Historic Preservation Board - Regular Meeting

Oh, cool. Alright. I'd like to call to order this board meeting of the historic preservation board, Delray Beach, March 2026. Can you please call the roll?

Carol Price? Here. Richard Kasser?

Here.

Jake Iliopoulos?

Here.

Benjamin Baffer is absent. Chris Cabasis? Here. Peter Dwyer?

Here. John Miller? Here. Any changes to the agenda tonight? Okay. Get a motion to approve? I'll I'll make the motion.

I'll second.

The motion is second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Motion carries. We have minutes from 02/04/2026. Anybody have any comments on those? Or

Just a quick note. The format you may have noticed has changed slightly. This is so that we can align all of the boards at the city. Those are what the city commission minutes look like. It's purely based on the computer program that we're using it is not based on anything else so there's a cover page you'll see but they're largely exactly how we were doing them

motion? I'll move to approve the minutes.

Okay. Motion. Second. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye.

Motion

carries. Okay. At this point, any members of the public, who are going to speak on any of the quasi judicial items tonight, if you please stand up and be sworn in.

By the authority vested in me as a notary of the state of Florida, do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give

is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the

truth? Yes.

K. Thank you. Thin crowd tonight. But if anybody would like to speak on any item that is not on the agenda tonight, now is your opportunity. K. Seeing none, any presentations, Michelle? No, sir. K. Moving on to item eight, a COA HP four one five twenty twenty six.

Let the record show Ben Bafford has joined the party.

I've joined the party.

Before we start, any ex parte communication on this item?

No. None. None. None.

I I drove by and walked by the property front and back.

Okay. All right.

No. Okay. Nope.

Michelle Hewitt, Senior Historic Preservation Planner. And I'd like to read into the agenda item 8A for 137 North Swinton Avenue, HP 4 Fifteen-twenty 26 this is a certificate of appropriateness we have the applicant here to present on behalf of the property owner

I was expecting applause. Good afternoon slash evening. My name is Solomon Strohl. I am with Kaner Impact Windows, and we're taking care of this project for the homeowner at 137 North Swinton. It is obviously in the historic district, which is why we are all here. And so I've just got a brief presentation, hopefully brief enough. This is my first time doing one of these. So

You got twenty minutes. So

K. I'll try not to take all of that. I'm sorry.

It's actually fifteen.

Oh, they changed it. Alright. Just keep going down.

Okay. Alright. So there is an image of the property. I think I got all these notes from the document that was sent to us. So 1939, minimal traditional resident residence. It is a contributing structure. It is in the Old School Square Historic District. It is a single family residential. That use remains unchanged. We are not creating or proposing any new openings. And yeah. There we go. Let me get rid of that. Thank you. I feel powerless. Okay. Alright. So there. Yeah. So this proposal aligns with LDR Section 4.50.1.

Okay. I don't think I need to reread all of this here. Okay. So what is not changing? The original window openings will remain the same. The shutters, will remain the same. There's no change to the facade. There are no structural modifications. We intend to use white aluminum frames, which match what is already there, with clear glass, as, as required. For the windows, so we are planning to use impact resistant aluminum windows with white frames, clear non reflective glass.

We the change that the homeowner would like on this is that she would like to do the mutton pattern, that's the grid lines, on the top, pane only, not on the lower sash. So she'd like to remove the muttons from that lower sash. So as you're looking at the image there, just because it's easiest one to see that far right window, instead of having a six over six pattern, it would be six on top and none on the bottom. So existing, there are four over four, six over six, and eight over eight. Again, we propose to leave the top sash unchanged, remove the lower sash grids.

Grids. It maintains the colonial character at eye level, improves the interior lighting for the homeowner. There's no new pattern that's introduced and doesn't create any false historical elements. Why this is historically compatible? Minimal traditional homes commonly feature simple single hung windows, colonial mutton patterns, minimal ornamentation.

