Environmental Advisory Board does not recommend approval of 2600 North Ocean Boulevard CCCL variance

The Boca Raton Environmental Advisory Board on Sept. 26 declined to recommend approval of a coastal construction control line (CCCL) variance for 2600 North Ocean Boulevard, after staff recommended approval subject to mitigation and neighbors urged denial over threats to sea turtles and the dune ecosystem.

Tamashbin Rahman, the city’s chief planner, told the board the 0.42‑acre site is entirely seaward of the established CCCL and that the current application is a rehearing of a proposal the city council denied in 2019 and that was later remanded by the Fourth District Court of Appeal. Rahman described the revised plan as a single‑family residence of about 6,931 square feet, roughly 38 feet tall, to be built on piles with a dune crossover, and said staff had incorporated conditions intended to reduce environmental impacts, including glazing limits, a sea turtle lighting plan, biennial tree‑pruning plans and dune restoration and monitoring.

"The applicant has submitted an updated environmental assessment," Rahman said, and staff concluded that, "subject to compliance with all the conditions of approval in the CCCL resolution," the application satisfies the variance criteria in the city code.

Applicant representatives and consultants emphasized design changes from a previously denied duplex. William Stoddard, the project’s civil and coastal engineer, said the team reduced glazing transmittance to 31%, lowered the building mass and moved pool and active uses to the roof to limit ground‑level disturbance. "We're retaining that dune profile," Stoddard said, describing pile foundations and efforts to avoid dune excavation.

Neighbors and interested parties urged the board to deny the variance. Tucker Gibbs, an attorney representing the adjacent Yacht and Racquet Club of Boca Raton, read the city’s CCCL prohibitions and cited Florida Statute 161.053, arguing the requested variance would permit activities the code forbids — construction seaward of the CCCL, dune excavation and vehicle access across dunes — and that the applicant had not met the six statutory variance criteria. "They want the whole nine yards," Gibbs said, urging the board to recommend denial.

George Salinger, president of the Yacht and Racquet Club and an adjacent property owner, warned of impacts to sea turtles and dune vegetation and called the request a double standard for properties east of the CCCL. Local residents also questioned the project's lighting claims and shared photos of nesting and storm surge patterns they said demonstrate the sensitivity of the site.

In rebuttal, attorney Robert Sweetapple, representing the applicant, said a federal court had already allowed comparable construction on a nearby lot and argued the proposal is the result of years of coordination with city staff and state regulators. "We have come up with the most costly, environmentally sensitive home that will be on the coast in the state of Florida, probably," Sweetapple said, asking the board to recommend approval.

After discussion about the variance criteria — special and unique conditions, minimum necessary relief, public welfare and compatibility with the comprehensive plan — the board moved to put a recommendation to a vote. On roll call, Erica Allen, Rachel Bobich, Margaret Horthy and Chair Newman all voted against recommending approval. The motion to recommend approval failed.

The city staff packet notes this application remains subject to required state approvals, including from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the board’s non‑recommendation does not preclude further proceedings before the city council.

The board then approved minutes for prior meetings, discussed minor public‑park signage follow‑up and adjourned at 7:33 p.m.