close
close

Mondor Festival

News with a Local Lens

    • City Council extends pause on restaurant and club applications
    minsta

    City Council extends pause on restaurant and club applications

    Pabio Posted on

    Fueled by ongoing concerns about traffic and development, Palm Beach extended its pause on new applications to open for-profit restaurants, bars, nightclubs and private clubs by five months and expanded the scope to include all zoning districts and private club applications.

    THE The city council hit the brakes for the first time in June, halting applications while the Planning and Zoning Commission examined ways to curb the development of these establishments, a process known as “upzoning.”

    At a meeting Wednesday, Planning, Zoning and Building Director Wayne Bergman told the council the expansion would allow the city’s traffic consultant, the Corradino Group, to collect data on the traffic and parking of these establishments during the high season.

    Although most council members supported an extension, questions were raised about how long it would last.

    The council’s concern was driven by past experience with the Corradino Group, which requested a similar extension for its latest work for the city — a traffic and parking study conducted earlier this year.

    “We need to hold our feet to the fire, we need to tell them they’re not going to get paid if they don’t deliver it on time…They need to get there on time and give us and the Planning Commission and Zoning (Planning and Zoning Commission), ) sufficient time to make recommendations,” said Council Member Julie Araskog.

    Araskog said a six-month review would give the city enough time to develop new policies that could curb development.

    “I think everything they added is important, and I think we should listen to our planning and zoning (commission) and move forward with (the current zoning),” she said. declared.

    However, his colleagues did not want this decision to turn into a year-long break.

    “I think they should be able to do it in four (months)… I think it should be a priority now, and I would support the four months and get it done,” Council President Bobbie Lindsay said .

    To avoid another request for an extension, Araskog said he might approve a five-month pause.

    Alone, Commissioner Ted Cooney said he still disagrees with the current zoning strategy, pointing out that according to the Corradino Group’s original study, these establishments did not appear to be the primary driver of traffic.

    “Ongoing zoning, I think, is one of the most powerful tools we have, and I share the personal philosophy that government should use its power sparingly and benevolently,” he said. “I think this, while well-intentioned, is based on fear and not fact.”

    Council President Pro Tem Lew Crampton had a foot in each camp. He agreed with Cooney that the parking and traffic study did not show dining establishments were a major driver of traffic, but he also supported the extension because “nothing bad happened in current conditions”.

    The council voted 4-1, with Cooney casting a dissenting vote, to extend the current zoning until May 8 and to extend the pause on the application to include all Palm Beach zoning districts and all private clubs.

    Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at Palm Beach Daily Newswhich is part of the USA TODAY Florida network. You can reach him at [email protected].

    Pabio
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like