Our proposal keeps the top colonial pattern, retains proportions, retains scale, retains the rhythm, and we are not altering anything architectural. So that's it for the windows. Moving over to the door. The proposed so the images on the left, the two images there, the left image is the exterior of the door as it is currently, and the center image is the interior of the door. So you can see that it is a wood door with a window in it.

We propose switching this to a wood look aluminum door with with glass in the middle that would be frosted glass. So it should get light coming in, but you would not be able to see in or out. It would not have a tint on it. So, again, the proposed door impact rated aluminum, teak woodgrain finish, three panel glass configuration. Our justification, the woodgrain finish provides provides traditional appearance. The color complements the structure. The glass increases interior light, and the scale remains residential, not commercial in proportion.

K.

Here are our it's addressing the staff concerns that were in the document. From page six, elimination of the lower muttons. The modern door appearance, those are the two the two items. Our response again, top muttons preserved, no change to openings, no reflective glass, and the wood grain door finish enhances the traditional character. There is no destruction sorry, no destructive alteration to the historic fabric of the home.

Addressing the secretary of the interior standards, no destruction of historic materials. Standard one, the use remains residential. Standard two, historic character retained. Standard five, distinctive features preserved. Standard nine, new work compatible in scale and materials.

Long term preservation benefits, the hurricane for hurricane protection eliminates the need for storm shutters, protects the historic structure, improves the building envelope, and enhances longevity of contributing structure. So our formal request is the the proposed windows and doors preserve defining architectural elements, maintain facade rhythm and scale, use compatible materials and color, improve safety without altering historic integrity. So, we respectfully request approval of certicate certificate HP4152026. I think that's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Very nice for your first time. How was my timing? Perfect. You made it. So so what's gonna happen is staff's gonna present, and then we may come back to you with some questions. I can sit. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Again, Michelle Hewitt, senior historic preservation planner. And this is for 137 North Swinton Avenue, HB Fourfifteentwo Thousand 36, for a certificate of appropriateness. On the screen here is an aerial image with the subject to property outlined in red, with North Swinton Avenue to the West, and just shortly above to the north is Northeast 2nd Street. Just very brief history. The subject, 0.23 acre property, is located within the locally and nationally registered Old School Square Historic District.

District. It contains a nineteen thirty nine one story Minimal Traditional style structure that is classified as contributing within the district. Just a little brief description here about Minimal Traditional style. They were simple in plan and design and in architectural features. They were typically designed with minimal decoration and included hints of more classical and traditional architectural styles, such as the Colonial Revival style.

Detailing would include shingle roofs with little to no overhangs, simple single hung or double hung windows with colonial mutton patterns, exteriors of foot siding, smooth stucco or brick, chimneys, fish no panel doors with simple door surrounds and often no garages or car parking area. Going through some images here, this is the front or west elevation of the property. This space is North Swinton Avenue. You can kind of see the existing window pattern and appearance of the shutters and the shutter dogs that are to remain on the structure. I am going to go through a couple of images that also are going to show you what the proposed windows are next to it.

So here on the frontside northwest corner elevation here, on the right, you can see there is a six over six window that's supposed to go to six over one. And then on the left there, there is a four over four window and that's supposed to go to four over one. On the, in this image here, this is also the front door of this elevation. You can see that front door there on the left with those three panels that it's supposed to go to. And then on the right is just a fixed window on this elevation.

Looking at these windows here on the right side of the front elevation, six over six on both of these windows are proposed to go to six over one. Here we have on the rear or east facing elevation another six over six, proposed to go to six over one. And this is the side or south elevation. This is a sliding glass door proposed to also be a sliding glass door, same appearance. In the rear, again, we have some eight over eights and they are proposed to go to eight over one.

On the side, there is a door replacement. It's going to have a slightly larger glass panel with the proposal. And then here we have a four zero four proposed to go to four zero one. And here is just a plan of all the locations of the windows and doors proposed for replacement. And then their schedule, you can see the list of single hung, fixed sliding glass doors on here.

