With Appeal Dropped, Downtown Boca Property Cleared to Host House of Worship

490 East Palmetto Park Road. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

An appeal of a decision by the city to allow a portion of a building on East Palmetto Park Road to be converted to a house of worship has been dropped, paving the way for the project to move forward.

The appeal would have centered on whether the property at 490 East Palmetto Park Road could be used to house the Boca Beach Jewish Center, which is planned to be located on the first floor of the existing office building on the site. The center, which is considered a house of worship, would take up 3,718 square feet of the 30,895 square foot office building.

The building was formerly occupied by Morgan Stanley and was vacant until 2024, when it was purchased by its current owner. In 2018, the city approved a plan to redevelop the southern portion of the property into a 48-unit, approximately 165,000 square foot residential condominium and approximately 85,000 square foot parking structure.

The appeal of the placement of the house of worship in the office building stemmed from concerns that such a use would bring a concentration of people and traffic at the property all at once, as opposed to more staggered usage associated with an office. It also referenced circulation issues, concerns over the mixing of institutional use parking with residential parking, and a primary concern that the religious use of the property would expand over time.

According to a memorandum from city officials, the property owner initially proposed a more expansive change to the existing office building, however after consultation with zoning officials, reduced the request to convert just 12 percent of the building’s floor space to be used for religious purposes. Further, the individual development approval, or IDA, granted by the city came after an independent traffic study was conducted that demonstrated that the change in use would not result in an increase in net trips into and out of the building.

Further, the city anticipated a house of worship holding occasional special events, and specifically required that each must be reviewed and approved through the special event permit process of the city.

“Staff acknowledges the possibility of security concerns related to the place of worship,” the memorandum stated. “However, the property is located in a downtown, mixed-use environment, where different uses occurring in proximity, and on the same parcel, is specifically contemplated in the regulations. Security precautions should always be taken when appropriate, but staff believes that this is not a reason to deny this non-peak hour institutional activity on the subject property since appropriate conditions have been included to address this issue.”

The city’s Community Redevelopment Authority, which has jurisdiction over development in the downtown sector, was due to hear the appeal of the Jewish Center’s approval on Monday, however City Manager George Brown said before the meeting began that the appeal had been dropped. The item was removed from the agenda, and the prior approval now stands.