The Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission last month refused to support a parking variance requested by a new tenant at 100 Aldi Way, near the Aldi Distribution Center off State Road 7.
Royal Palm Logistics LLC owns the property and presented two requests to the commissioners at the meeting held Tuesday, Aug. 27. The property owner has a unique potential tenant for the building — a small airline equipment repair company. Novo Aero Services LLC will be the second tenant in the building.
Mark Smiley of Smiley & Associates Inc. was there to present a case in support of a variance request to allow for a reduction in parking spaces. The village code requires 256 spaces, while the variance would allow only 159 spaces.
Royal Palm Beach Senior Planner Josue Leger explained that village staff was not in support of the variance.
“I do want to mention that this application is being reviewed concurrently with the special exception application, which is obviously a decision,” he said, adding that the companion request for a special exception to allow the manufacturing facility would be moot without the variance approval, unless significant changes were made to the plan.
Smiley explained that the business in question does not need nearly the parking spaces required by the village code.
“This particular tenant has small airline equipment that is shipped to them. They fix it in house, and then they ship it back out, so there are not a lot of people that come in and have to park at this facility,” Smiley explained. “They have 10 to 15, max 20, employees. So, it fits the parking that’s required for this particular tenant.”
Smiley added that the parking issue is a likely deal breaker for the prospective renter.
Nevertheless, several commissioners sided with village staff and struggled to come to a decision. One concern was the variance being tied to the land, and not to the tenant. After a motion to approve the variance failed, a motion to deny it passed 3-2.
The next item, while related to the first, creates a complication for the applicant and its new tenant. The special exception use requested would allow manufacturing, limited processing and assembly for the certified FAA repair station, Novo Aero Services.
“Village staff considered compatibility with adjacent land uses consistent with the village comprehensive plan in conformance with the village development standards for the industrial limited zoning district,” Leger said, added that village staff supported the request with some site-specific conditions.
The special exception would no longer apply to the property should Novo Aero Services leave the site. Either a site plan modification to accommodate the required 97 additional spaces will be necessary, or the parking variance will need to be granted by the Royal Palm Beach Village Council when it appears before them.
The special exception approval, with the conditions, passed 5-0.
Commissioner Kara Dery expressed concerns that there is not much area on the site plan to add the parking spaces, and such modifications could result in the loss of green space.
Both items will be presented to the council, likely later this month, for a final decision.
In other business:
- The growing eatery chain 3Natives Acai & Juicery is coming to 1192 Royal Palm Beach Blvd. in the Crossroads shopping plaza. The request for architectural approval to install new wall signage was supported by both village staff and the entire commission with a unanimous vote.
“If anybody has been in Palm Beach County and has stopped at 3Natives, they know it’s a great juicery and a growing franchise,” agent Gill Strelec Jr. said.
Several members commented on the happiness of family members at the prospect of the business coming to the community.
“The Chronic Bowl is my favorite,” Commissioner Andrew Alba said. “I was going to say if you’ve been, you know. They empty my wallet once or twice a week.”
- Salon Centric, located at 543 North State Road 7, Suite 101, received approval to install a new sign and update monument signs.
- The buildings at 501 and 601 103rd Avenue North, located in an industrial area off Southern Blvd., are slated to get new paint schemes by Riteway Contracting and Painting. The commissioners supported the updated look unanimously.