All of the windows are proposed to be white frame aluminum with clear, no tint, non reflective no low e glass. And the doors are proposed to have a teak finish. Here is a staff report excerpt from the Secretary of the Interior Standards. These are to be hurricane impact resistant windows to ensure storm protection eliminate the need for storm shutters the Secretary of Interior Standards generally doesn't recommend changing button configurations however the proposed window pattern could be seen on the mandible traditional style structure here is an excerpt from the visual compatibility standards section again while this current pattern doesn't exist on the structure it could be seen on this particular architectural style, provided the munts on the top are retained and unchanged in design. There is some concern with the proposed appearance of the front door, as the style is typically utilized with modern or mid century modern style structures.

The most appropriate door style would be a traditional paneled door, as it's simpler in appearance. Here are the standards that were applied from the Secretary of Interior Standards, the as well for the Visual Compatibility Standards. Here are the Certificate of Appropriateness findings. And that concludes my presentation.

Okay. Before we move on to public comment, I'm lucky I didn't get chastised by our legal adviser, I'm gonna read the rules to quasi judicial hearings, which we were ripping through and I forgot to do. So, this hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the city of Delray Beach's quasi judicial rules. The applicant and the city shall be permitted to present their case. The public shall be allowed to speak for three minutes or a maximum of six minutes if the person represents an organization or group of people who are present but agree not to speak.

The city commission, board members, staff, and the applicant may be allowed to cross examine a witness. The city or the applicant will be allowed to offer testimony. The decision to approve or deny an application or appeal may not legally be made upon personal views as to whether a project is a good project or not, nor may a decision be based on the number of citizens who support or oppose a particular project. The law requires that all decisions must be made on the basis of whether the project meets the requirements of law, the comprehensive plan, and the land development regulations. Thank you and I apologize for that.

So public comment. Any members of the comment public wanna comment on this? We're seeing no. We're gonna move on to rebuttal. You have any feedback about the staff's presentation?

No, I don't think I have much to rebut. It was thorough.

Okay. Staff? Alright. We're gonna move into board discussion. Anybody would like to start? Sure. I'll I'll I'll start.

Question for the applicant. So staff mentioned in in in their report that the and and overall, I think the windows are great. I think they complement the house well. I struggle with the front door because it is a modern front door. And the color being teak is not complementary to anything else that's visible from where from my point of view, anything else that's visible in the front of the house.

If there

was teak wood or trim or something, but you're leaving the the blue shutters. So is there an alternate door that the owner would the owner be okay with something of a similar fashion or that they had

their heart

set on?

She's pretty set on this if we can get it approved, obviously. I know this probably could have gone through without coming to the meeting if we were going to go with something closer to what's there. Part of it is so this is maybe an assumption. You might know more about this actually. I'm assuming at some point that that door, because of the wood color on the inside, it was probably a wood color on the exterior as well when this house was built.

There are other wood color options. There is a darker one that may be more in line with with what's there on the interior. It's called Nogal, so I could potentially make a switch to that. We could also one of the one of the and this is more for function than form, but one of the things that she's trying to fix is that is a particularly dark room. It does have a lot of windows around it, but they're all very And so we're trying to kind of thread the needle with it and preserve the historic character as much as possible while also upgrading it so she is able to get more light in there.

So I I don't know if it'll be possible. Maybe a different, grid configuration instead of having just the two lines across. If there's something different that could be done that would satisfy what you're looking for, but still keep some of that glass there?

Well, could it be I mean, I'm I'm just thinking of and understanding that light is is a big thing. And, I mean, I saw the house, and it's it's set far back from the street. There's some trees. Yeah. And it typically when that house was built, light was not a consideration. So understanding that, would the owner be amenable? And again, it would have to be a board decision, but with a condition that the door be a darker, more in line with a traditional wood stain and also not the black aluminum hardware, but more of a traditional hardware.

Yeah. The hardware, definitely not a problem. That's actually kind of a dummy on the picture, so that's totally I'm sure she'd be fine with that, and I think she would probably be okay with going with a darker color as well.

