Planning board continues front-yard generator variance for 1724 North Lakeside Drive to Sept. 4

Karina Campos, senior community planner for Lake Worth Beach, told the Planning & Zoning Board on Aug. 7 that PZB Project 24-01500006 seeks a variance to place a standby generator in the front yard at 1724 North Lakeside Drive, a property zoned Single-Family Residential. Campos said staff concluded the application met only one of the four legal criteria for a variance and identified alternative locations on the lot where the generator could be placed without a variance.

The applicant, homeowner Barbara Campbell, argued the southeast corner of the lot poses safety and accessibility problems — nearby hedges and a fence she described as combustible, limited access for first responders, and concerns about pad height and generator dimensions if the unit were moved to the rear — and said strict application of the code imposed an unreasonable hardship for a Medicare-age resident.

Board members pressed staff and the applicant on flood-elevation calculations, site dimensions and electrical access. The board attorney, Elizabeth Lenihan, advised that under the city's land development regulations accessory structures and mechanical equipment in SFR zones are generally allowed only in side or rear yards and are not permitted in the front yard between the street and the house except in certain corner-lot/double-frontage circumstances, undercutting the applicant's preferred placement.

Vice-Chair Daniel Walesky moved to continue the item to the Sept. 4, 2024 meeting to allow time for follow-up on site constraints and flood-elevation information; Henry Pawski seconded. The motion carried unanimously. The board did not take a final vote on the variance and directed staff to supply additional documentation ahead of the continued hearing.