Designing Our Palm Beach Week kicks off as town seeks input on zoning updates

If the thought of attending a public workshop about zoning doesn’t thrill you, you’re not alone.

But town officials want residents to view Designing Our Palm Beach Week as the must-attend event of the season — one that can’t be missed, because resident input is essential to the process.

From Monday to Thursday, consultants with ZoneCo, The Corradino Group and Yard & Co. will host a series of workshops at the Mandel Recreation Center, 340 Seaview Ave.

The goal: Receive as much input as possible as the town seeks to craft “custom-tailored, clear, consistent, user-friendly, sustainable, defensible zoning regulations that advance the town’s vision balanced with property rights,” lead consultant Sean Suder with ZoneCo told the Town Council during its Feb. 15 development review meeting.

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Suder and Joe Nickol of Yard & Co. laid out their plans for the week and a schedule of what residents and officials can expect:

Monday: There will be a late afternoon kickoff event from 4 to 6 p.m. with opening remarks and engagement opportunities.

Tuesday: There will be workshops, focus groups and break-out meetings from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; mobile engagement sessions around the island from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.; and open studio hours from 2 to 4 p.m.

Wednesday: There will be open studio hours from 9 to 11 a.m.; a mobile engagement session from 9 to 11 a.m.; and an open house from 4 to 6 p.m.

Thursday: The consultant team will have a work session from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Designing Your Palm Beach Week will wrap up with a late afternoon event from 4 to 6 p.m. featuring a closing presentation and more engagement.

“We’ve got a busy schedule in the charrette week,” Nickol said. The consulting team is calling the Mandel “Charrette HQ,” he said.

The first evening’s meeting is designed to connect back to the kickoff event that was held in January, where dozens of residents mingled with consultants and town staff and officials to share their initial thoughts on the process. “This is really an important part of the week, because we get to see if we’re on the right track,” he said.

For the open studio hours Tuesday and Wednesday, residents can book time with a member of the consulting team to meet at the recreation center, ask questions and provide feedback. Those time slots can be booked through the project website, www.pbzoning.org.

The mobile engagement session will take two-person teams of consultants to key areas around the town, including the Starbucks on Worth Avenue, Publix and along the Lake Trail. The consultants will engage with residents to let them know the zoning review process is happening and invite them to participate and share comments during the charrette week, Nickol said.

Two members of the council shared concerns that those locations may have more non-residents than residents. Starbucks, the Lake Trail and Publix will have about 50/50 residents and non-residents, said Council President Pro-Tem Bobbie Lindsay.

“You need to make sure you’re talking to a resident,” she said.

Nickol assured her that would be one of the first “filtering” questions asked by the consultants when speaking with the public.

“We’re paying for all of this for our residents to give input,” Councilwoman Julie Araskog said. “I think it’s going to be a little difficult in those places to be able to really get residents."

Mayor Danielle Moore disagreed, saying she felt the venues were good choices.

“Not only do we want to get residents, it’s helpful if we have business owners participate, too,” she said. “I’m less concerned about the locations. I’m just glad that we’re getting out of our normal places of business. … We’re going to engage some new people.”

The people who do engage with the consultants during those mobile sessions are more likely to be residents, Suder said. “We might end up with non-residents who either own businesses, do business or develop real estate in Palm Beach,” he said. “It would be great to hear from them.”

The Wednesday evening session will be “a bit of a check-in,” Nickol said. Attendees will have a chance to see early results of the consulting team’s work and provide initial reactions and guidance, he said.

On Thursday, the consultants will work together throughout the day to compile and finalize the presentation for Thursday evening’s session. After the presentation, the session will break into small group discussions.

In the weeks following Designing Our Palm Beach Week, the consultant team will take the information and feedback collected, and create a summary and recommendations on how the zoning code can be modified.

During the week, there will be two seminars. One led by Suder will focus on what may not now be allowed under the zoning code that residents would like to see allowed. Another led by Joe Corradino of The Corradino Group will focus on resiliency and sea level-related issues.

At the end of each day of workshops, Suder will send a summary of the day’s activities and what to expect next to the Town Council, he said. Each of the community events will be recorded and posted to the zoning review project website at www.pbzoning.org, Nickol said.

Also at the website, residents can find regular updates, project-related documents, a list of events — including those for Designing Our Palm Beach Week — and more information about the consulting team.

For those residents who are not technologically savvy, appointments during open studio hours can be made at the rec center, Nickol said. Residents also can meet with a member of the consulting team in the rec center lobby, he said.

Valet parking will be offered at the rec center during the workshop times, Nickol said. Residents who attend the charrettes will receive a color-coded passport based on where they live, which will be their guide to the week.

For more information, visit www.pbzoning.org or email info@pbzoning.org.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Designing Our Palm Beach Week kicks off Monday