The Royal Palm Beach Village Council held its annual organizational meeting on Thursday, March 21, which began with swearing in Mayor Fred Pinto, Councilman Jeff Hmara (Group 1) and Councilwoman Selena Samios (Group 3) for their new terms.
Also during the organizational session, the council unanimously agreed to tap Hmara, the next council member in the rotation, to serve as vice mayor over the next year.
Of the business items at the meeting, the most discussion was generated by an ordinance tackling new rules and regulations for residents wanting to install artificial turf on residential properties, which has previously been against village code.
This first reading included details defining artificial turf and standards, including water permeability rates to avoid creating flood issues.
“Some residents have already come in for permitting. It’s a new product on the market that has become viable,” said Planning & Zoning Director Bradford O’Brien, whose staff developed the proposed changes. “It has got some pretty robust performance standards.”
The new rules eliminate the prohibition on artificial turf but enact narrow rules where such turf can be used. Artificial turf is limited to residential lots when located in the rear yard and side yard areas only, behind the front façade of the home or structure, and screened from public view.
Turf can also be used as part of a village-owned recreation or amenity area, or in multifamily residential or mixed-use developments as part of a recreation or amenity area.
There are also limitations on the type of turf to be used and a required permit process.
During public comment, Bill Ryan of ForeverLawn Palm Beach suggested some changes to the ordinance. Ryan’s firm is a local synthetic turf company.
“We’ve had the privilege of working with the village in the past. Many of the parks that you have in the village, we provided the surfacing for. I love what you’re doing here. I love that you’re putting standards,” he said.
Ryan explained that in discussions with officials in other areas, the focus tended toward green spaces instead of the quality of the product installed. Ryan then brought up one of the turf-specific applications they’ve developed specifically for pets.
“In your verbiage here, you talk about pet turf and a minimum pile height of 1 1/8-inch — my suggestion is that’s too tall,” he said.
During its 20 years in business, ForeverLawn Palm Beach has installed K-9 grass on very large scales, such as for the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League.
“We have been asked by many residents of the village to come and speak because they want our product there, and this requirement would not let them utilize their K-9 grass,” Ryan said, explaining that the drainage requirements would not work.
As the discussion continued, the council decided to approve the first reading of the ordinance and have village staff conduct additional research and work with Ryan to update the regulations before the second reading.
“It will be coming back to this council, and we’ll evaluate what he’s telling us today,” Pinto said.
It was also clarified that regardless of the final outcome, homeowners’ associations will still have the ability to deny a property owner’s request to install artificial turf.
The first reading of the ordinance was approved 5-0.
In other business:
- The Primrose School properties at 300 and 400 Royal Commerce Road are looking to expand with a small college campus as part of the existing academic institution. The originally approved site plan included a condition allowing up to 356 students in preschool through eighth grade.
The new plan keeps the same total of students, but instead will allow 206 preschool students and a maximum of 150 college students.
“The college does small class sizes [and] there are six cohorts — so each class is less than 25 students. All 150 won’t be on campus at one time,” said Andrea Keiser on behalf of Keiser Legal and Bar Education Inc. “There is only one cohort in the early morning or evening, and they’ll be limited to 25 students.”
Further, the preschool facility’s operating hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Despite lack of support from both village staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission, the council granted a variance for a single-story property located on Haldin Place to allow a 5.75-foot rear setback where the code requires eight feet so the owners can install a 10-foot-by-28-foot swimming pool in their backyard. Previous variances approved in the same community were smaller than this request, but the council considered it a unique situation.
“I’m not a big fan of variances, but looking at the picture, in your situation, particularly with it backing up to where it is — there’s no neighbors that I’m sure are going to be complaining about it,” said Councilman Richard Valuntas, noting that the property borders a canal.
Prior to approval, Indian Trail Improvement District Supervisor Keith Jordano requested confirmation that due to canal easement responsibilities, the request did not need to be approved by ITID as well. It was made clear that the variance does not cross into the district’s authorities.
- De-annexation for a 3.7-acre parcel of land connected to the South Florida Fairgrounds was approved unanimously. Liggins explained the difficulties of working with a site plan split into two jurisdictions, and the council understood and agreed with village staff’s recommendation.
- Hmara noted that there are 18 village scholarship candidates who will be interviewed on April 27, with awards to be presented on May 16.
- Branden Lopez, audit director with Marcum LLP, provided some highlights of the village’s fiscal year 2023 annual comprehensive financial report. He was pleased to share there were no issues or non-compliance concerns, and the audits yielded “an unmodified, clean opinion for the fiscal year’s end,” which is the best outcome.
- The council approved the second reading and adoption of an ordinance adding the term “integrated care center” to the village code. The change will allow Baptist Health South Florida to begin working on a site plan for an “integrated care center” to be located at 450 S. State Road 7.