Okay. That that was my only question.

K. Does Michelle wanna add to that?

Yeah. So thank you, Michelle Hoyland, principal planner for the record. A solution to make the door look less modern because it sounds like that's what you're struggling with, where the hardware wouldn't even may maybe look as impacted is if it was a two light door and the top was the smaller and the bottom was the bigger. You know? With Almost

like a like a Frank Lloyd Wright type.

No. More like almost an interior colonial would look right like that that you might have inside your house in solid wood.

So sort of kind of a shaker ish

But shaker ish.

But with glass.

But it could be with glass, and it would not read as modern as that. And I know because I'm looking at doors for myself right now, this is available. But the dark darker stain too, kind of I see where you're going with that. But the shape because they could come back paint the door, you know, at any point in time. Color is the easiest thing to change. You probably wouldn't recommend they paint this particular door, but an owner could. So that's something like that Mhmm. That would look more traditional, hence minimal traditional

Mhmm.

To bring in the elements of a traditional architecture rather than modern.

If I can ask a question on that, is that kind of like a sixty forty split, do think? Yeah.

Or even a seventy thirty.

Okay. Mhmm. I I'm I can definitely present it to her. I I think she'd probably be okay with that.

It's It's up to the board. I'm just providing you an option. If it came in that way, we would have not had to bring it here.

So is it the color or the three openings that was more of the concern?

For us, the three openings and the lack of muttons on the lower half of the window is why it's at the board.

Okay. Mhmm.

If they had come in and the lower half of the windows all had the muttons like it does now and they had a door similar to this, we would have approved it administratively.

Okay. And the dark color for the door, is that is that customary for historic homes to have the white with a dark wood door?

I think they can do something like that. I wouldn't be surprised if this owner wants to come back at some point in the future and do a paint scheme, you know, and and look at redoing it. But I don't think the wood grain door is going to detract.

My feeling maybe they wanna go lighter because they went with a lighter wood. So maybe the dark isn't their approach. So maybe maybe they would opt for white and bright rather than a dark wood.

If it came in white, light wood, dark wood, all those colors, but it was this shape, we wouldn't have an issue with any of those.

Do we need to approve the color today?

So the request is for a teak stain or a teak appearance. So it is part of the request that you would have to include in your approval.

I just think that and again, walking I walked a lot of the area today. Saw some really cool houses and really cool buildings. And then I well, I was just walking to dinner and just sort of focus. I never focused on the actual structures. But a lot of them had the darker wood doors. Mhmm. And I think that back in the 1930, you know, in this in the thirties when this house was built, teak was not a traditional, you know, finish.

Mhmm.

And I think also the teak would read a a lot more modern in that, and it would change the the look of the I also think a dark wood would would complement the white a little bit better. Just my

And up the street, we have a house with a pink door that came to the board and got approval. So it's the colors are the easiest thing the owner can do to have some expression without really having a negative effect on the historic integrity. So I see what you're saying as well, though.

Anybody else?

I can go. Yeah.

Go ahead. Are are these are these the original windows from from 1939?

I believe this had a window approval that we saw in the file. Right, Michelle?

It had sorry. The the previous was a partial. So she had previously done another window project where she did part of the house. I think it was focused there's a there's a back structure as well. So I believe that was all done and part a few of the openings on the on this structure possibly have to double check that. You might have the answer.

In the staff report? I thought we found a COA for this one. A different property? Okay. Well, I I do know

wondering if it's

if it's are wood, some are not.

But the with the these colonial mountains, know, six over sixes, is that what they looked like in 1939 with you?

Yes. I

think if if you're looking at it here, the ones that are towards the front and this side, I believe, are the originals, and then a bunch of the ones on the back were replaced at some point, but they're still pretty old as well.

Is the reason that they don't wanna have the buttons on the bottom is for more light to enter?

