JUST SAY NO TO THE BEAST ON THE BEACH

Developers want to tear down Beach Sound and build a Miami-size monstrosity with:

• More than double the number of residential floors from 3-8, major overload, putting a 10-story building into a 3-story bag. IT DOES NOT FIT!
• An additional two stories of rooftop amenities that create noise and light pollution
• Inadequate road setbacks and minuscule space between neighboring buildings
• Smelly sewage lift station being built near the Intracoastal
• Two-floor underground garage at risk of flooding with massive fans running 24/7
• Increase risk of wind, flood, noise, and shadows

We are talking about the proposed development of a “Beast of a Building” on the current site of the Little Beach Sound Condo. The Beast’s proposed design, before the Palm Beach County Planning and Zoning Commission, is entirely out of sync with our neighborhood’s quiet, private character. It’s time we tell our elected officials to say NO! to this massive development.

As many of you are aware, the state in 2022 enacted inspection and repair requirements on older condominium buildings after the Surfside condominium collapse that killed 98 people. Some developers have seized on the tragedy to offer owners a chance to sell rather than improve their property.

That is precisely what is happening at Little Beach Sound, a four-story condominium at 19930 Beach Road built in 1986. A partnership of Perko Development and Kolter Group is trying to get around current zoning regulations by applying for a community-wide “Phase 2 Waiver” based on the “economic hardships” the repairs would place on the owners of Little Beach Sound.

Let’s be clear: This is not an errand of mercy; it’s an end-run around the rules that have protected Beach Road property values and created a beautiful community on south Jupiter Island.

Money is not a problem for unit owners: In August 2021, Perko, backed by Miami Fontainebleau Development, reached a purchase option agreement with the Little Beach Sound owners for over $2 million each, with $229,000 nonrefundable per unit if they failed to close by January 2023.

When it came time to close, Fontainebleau backed out because they could not get the zoning variances needed to build more than a five-story building. The Little Beach Sound owners received $229,000 each for a total of $2,748,000. So much for the Hardship Boondoggle!

But it gets even better for the owners. Perko asked for and received another extension until later in 2023 for an additional payment of $50,000 each.

Perko then set about working with Palm Beach County Zoning to create an overlay district comprising all seven condo communities north of Coral Cove Park. In the end, he failed to meet the county’s requirement of support from the other six buildings, all of which were against it. Another $600,000 in Little Beach Sound’s piggy bank.

In 2024, the Kolter Group entered the scene, creating PK Partners, paying each Little Beach Sound unit owner $250,000 upfront and extending the Fontainebleau agreement until December 1 of this year. As of this date, the Little Beach Sound owners have received at least half a million dollars each, for a total of around $6,000,000!

There’s more: Its board of directors did not hold a meeting for almost four years, violating state law. Therefore, it cannot enter into binding agreements with Perko on behalf of the owners.

That didn’t slow down Perko and his development partner, Kolter. They pushed forward with the waiver request, saying that the owners would have financial problems even though they have collectively received over $6 million in just a few years.

The other shoe drops: Recently, Little Beach Sound released the findings of their Phase One Milestone Study. It was found that NO Phase Two work is required. The building is in sound condition. That demolishes the other half of the hardship claim the developers are pushing. (See the Attached Palm Beach Post Articles.)

Our engineering and land planning experts have found other reasons to tell our elected and appointed officials TO VOTE NO to the zoning waivers:

• The building would more than double the number of residential floors to 8 from 3 and raise the building height from 40 feet to 113 feet
• The project would have the largest units on the smallest lot along Beach Road (77,000 sellable square feet on just 0.5 acres). More than three and a half times the mass of land of any of their nearby neighbors. (See attached Sketch)
• There would be only a 20-foot setback from Beach Road right of way, completely out of line physically and aesthetically with the other neighboring condominium buildings, whose setbacks average 80-100-plus feet from the right of way.
• The side setback has been reduced to 15 feet, more than three times less than any condo north of Coral Cove Park!
• With an occupant capacity 30% greater than its neighbors but with a parking capacity 40% less, what could go wrong?

What problems does the building’s massive size create?

• The HIGH wind velocity and noise from the narrower spaces between the new building and its neighbors could cause serious problems during a storm or hurricane.
  With almost no ground area on any side, the pool and other amenities will be on the roof, a design incompatible with the neighboring condominiums. The noise will bother neighbors by adding 18 feet (2 stories!) to the top of the Beast, making it the second-tallest building in the area on the smallest lot. Roof lighting will affect turtles during nesting season.
• Two underground garage floors (30,000 square feet) below sea level must be constructed at or near high-risk flood zones, only 15 feet from their neighboring property lines. Such an installation will require high operation costs for large ventilation and pumping systems, and, if a system failure occurs in storm conditions, it could damage not only its structure but also those of its nearby neighbors.
• At 113 feet high and 158 feet long, the Beast will permanently cast shadows on the Claridge pool, spa, fountains, sunbathing areas, and on unit owners all the way to the sixth floor for most of the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Ocean Sound unit owners will always be looking at a wall of reflective glass and solar panels 100 feet high and 150 feet wide, not the kind of neighbor you want just 15 feet off your property line.
• The Beast will have to pump sewage west across Beach Road to a lift station and then back again to the east side of the street to connect to the sewer main.
  Reduction of 30% in unit values at the neighboring condo buildings.

In Support: The Claridge, Ocean Sound, Landfall, Passages, Carlyle, and Sea Watch.