Palm Beach Town Council approves limits on time extension requests for development projects
The town plans to limit the number of time extensions that applicants can request for development projects approved by the town's landmarks and architectural boards.
At its development review meeting April 10, the Town Council unanimously approved a pair of ordinances on first reading that would restrict the maximum number of applicant-requested time extensions for approved projects to one.
The measures will be brought back to the council May 15 for final approval.
Wayne Bergman, the town's director of planning, zoning and building, told the Daily News that the limits were needed in order to protect neighbors and "neighbor expectations."
Currently, there are no restrictions on the number of applicant-requested time extensions for projects approved by the landmarks and architectural boards.
Time extensions are good for one year as are the initial development orders approved by the landmarks and architectural boards.
"Once a project is approved, the neighbors have an expectation of what will be built and when it will start and finish," Bergman said. "Additional time extensions affect those expectations and often produce minor changes to the project, that in aggregate, may not be supported by the neighbors. The delays created by additional time extensions can therefore be problematic and really should result in a new project application."
During a discussion with council members at their March meeting, Bergman said some applicants return multiple times for time extension requests once their initial development orders expire.
When he and assistant director of planning, zoning and building James Murphy looked at one of these requests, Bergman said, they realized there was "no end" to them.
"I know as a neighbor, if my neighbor received approval to build something on their property, I really don't want to see ground broken 2½, three years later," he said. "We would like to put a cap on that. And we're looking at other communities. We have some data on seven other communities, and it basically ranges between 18 and 24 months. But I think up to 36 months is just too long."
If approved this month, the new ordinances would be "more protective" of development projects and ensure that neighbors would have a reasonable expectation of when projects would be completed, Murphy said.
Additionally, he said, municipal codes often change, and those changes can complicate the development process.
"An open space requirement may be modified to be more restrictive, and yet (applicants) have this vetted development order," Murphy said. "So it's along best practices to have a regulating board grant an extension. We just want to immortalize that you're allowed one one-year extension, and that is consistent with other municipalities."
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach to limit time extension requests for development projects