That's that's one of her primary thoughts. Well, it's kind of, again, hopefully threading the needle, getting that middle ground where we still keep the look, but let a little more light in.

So, yeah, I I I struggled a little bit with with that in the window. I think it is a happy medium if this is the desire of the applicant to bring more light in. It does keep somewhat of the the feature on the top portion, so I'm not so concerned with it. I think I could be in support of that. For the door, I like the idea of making it more of a traditional look like what was described. And I guess the color, I'm not so concerned with.

K. Anybody else?

Yep. I'll go. So my office is across the street, so I see this house every day. But I like your windows. I think I don't have any problem with with that change. The the door, I feel the same as the rest of the the board. And I do know that down the street from my house, which is up up the road a little bit, there is a home there, and they do have a dark door. It's a White House. And it's solid on the bottom, and then the top is the glass part, and they do have muttons there. And it looks very nice.

So I and I and it's it's more traditional. So I I do think you need to go in that, you know, some sort of direction like that. Mhmm. Whether it's, you know, it's up to you.

But I'm Sorry. I was just gonna say, I like, I think the way that Carol is phrasing it as far as, like, you know, some sort of the direction of the minimal traditional style door as opposed to,

like There's options.

It should be this door is probably I'm

just saying there's options there. Exactly. Options out there, and I was just giving

you example. Right. To allowing him to design it himself, but with the direction from the board on that.

See, that's all.

Well, I'm I'm supportive of the the Mutton change. The six over one, I think,

is reasonable and still looks colonial. So the front door definitely screams mid century, and I would like to see that changed as you have options. So I think we could support something in that direction.

Jake, wanna weigh in?

Yeah. I'm also in support of the windows. As far as the front door, I think if it was white or a darker color, that would complement it better and not be as aggressive. Now along with that, a grid pattern or maybe a 10 light even could also let a lot of light in and also kinda keep the same look it has going.

K. K. Yeah. My comments are I'm fine with the windows. The door, I agree. It's very mid century with that three panel. So I think that's easily rectified as we were discussing tonight. So whoever makes a motion on this, I would recommend just to, you know, provide direction on that. You know, this house obviously didn't have Aqua trim and shutters back in the thirties or the probably the moon cut out. So there's some slight modifications that have been made on it, but I think actually that probably adds to the character in the neighborhood.

It's it's it's very interesting visually and and I drive by this one every day as well. So I think we're very close. I I'm sure you can work it out with staff on the final. So k. Anybody wanna make a motion on this?

So the condition will be to work with staff to get an approved door design?

I'm just wondering with Michelle. Would it just make sense for them to approve the windows and deny the door and then they bring back the door with the okay. You tell me what makes the most sense instead.

What I'm willing to do. Yeah. The condition could say something like that the door design be more in line with the mid the minimal traditional style and to work with staff on that. If the owner is adamant and does not want to do a door that we're comfortable with, we'll bring it back. But I I think we can probably come to a an agreement that gives them creative license so that the front door have more of minimal traditional appearance and you can decide if you want to put anything specific about color.

Okay. I'd like to make a motion to approve the certificate of appropriateness HPDash415Dash2026 for property located at 137 North Swinton Avenue, Old School Square Historic District by finding that the request and approval thereof is consistent with the comprehensive plan and meets the criteria set forth in the land development regulations subject to the following conditions, that the front door adheres more to the minimalist traditional design and to work with staff for that portion.

K. We have a motion.

I'll second. We

have a second. Any discussion? Okay. Please call vote.

Carol Perez? Yes. Richard Kasser? Yes. Jake Eliopoulos? Yes. Benjamin Baffer?

Yes.

Chris Cabezas?

Yes.

Peter Dwyer?

Yes.

John Miller?

Yes. Good

luck. Thank you. Thank you, guys.

Alright. That was easy. Any legislative items tonight? No. And any reports?

