Palm Beach Town Council votes to defer two proposed amendments to town code
The Palm Beach Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to defer action on two proposed amendments to the town code.
One, from Brazilian Court Hotel, seeks to change medium-density residential district code to allow hotels to construct valet-only parking garages; while the other, from the Paramount Theatre, would change the zone code of the surrounding district to allow for the construction of arcades that cover the sidewalk.
The council received scores of letters from residents objecting to both amendments.
The ordinances, which had been scheduled for the council's development review meeting Wednesday, will instead be heard during its Dec. 13 meeting.
“Since it was not noticed the way we would like it to be noticed, we've been advised we need a motion to defer,” Council President Margaret Zeidman said during Tuesday's meeting.
She said council members had not planned to discuss the proposals because they had not been included in the physical agenda given to council members before the meeting.
More: Palm Beach planning and zoning board rejects proposal to allow parking garage for hotel
“Those two ordinances can affect the projects coming before the council,” said Zeidman. “And that’s why we received a lot of letters about it, a lot of them negative.”
Last week, the Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed both ordinances, with commissioners voting unanimously against recommending the Brazilian Court's proposal and 4-3 against recommending the Paramount's. Commissioners Richard Kleid and Marilyn Beuttenmuller and alternate Commissioner Jorge Sanchez voted in the minority.
Responding to some letters questioning why the council would have a hearing considering the commission's vote, Zeidman clarified that the commission is an advisory body to the council.
“Planning and Zoning is advisory to the council ... only the council can approve an ordinance, only the council can approve amendments,” she said.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Town Council defers vote on proposed amendments to code
