Jane MusgraveChanges come as March 10 election threatens to upend council majority that supported repeal.
With the clock ticking toward the March elections, two outgoing Juno Beach elected officials and a third who could lose her seat approved sweeping changes last week that will lift restrictions on the size and style of new homes in the oceanfront town.
Appointed Council Member John Callaghan, who is not seeking election, crafted the three new laws that will eliminate the town’s so-called harmony code and let its planners, not a citizens’ advisory group, determine if a new home is compatible with the neighborhood.
Mayor Peggy Wheeler, who is ending a nearly decadelong career on the council, and Council Member Marianne Hosta, who faces a challenger in next month’s election, supported the measures during a raucous four-hour meeting Feb. 18 that typified the community’s deep divide about the issue.
Recognizing that a controversial state law will prevent a new council from reinstating the restrictions, Council Members Diana Davis and DD Halpern pushed to delay a vote so the council can explore what other municipalities, such as North Palm Beach, Palm Beach and Delray Beach, have done to rein in the explosion of massive homes.
With the election on March 10, a delay also would have put the matter before a new council.
Their efforts failed.
“To call this a rush after discussing it for three years — since 2023 — is ludicrous,” Hosta said. “This is not a rush.”
She later accused Davis of filibustering. “I see here a plan to discuss and discuss and discuss until 10 o’clock so we do not make a decision and I resent this a lot,” Hosta said. “I have heard these arguments before again and again and you know let’s just come to a vote. Let’s get it over with.”
That harmony was the source of hostility wasn’t lost on anyone at the meeting.
Since the council in 2023 adopted the harmony code, regulating the size, bulk, mass, scale and proportion of single-family and two-family dwellings, the town of roughly 3,900 people has erupted in turmoil.
The town has been sued by a resident who claims the council violated the harmony code by approving the construction of a 7,500-square-foot home, nearly twice as big as neighboring houses.
Vicious emails have been sent. Council members on both sides have been excoriated in neighborhood newsletters.
Wheeler, who has strongly supported eliminating the code, said she has been defamed on social media, prompting her to send a cease-and-desist letter to those involved. Town Attorney Gemma Torcivia cautioned her not to use the title “mayor” when sending the letters.
‘Overdeveloped former beautiful coastal town’
On one side of the debate are residents such as Scott Shaw, who filed the suit and is running against Hosta. Shaw and others say they don’t want to live in the shadow of massive homes that destroy the character of their neighborhoods.
Others worry that the town will become a mecca for Airbnbs where absentee owners will rent out supersized houses to vacationers. The scale of the homes doesn’t match the town’s view of itself as a “quaint seaside village,” opponents said.
“We’re just going to be populated with 5,000-, 8,000-square-foot homes,” said Jim Ehret, a member of the town’s Planning and Zoning Board. “We’re just going to be like any other overdeveloped former beautiful coastal town.”
On the other side are residents such as John Stelluto, who lives in a 2,600-square-foot home he bought in 1987. He estimates the restrictions have reduced the value of his home by at least 30%, money that he considers his nest egg.
“This is not about community character,” he said. “It’s forced devaluation of private property. That’s exactly what you’re doing. Homeowners have the right to rebuild and renovate or modernize their homes to meet contemporary needs without being held hostage by subjective aesthetic-focused restrictions.”
In addition to the community complaints, top town staff said the restrictions were unworkable.
After the code was enacted, town planners devised a matrix that calculated the average square footage of homes within 300 feet of a proposed new house and then used that to determine how big the new house could be. Planning Director Frank Davila called the matrix flawed.
Like citizens who serve on the Planning and Zoning Board, he said he didn’t want to be put in the position of judging a home’s appearance.
The new measures restore traditional zoning restrictions, requiring new homebuilders to abide by setbacks, lot coverage, height restrictions and landscaping requirements.
The planning department, not the planning board, will sign off on the plans.
Further, a booklet is to be prepared, showing what architectural styles are preferred. But the standards aren’t required. The book won’t be ready until June.
Town Manager Rob Cole said that if a home with an “exceptionally unusual architecture,” like a dome, a pyramid or a spire, is proposed, Davilla could deny it as being out of character in Juno Beach and a threat to nearby property values. The homeowner could then get an appraisal to dispute the findings and appeal the decision.
“No one wants the clown house next to their house,” Cole acknowledged.
But, Halpern said there was no definition in the new code to define “exceptionally unusual architecture” or explain the appeals process.
Davis suggested it would be better for the town to hire architects to review plans for new houses to determine if they are compatible with the neighborhood. The cost of their services could be built into the permit fees, she said.
Tallahassee restrictions
She repeatedly reminded fellow council members that once the changes were made there was no going back — at least not for more than a year.
Senate Bill 180, which passed the GOP-controlled state Legislature last year with the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis, prohibits municipal governments from imposing requirements that are “more restrictive or burdensome” to landowners.
The developer-friendly measure loosely tied to damage from hurricanes prohibits local governments from enacting even minor land development regulations, such as increasing landscaping requirements. It is to sunset in October 2027 but could be extended.
While a bill has been filed to walk back some of the more onerous parts of the measure, even the sponsors said it has little chance of passing before the legislative session ends March 13.
Both Davis and Halpern tried unsuccessfully to point out flaws in the proposals that would come back to haunt the town and its residents.
Davis said the new rules violated the town’s state-mandated comprehensive plan. The document, a road map for the town’s growth, requires “visual continuity of the community and sound principles of architectural design that are consistent with the character of the neighborhood.” It also requires homes be built with “Old Florida architectural styles.”
Callaghan dismissed her concerns. ‘I agree with Diana’s point that the comprehensive plan may need to be changed, but we don’t have to change it right now,” he said. “And that’s something that we can change after. The intention is, of course, the comprehensive plan and the ordinances need to match.”
No review for neighbors
Both Halpern and Davis objected to removing the Planning and Zoning Board from the review process. The board meetings are the only opportunity for neighbors to find out that a new house was being proposed, what it would look like and suggest changes, Halpern said.
She asked that the planning department at least notify neighbors when a permit for a new house is filed and give them 20 days to file objections.
Callaghan shot down her suggestion, saying there was no benefit in having “a public viewing and public comment on everyone’s house.”
“It’s just not fair to have people come and beg for approval from the planning board,” he said. “I think the staff can handle this much better professionally and do a better job at getting a better quality build.”
Wheeler added that some members of the planning board have publicly aligned themselves with pro-harmony groups.
“I think it raises legitimate concerns about them being impartial,” she said. “And that’s why I think it’s important for it to go back to staff so that this is not politicized, so the planning and zoning board is not a political platform. It’s not a vehicle for disputes. It exists to apply our code objectively and without any biasness. I’m 200% for this.”
At the end of the meeting, after nearly all the residents left, Wheeler attempted to head off criticism from soon-to-be elected town leaders.
Like Callaghan, she said misinformation has driven the animosity that has gripped the town.
“I hope that any new mayor or council member will listen intently to everything that was said at these meetings,” she said. “I think it’s very important that they hear what the sitting council members have said about the ordinances. I just think there’s a lot of information that people have missed because they don’t see what we see, they don’t hear what we hear and they don’t read what we have here.”