Comments. No reports. Okay. Pardon me. So our next meeting is actually April 15. I should have mentioned that because of Passover, I think. I think I put it in the email wrong too, so please mark your calendars. It was Britney that reminded me with her email to Jake. So April 15, tax day is our next meeting. For those of you who've been on the board, this will be, you know, old news.

But for our new board members, we do historic preservation board awards every year in May. May is national historic preservation month where we, as staff, go through the list of projects that have been CO'd, so they're completed. And we formulate categories for the board to deliberate on and choose winners. And then in that happens in April, so that will be at our next meeting. And then at the May meeting, we do an award ceremony.

We invite the property owners to come and present them with the certificate and a presentation and give them the chance to address the board and tell you about their feelings with the process, the project, and all that happened. Following that, we typically bring a very brief presentation up to the city commission. There's proclamation that happens. So we are in prep mode right now to bring those projects forward so you all can deliberate. In the past, we've also done a few things like honor a person or an organization a couple years ago.

You'll remember we honored the preservation trust, the historical society, and Spady Museum for their contributions to the community and preservation. So we're going to look and see what else we might add to the agenda depending on how many projects we have. So that's next. Next month, it's really important that you attend. If you feel like you've got a conflict, let us know. We definitely don't wanna come to the board meeting without a quorum because that would push us back for the May plan. Okay. That's what I have.

Great. One of our board members has some comments. Before

you do that, can I officially on the record welcome mister Jake Eliopoulos, our new board member who was appointed by the city commission? Tonight's his first meeting. Welcome to the historic preservation board.

Thank you. Welcome. Was a great meeting.

You're always

so easy

in this short.

Yeah. Yep. Yes.

We're gonna

suck you in and pound you over the head next time.

So I I was I will make this quick because I know we're trying to fly through. I was watching random YouTube videos, and one was one that came up in the algorithm was the town of Palm Beach's historic landmarks commission. I I don't know the exact name of the organization, but they did a a video on not they have two different categories, and one is a landmark and the other is a historic historically significant building or structure designation. And I thought that was really cool because it's doesn't need to be a it's not landmark status, and it doesn't necessarily need to be in a historic district. So I know that, you know, there's some buildings here that are not in a historic district and are not landmarked and could be torn down at any time.

And I know that we don't necessarily have that sort of middle ground. Or if we do, correct me if I'm wrong. But I think it would be it's it's definitely something that's interesting to at least think about and explore because the the town of Palm Beach, they have their own the town council there set their own criteria for it. But one of it is, you know, if it's a certain feature in the building, then that is what is historically significant to that building. And then it can't be altered or amended or torn down or or changed without coming forth for approval.

And it also allows for some FEMA exemptions. And, again, that's set by whatever the resolution that the council or the commission would set. But it does allow that designation does allow for some FEMA exemptions in terms of flood zone and and elevations.

So I can reach out first. Thank you. And if you could share the video with me if you find it, please send it to me. I would love to watch it. But I could also reach out to Frederique Mitner, who is their historic preservation lead.

She was at West Palm for many years and ran the program there. I know that when she started, there was a lot of work to do. There weren't even staff reports, I don't think, being forwarded up to their historic commission. So I'd like to find out from her because in order to qualify for the FEMA status, you do have to be considered a bona fide historic site per FEMA. So it's possible that it's semantics ordinance of what we call the local register of historic places and what they call their landmark of places.

I I'd have to look into it a little closer and see. But my guess is that if they're qualifying for FEMA exemptions, they actually are sites that are more than just significant. Go ahead, mister Baffer.

So ironic that you would bring this up because I was late tonight because I was at the town of Palm Beach commission meeting all day where they brought forth six properties that their landmarks commission had determined were historic properties. And, wish I would have brought the I had had the agenda in my car, and I didn't think to bring it because I didn't know we're gonna talk about this. But so there were there were six six six properties, and all six of them were just amazing, fantastic, like John Volk or, you know, Significant historic properties, most were in like pristine condition, and all certainly worthy of landmark status that we would, in this town, we would consider them as a individually designated historic property. The interesting thing was that the commission voted affirmatively for all six. Four of them, the homeowners, showed up at the objected to their home being designated as a historic property.

