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Planning staff proposes dissolving Wildwood’s Architectural Review Board in favor of paid consultant review
Summary
Staff presented a proposal to remove the Architectural Review Board and replace it with a consultant architect on retainer funded by applicant stipends; staff said the move responds to limited volunteer availability and would require developers to provide a fee that the city then draws down to pay the consultant.
Planning staff told the commission that the recommendation to dissolve the Architectural Review Board (ARB) grew from practical difficulty finding qualified volunteer architects and from a council directive to reduce the number of boards. The proposed alternative would create a pool of qualified architects via a request for qualifications and assign one on a per‑project basis; developers would provide a stipend to cover the consultant's review. Staff emphasized the consultant would be selected by the city and act as an adviser to the Planning & Zoning Commission.
"The cost would be borne by the developer, not the taxpayers of Wildwood," staff said during the presentation, and offered an example stipend used by a neighboring municipality (approximately $5,000) as a model. Commissioners asked which project types would still be subject to architectural review under the new approach (answer: town center projects and institutional uses outside town center; single‑family detached homes outside town center would generally be exempt). Staff said the department will return draft language, fee guidance and RFQ materials for further review.
