Planning board approves Kenorama Bath & Tile plan, grants variance for North Federal Highway site

The Boca Raton Planning & Zoning Board on April 18 approved, by a 6–0 vote, a site plan and a related variance for a proposed Kenorama Bath & Tile store on a 0.77-acre property read into the record as 6099 North Federal Highway.

Owen Devlin, GIS planner with Development Services, told the board the application seeks site-plan approval for a one-story retail building of roughly 14,500 square feet and two technical deviations: reducing the required driveway reservoir distance along Hastings Street from 25 feet to 10 feet for two driveways and reducing required off-street parking from 22 spaces to 14 (an eight-space reduction). The applicant also requested a variance to reduce the front-yard setback on the North Federal Highway frontage to 11.6 feet from the 30-foot requirement. "Staff is recommending approval of the project," Devlin said, and explained that the reduced setback aligns with the North Federal Highway charrette and that pedestrian improvements — including an 8-foot sidewalk and shade trees — are part of the plan.

Devlin told the board the city traffic engineer reviewed the technical deviations and recommended approval; the applicant supported the parking reduction with Institute of Transportation Engineers methodology and on-site observations at nearby businesses. A condition of approval requires the applicant to file a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan to encourage multimodal travel.

Ellie Zacharitis, the petitioner who identified herself for the record, deferred most of her presentation to staff: "I do have a presentation, but Owen did an excellent job," she said. No members of the public spoke on the item during the public-hearing period.

After brief board discussion, the motion to approve the site plan and the variance carried on a unanimous roll call. The board recorded the outcome as approvals of both the site plan and the variance; the staff conditions including the TDM plan will be part of the development order.

Next steps identified at the meeting were standard implementation items (conditions to be met by the applicant) and no further public hearing dates were specified at the dais.