Planning board backs ordinance to shift plat approvals to administrative process

The Town of Highland Beach Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend that the Town Commission adopt an ordinance revising the town's platting procedures to comply with a recent change to the platting statute. Town Attorney Rubin explained the change originated in the 2025 legislative session and amended section 177071 to require administrative approval of plats and to eliminate governing-body review and a public hearing process for plats.

Rubin told the board the statute requires municipalities to designate an administrative authority to receive and perform initial review of plats; the building department will receive plat applications, perform the initial review, and the town manager or another senior official will make the final determination to approve, deny, or approve with conditions. Rubin said the statute also requires the municipality to acknowledge receipt of an application within seven business days and to identify any missing materials, and described recent state trends toward strict statutory timeframes that can lead to automatic approval if deadlines are missed.

Board members discussed the practical effect: because Highland Beach has little remaining acreage, there will likely be relatively few plats, but certain townhouse or condominium configurations could still require platting depending on ownership structure. Members said an applicant's conceptual plan for nine townhouses could require a plat if the land underlying each unit would be sold rather than held as common elements.

A motion to recommend adoption of the ordinance to the Town Commission passed on a roll-call vote recorded by Mr. Hart. The board's recommendation does not itself change town code until the Town Commission acts; the next step is Commission consideration and possible adoption.