Highland Beach planning board backs code changes to reconcile coastal construction rules

Jeff Ramos, the Town of Highland Beach building official, told the planning board on June 11 that a long-hidden conflict between the town's building code and zoning code has left some oceanfront lots effectively unbuildable. "There was an absolute prohibition, no construction east of the coastal construction control line," Ramos said, explaining that the CCCL had been moved west since the language was adopted in 1979 and was now making some parcels and parts of the right-of-way fall east of the line.

Ramos urged consolidating Ocean Ridge standards into chapter 30 of the town code and deferring to Florida Department CCCL permits as the operative standard while preserving the town’s role as verifier of zoning and building compliance. He said the existing 120-foot ocean ridge protection zone and an 18-foot minimum floor elevation in local code were more restrictive than state and FEMA requirements and had resulted in rejected permits despite valid state approvals.

The board's debate focused on how explicit the town should be in its local ordinance. Ramos proposed replacing the town’s 18-foot minimum with the design flood elevation used in floodplain regulations to prevent costly redesigns at the building stage, saying designers need clear rules up front. "If they can't go below design flood elevation, that means they don't have to design a breakaway wall and that whole issue goes away," Ramos said. He also raised structural concerns about breakaway walls used as retaining walls, asserting, "They're not breaking away because they're not breakaway walls," and describing peer-review findings where submitted designs proved deficient.

Several members urged caution about diverging from statewide practice. One board member said many other South Florida municipalities simply cross-reference state and FEMA standards and that matching those standards would limit local liability and align practice regionally. Contractor Joe Dearo, during public comment, pressed staff on whether FEMA and the Florida Building Code allow garages below design flood elevation; staff clarified that VE zones impose breakaway-wall requirements that differ from AE-zone practice and that town peer review routinely finds engineering issues.

After discussion, Member Bobby moved to approve the nonconflicting parts of the proposed ordinance but to remove explicit "design flood elevation" language and instead default to the Florida Building Code and FEMA/floodplain regulations; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll call. Votes recorded included Member Bobby (yes), Member Mendelson (yes), Member Pal (yes), Vice Chair David (no), and Chairperson Rosen (yes). The planning board will forward its recommendation, with the specified exception, to the town commission.

The change aims to resolve the town’s code conflict so valid state CCCL permits will not be rejected under a stricter local provision and to provide clearer guidance to designers without creating a new, more restrictive local standard. The commission will receive the recommendation for final action.