From left: Susan Patterson, Wayne Bergman, and Mayor Danielle Moore with 710 South Ocean Boulevard (Zillow, Getty, City of Palm Beach)
Palm Beach front is selecting lobbyists to combat a Florida law that upended the island’s historic preservation system.
Florida’s legislature in March unanimously handed a developing regulation law that permitted the demolition of any non-historic solitary-spouse and children households in flood zones, without having local review. The regulation, Home Invoice 423, went into influence on July 1. It does not use to properties designated as historic ahead of Jan. 1. Residences designated as historic right after that day may perhaps continue being safeguarded from demolition at the whim of the property owner.
That puts a serious damper on Palm Beach’s many years-outdated historic preservation plan. As of January, Palm Beach front had 359 houses landmarked as historic, under the jurisdiction of its Landmarks Preservation Fee. The commission reviews and approves any alterations to landmarked properties. It also votes to grant landmark standing.
City officials say earlier drafts of Home Invoice 423 did not consist of the demolition language.
“This factor form of snuck by means of,” mentioned Wayne Bergman, director of setting up, zoning and constructing through a Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting past month.
“I do not normally editorialize points, but I will say, in my opinion this is a badly crafted and misguided law,” he reported at the time.
Palm Beach front City Council members and staff members strategized the town’s opposition to the demolition bill during a council assembly on Wednesday. Officers agreed to seek the services of lobbyists to make the town’s situation in Tallahassee. But they held off on a choice on irrespective of whether the town will advocate for a full rescinding of the law, or an amendment to the language that shields its historic preservation software.
A coalition of types is now in the generating. Palm Seashore council associates named Coral Gables, Miami Beach front, and St. Augustine as attainable allies in the combat versus HB 423, all cities with sturdy historic preservation applications impacted by the legislation.
Spec builders like Todd Michael Glaser have by now moved to take benefit of the new demolition law in Miami Seashore, purchasing houses to tear down.
Presented the law’s software across flood zones, the stakes are large for lower-elevation historic communities in Miami-Dade and Palm Seaside counties.
According to Bergman, the demolition legislation applies to “every sq. inch of Palm Beach front.”
The adjust arrives at a time of remarkable improve for the barrier island neighborhood. Pandemic-fueled migration and corporate relocations brought about a populace growth for the historically sleepy vacation city.