They objected because they were concerned about the restrictions that would potentially be placed on the property. Although it appears there's now a state statute, 2.4 something or another, that gives the homeowner despite the historic designation, the homeowner still can demo the property if they want. So that was kind of interesting because the town commissioners telling the homeowners, well, you realize that you still you don't have you know, we're we're not telling you. We're we're we wanna designate your property as historic, but we don't want you know, you are not losing the opportunity to demolish the home. And and I think that the homeowners had no intent to demolish the home, but they were concerned about how that would affect the resale value that to a potential buyer that their house would be less attractive on the market if somebody buying it said, well, this is a historic landmark property, so we cannot demolish it.

So so so that there's that going on too that that we would need to look into. It's really what what is the state statute? How does that how does that apply? But but the FEMA is also consideration because when they got for these properties to get designated as historic property, they were then exempt from some of the FEMA flood because there are homes in Palm Beach that are at Elevation 6, and now the new FEMA regulations are Elevation 7. So that is a part of it.

And I think that there also would benefit like we do with the ad valorem benefits for for ten years. So I I think they're they're doing it the same way the same way we're we're doing it in Delray because I think it's all, like, statute based with with the state. But the the interesting thing is the homeowners in in Palm Beach, I don't think we're concerned about the added value savings because maybe they've been you know, it's pocket change to them.

I'll definitely reach out to Frederique, talk to her a little bit more so I can understand what Yeah. What it is they're doing. I know Coral Gables, their ordinance allowed for any property that was coming through to be demolished if it was older than fifty years, it allowed staff to go and assess to see what it qualify for designation. And if it did, it automatically would go up to their board for designation. Didn't need homeowner sign off. Now that was their own local code, right, about consent and things like that. As far as allowing the demolition, I'm curious to know exactly what that is about with Palm Beach.

And that may be a new statute too.

There are new statutes. There were some things that went through legislature. You know, legislature, I think, is in some ways doing really great job in that they're trying to streamline things, make it easier for property owners, protect private property rights. But in some instances, the the wide swath that they're using with specifically some amendments that occurred based on projects in Miami, how did they have an effect on other cities? And that's something we've been looking at and digesting, but I think that was more tied to FEMA and how old a city's ordinance was.

Our ordinance dates to '89. So there's also legislation and case law that shows we have certain protection status because our ordinance is so long long running in in our code. But I will reach out to her and see, hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, see what what that was, what was going on. I know that since she's been in Palm Beach, there's a lot more happening. So I think that was strategic on the town's part to get her in that position.

I would say just another comment on things. I mean, I think she can look into it just to see what it is exactly, but the state legislature does also have SB one eighty out there, which puts limits on the ordinances we can well, it does put limits on the ordinances that we can pass right now, whether there's if there's stricter guidelines on property owners. So it would be something that, you know, if it if it results in stricter guidelines for property owners, we would have to evaluate whether that would conflict with SB one eighty and deal with that too. Just as a you know?

Yeah. And and this this specific video was on Tarpon Island and

town of Palm

Beach is only private island. And it was the whole series that the Landmarks Preservation Commission, I I I guess that's what they're called, it's very interesting because they really go in-depth in a lot of landmarked and and historically designated homes. But I'll send you that video because they talk about FEMA, and they talk about a lot of the logistics in certain aspects of of that that house being designated as historically significant.

K.

Thank you so much. It was renovated and added on to, but certain parts of it had to stay the same in that renovation. So I'll it to tomorrow because it's really cool.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Anybody else? I have

a question just on applications in the pipeline for COA. I'm hearing rumors that there are a lot in the system. Is there a number I that you could can't. Is there a 100 or No.

There's not.

We had one item on our agenda tonight. I need to be scared. No. Well, I'm just curious when we have one item on the agenda and we've rounded up a lot of people for an evening meeting and I'd like to see three or four items on the agenda.

