same deterioration. Representatives of the Woodfield HOA said the project is the first phase of multiple security improvements and that they plan to return with further work if needed.

After public testimony in support and no opposition, a board member moved to approve the variance; the motion carried on a roll call vote, 7–0. The board’s recommendation will go forward to the appropriate agency for final action per the city’s quasi‑judicial procedures.

The board did not record additional conditions in the transcript beyond staff’s landscaping and screening expectations; the staff report recommended approval based on safety, aesthetics and minimum deviation criteria. The hearing record includes a supporting letter from Allied Security and testimony from the applicant and HOA representatives.