Commission advances zoning change to allow fitness and indoor sports in commerce areas after debate over trip counts

The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to give permission to advertise a text amendment that would allow specified fitness and indoor‑sports uses within the county’s commerce future‑land‑use category, bringing the measure to formal public hearings and ordinance readings.

The amendment, presented by Jennifer Morton of Morton Planning & Landscape Architecture on behalf of property owners including the Channing organization, would adjust a current cap on fitness‑center uses in commerce zones and update code language to allow activities such as studio classes, martial arts and limited indoor courts while excluding very large destination gyms. “We have been working closely with staff,” Morton said, calling the draft language a fix to a prior regulatory “glitch.”

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant repeatedly for how the county would distinguish different fitness uses in practice. Commissioner Bobby Powell asked how staff would treat a 10,000‑square‑foot boxing gym that offers weightlifting and cardio versus a 20,000‑square‑foot commercial gym. Traffic‑division staff said site‑specific trip generation — the projected vehicle trips tied to each proposed use — would determine required analysis and administrative review, and that court‑based activities such as pickleball are counted differently than per‑1,000‑square‑foot gyms.

Vice Mayor Marci Woodward and Commissioner Maria Sachs urged the board to rely on trip‑generation thresholds rather than enumerating specific sports, noting the marketplace changes rapidly (for example, the recent rise of pickleball). Woodward said a trip‑based limit would adapt better to future uses. Staff confirmed the commerce land‑use designation remains constrained by an overall trip threshold established when the land‑use amendment was adopted.

Community speakers including representatives of COBRA and local coaches told the board there is strong demand for indoor sports facilities, citing membership lists and youth programs that would benefit. Dagmar, speaking for COBRA, said the amendment would “get kids and adults out” and fill vacant industrial space with community uses. Jim, a broker who worked on a local transaction, and coaches from Wellington Volleyball and Twisters Gymnastics echoed that sentiment and urged approval of the advertisement for public hearings.

Commissioner Maria Sachs moved the board’s motion to permit advertising; the motion passed 7–0. The vote authorizes staff to publish the proposed code changes and schedule public hearings for first and subsequent readings, with final language to be refined between first reading and adoption.

Next steps: the amendment will proceed through the advertised ordinance process for public comment and formal readings. Staff emphasized that exact thresholds and permit details — including administrative review criteria tied to trip generation — will be clarified before final adoption.