Me too. But I also don't want to get in the habit of canceling a meeting to then perhaps say is the board necessary. Yeah. I mean, it's good to delicate balance, but, you know, we did institute the e services platform last year, project docs, and the hub, which is EPL as well. So this is a system where we've already been doing permits through a digital system. This is a system for development applications that's I mean, Jake, you're probably and maybe Pete.

I've had some experience with it, I'm just curious to see how it's going.

So you're making applications. I think what we're seeing is the years and years and years and years years worth of applicants saying the city is slow. My application's been in. What's taking so long are long gone because we're mandated by Florida state statute for review times. Now the state statutes also require a sufficiency period for review, which means your application's either sufficient or it's not.

So we have several that are sitting in the queue that are not sufficient. So we can't even I can't even drag them up to do a review until they get sufficient. And then we have we've been very closely monitoring our project workload internally amongst our department and within the historic division and the current division because we're down a planner in the current division. Michelle is lending a hand over there. So that team lead and I are very closely watching.

There are things ready to go that are sitting just somebody needs to pay a fee or they need to submit their owner consent so that they can get to the next stage for us to review. And then there are projects that we've reviewed that have either just come in or been in the pipeline for four hundred days, and it's the applicant who's taking that long. So we also get really nervous that they're all gonna descend on us at one time

That's the

and be ready to roll to the board. We just don't have control on how that happens. And I think if we were facing a situation like that, it would have to be who came in first if we if I ended up with, like, 10 items. I'm not gonna do a 10 item board meeting. None of us wanna here today. How Magnolia came in and there's five lots and it was five things that were all the same. So it's it's I can't predict, unfortunately. Okay. But we are slammed. So I can say that for the ones that got in and are getting their projects deemed sufficient for review, and then we have a bunch that need to pull their stuff together.

Okay. From a contractor looking in at the system on the permitting side as well as development side, I think the software may be part of the issue.

Oh, the software is amazing.

It's amazing. Okay. What do think, Jake? I mean, Is the software amazing? No cost. Be frank.

I I I think we're

Yeah. I do think we're probably getting outside something. I think board purview, but if you you guys are everybody's always welcome to talk to the city on their on their own.

I'll say this. I think it's growing pains. We're, like, one of the last cities in the county to go from a paper process to a digital process. So I've experienced this program with other cities. My colleagues who are in the private sector are submitting through this same exact program at other cities. So I think as much as it's a learning curve and it's repetition.

Right.

Right? So, like, when you learn a new computer program, you don't you don't ace it until you use it every day. Right. So I think for some of our homeowners that are new to the process, we're lending a hand to help them through process. We also have and I do kinda wanna just put this on the record if it's okay.

We do have internal monthly meetings where we're tracking issues we're seeing with the system and getting them fixed immediately. We have a dedicated IT person whose only job is the integration and management of this software. The reason why I think it's awesome is the reviews for us is very easy. Digital reviews, laying plans on top of each other in a virtual light box setting, being able to make comments and annotate the plans. And then

So it has some good tools built in.

And the transparency of applications. I I think we have been overburdened, and I will say it was like this when I was here from '98 to o three. And then walking back in the door in '16, and nothing had changed, and the sentiment hadn't changed that the city is slow, that no longer is we people can't hide behind that anymore because we are able to say here, here's what happened. And if somebody we had an architect who's new to this type of software call yesterday. We stopped a meeting so Michelle could get on the phone, call him, and make sure he had what he needed to submit.

So we're trying to be really quick with customer service and help. I know we've been through with your office too, and you guys are applying outside of Delray and other cities. So the goal is to make it really easy for everybody, but those who have never used it, it's or use anything like it. It's gonna be hard.

Right. Okay.

Yeah. Thank you for that.

Yeah. Alright.

I think I'm gonna adjourn if there's no other comments, and then feel free to stay afterwards and discuss. Okay. Have a

good night.

Alright. I gotta get