Palm Beach residents won’t get their first look at the town’s updates zoning code until April.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to begin its monthly review of the updated zoning code that month with the first article of the new code, residential districts.
Until then, town staff will complete its dissection of the current zoning code, Town Planner Jennifer Hofmeister-Drew told members of the Planning and Zoning Commission at their meeting on Tuesday.
The announcement comes after last month’s Town Council decision to sideline the consultant previously leading the reform effort, ZoneCo., over its failure to address the regulations, like those for residential districts, and review template the town had repeatedly requested.
However, Planning, Zoning and Building Director Wayne Bergman said during this week’s commission meeting that the town staff will use the consultant’s initial draft as an outline for the updated zoning code. That draft groups all regulations addressing the same subject under one article, an aspect sorely missing from the current zoning code, he said.
“When you read one section (of the current code), it may apply to single-family (homes), and parking, and (construction) screening,” Bergman told commissioners. “To me, that’s three different sections.”
Bergman told the commission he needs more time to finish reading and taking apart the current zoning code.
“I’m about almost halfway through the code after a month of doing this, I’ll need another month to finish this,” he noted.
After finishing that review, Hofmeister-Drew said different members of the planning department’s staff will be assigned articles of the zoning code to update and draft for the commission’s review.
“We will go through the code and find the issues we deal with on a daily — issues that we know are problematic, that we believe should be changed, and bring those to you on a monthly basis,” Bergman told commissioners. “We will give you options, we will give you ideas, and we want your feedback; you will help us write the code.”
Bergman made one request to the commission: allow the staff the time it needs to review and formulate the new draft.
“We cannot rush this, and quite honestly, if we have self-imposed deadlines we cannot meet, we will go to Town Council and ask for help,” he said.
Commissioner William Gilbane concurred, noting that town staff should have the flexibility to address the zoning code as they see fit.
He also commended staff for scheduling the public review of residential districts, a key interest for countless residents, in April, during the season.
“I think that is a big deal, and I think we should really watch to make sure we don’t slip (and) accidentally have the residential district happen in July or August,” Gilbane said.
Commission Chair Gail Coniglio asked if the Town Council would be included in the drafting process.
The council could be updated monthly, or every two months depending on the work completed, Bergman said.
“They (Town Council) may find something that we prepared, you approved, and they want to adopt immediately,” he told the commission. “We will not stop that.”
Hofmeister-Drew said staff will return during the Commission’s Feb. 4 meeting to confirm the details of the zoning code review schedule.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Review of Palm Beach zoning code set to restart in April