Planning & Zoning recommends approval of Ocean Club clubhouse project; members raise safety and temporary-facility concerns

The Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of a major site plan for the Ocean Club at 6849 North Ocean Boulevard after hearing a detailed presentation from the applicant team, testimony from neighbors and a discussion of safety and temporary-facility oversight.

Corey O'Gorman summarized staff review and noted the project complies with RHM district requirements, landscape codes and coastal construction rules where possible, subject to final permitting. Brian Donahue of Insight Studio described a new two-story clubhouse, redesigned parking and circulation, FDOT preapproval for a relocated access point and a temporary clubhouse area on previously developed lawn east of the coastal-construction setback line. Donahue said the club membership vote on the project earlier this year "received 88% approval" with 84% turnout, and presented a parking calculation that reduced the club seating for parking purposes from 192 to 180 seats. Using the town's parking formula (three spaces per 60 of seat groups plus employee counts), the applicant calculated a requirement of 85 spaces and proposed 96, including shared parking and 41 spaces on the tennis parcel.

Architect Isaac Campos described the building as an "island classical" / "Bermuda colonial" design with white stucco, concrete tile roof and classical detailing; the landscape plan relies on hedges and salt-tolerant species to screen the lot. Donahue and the town engineer explained stormwater will be managed with on-site capture and an exfiltration trench at the west edge of the parking area. The applicant also outlined staging and valet operations (a loop designed to hold roughly 15–20 cars) and noted off-site employee parking at a nearby church; they are still exploring options to add roughly 26 spaces by using one tennis court if required.

Public commenters included a neighbor who asked that temporary structures not encroach seaward of the dune and urged attention to hurricane/storm-surge vulnerability; another nearby property-owner representative (Edwards Companies) and an Ocean Ridge resident expressed support for the project, saying the design suits the community. The chair and commissioners requested that the applicant reexamine driveway alignment, sight-lines and low-planting heights at the entrance to reduce collision risk at the S-curve along A1A. A commissioner moved to approve the site plan recommendation to the town commission; the motion was seconded and the commission voted in favor. The action is advisory to the town commission; staff noted that temporary facilities and enforcement will be handled later by staff and by subsequent town-commission action as applicable.