Pompano Beach commissioners delayed the vote on 54 beachfront apartments at La Plage to Dec. 8. City planners and the zoning board recommend denial over hurricane shelter space.
Updated Oct. 19: The City Commission postponed this request to its Dec. 8 meeting. Vice Mayor Alison Fournier moved the delay at the Oct. 13 meeting, Commissioner Rhonda Sigerson-Eaton seconded it, and it carried by a unanimous voice vote, according to the city’s legislative record. The record gives no reason for the delay.
A developer is asking Pompano Beach to allow 54 luxury apartments on a 1.29-acre beachfront site where 32 homes are allowed today. The City Commission’s first vote on the request is now set for Dec. 8.
City planners recommend denial. So does the Planning and Zoning Board, which voted unanimously against the request on June 24. Both cite hurricane evacuation and the city’s single storm shelter.
What is being asked
The site is known as La Plage. It covers 552 and 600-604 N. Ocean Blvd., on the east side of State Road A1A at the eastern end of Northeast Sixth Street. The applicant is Turks Capital Acquisitions LLC, which the zoning board’s memo describes as the contract purchaser.
The request is a change to the city’s land use map, according to the city staff report:
- Now: Medium High Residential, up to 25 homes an acre, or 32 units on the site
- Requested: Irregular Residential at 42 homes an acre, or 54 units
- Built today: 10 units in the buildings that were on the site when the applicant bought it
The application, quoted in the staff report, says the owner plans “a vibrant new mixed use residential community with up to 54 luxury apartments.” It says the existing buildings are aging and the city needs more housing.
Why the city’s planners say no
The staff report says the extra 22 units would not strain water, sewer, parks or traffic. The city’s utility department confirmed it can serve them. Daily car trips would rise by 98.
The objection is hurricanes. Staff say the change conflicts with the city’s comprehensive plan on evacuation times, shelter space and resilience on the barrier island. The report sets out:
- Pompano Beach High School is the city’s only hurricane shelter. It held 302 people during Hurricane Irma in 2017 and reached capacity.
- Large projects built on the barrier island since Irma add 408 units: Casamar, Entourage in the Sun, the Ritz-Carlton and Salato.
- The Waldorf Astoria and the W could add another 169 homes.
- Counting two cars per unit, as the applicant did, and 2.3 people per car, those 577 units could mean 1,154 more cars and 2,654 more people seeking shelter, more than eight times the 2017 shelter capacity.
- Neighboring properties already have unbuilt rights to build up to 105 feet, which staff cite as a reason not to add more.
Staff have recommended denial of every request to add homes on the barrier island since at least 2010, the report says. The applicant can still build the 32 units allowed now, though staff say that would likely need a rezoning, since current zoning caps buildings at 35 feet.
What the applicant says
The applicant’s attorney told the zoning board the site is one of only two beachfront parcels without a high-density designation, according to the board’s June 24 minutes. She called it “the hole in the donut.” Her points, as the minutes record them:
- one building on the site was condemned and torn down, and the rest are deteriorating
- parking that backs out onto A1A would not be approved today
- redevelopment would restore the dune and its plants
- property taxes on the site would rise from $147,342 to about $4.54 million
- the owner would give the Florida Department of Transportation 15 feet of land to help evacuation traffic
- Broward County runs the shelter system and opens more shelters as a storm requires
The applicant’s team said it controls six of the seven units. One remaining owner told the board she does not want to sell. The board’s secretary said 44 written letters of opposition had been received.
What happens next
The commission can stop the request at its first vote, now set for Dec. 8. If it votes to send the change on, Broward County planners and the County Commission review it before it returns to the city for a second, final vote, the minutes say. A separate rezoning and site plan would still be needed.
The site is in Commission District 1, represented by Commissioner Audrey Fesik.
What it means for you
- The meeting: The public hearing moves to the Tuesday, Dec. 8, City Commission meeting at City Hall, 100 W. Atlantic Blvd. The agenda is posted on the city meeting calendar the week before. The item was number 6 on the Oct. 13 agenda.
- To speak: fill out a speaker request form and give it to the city clerk before the meeting starts.
- If you live on the beach: check your evacuation zone and shelter plan on our hurricane prep guide, and read more about the Beach area.
- Planning cases: our building permits and zoning page explains how to follow them.
Have your say