8. ARC-23-092 (ZON-23-070) 217 BAHAMA LN  James and Sarah McCann, have filed an application requesting Architectural Commission review and approval for construction of a new two-story single-family residence and associated landscape and hardscape on a lot substandard in lot depth in the R-B zoning district. This is a combination project that shall also be reviewed by Town Council as it pertains to zoning relief/approval.
Public Comment, Town of Palm Beach Admin
admin
over 1 year ago
Received via email on 9.25.23:
We have only recently become apprised of the proposed demolition and requests for exceptions to the setbacks regarding the above named property. WE, Dr. Alfred Lucier, and I have been part time residents since 1970 and now permanent residents residing at 218 Jamaica Lane. Our pool area abuts the above named property and unfortunately is experiencing(besides intolerable noise) from dusk to dawn residue from the demolition which results in breathing difficulties.
The proposed house is enormous (more square footage, more $$$$). It is totally out of scale for the neighborhood .
We a re especially concerned about the lax consideration given to these oversized projects. Our original home was at 284 Monterey Road, a beautiful land marked home which we sold in 2019 to accommodate our growing family and moved to 218 Jamaica The new owner sold during the pandemic. The new owners wanted to demolish the home but landmarks denied the requests. They came back to council, who granted approval. Is there no hope for preserving our beautiful North end when architects, real estate agents builders and owners have only disregard for preservation of the north end
Since the ARCOM meeting is scheduled for Wednesday we would appreciate your inclusion of this letter to the agenda
Sincerely,
Alfred C Lucier MD
Joan F Lucier
Received via email 9.25.23:
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
My wife and I have reviewed the revised project plan for 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092) submitted by
Dailey Janssen Architects on September 5, 2023. The modest changes made compared to the original
project plan fail to address any of our concerns.
In summary, this project remains out of scale and architecturally incompatible and unattractive to the
surrounding neighbors. Every neighbor we have spoken to about this project shares these same
concerns and I expect several will be expressing their objections directly to ARCOM. While the McCanns
have every right to build a beautiful home on their lot, they should not be allowed to impinge on their
neighbors' rights and quiet enjoyment of their own properties.
As a reference, I am attaching my initial objection letter dated August 21. I hope ARCOM will reject this
revised proposal for another overbuilt McMansion and force the McCanns to come back with a plan that
is appropriate for their lot and neighborhood.
Best regards.
Yours sincerely,
James R. Freney
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
My wife, Caroline N. Freney, and I are longstanding residents of Palm Beach. We have lived at 214
Jamaica Lane for 19 years. I am writing this letter to strongly oppose the proposed project at 217
Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092) which is directly behind my residence.
ARCOM should reject this project for the following reasons:
1. The proposed house is enormous and is totally out of scale with the neighborhood. Given its
historical character, the North End, in particular, should be protected from this out of scale
development.
2. The design is a bizarre agglomeration of different styles resulting in a distinctly unattractive
house that the addition of some high-end design elements cannot save. The renderings
provided by Dailey Janssen Architects are incorrectly labeled. What is labeled as the South
Elevation actually is the North Elevation, which is what faces my home. The Dailey Janssen
South Elevation, which is monotonous with three oversize blocks, is particularly unattractive and
completely uninspiring architecturally.
3. Roof lines need to be reduced across the board so as not to impinge on the neighbors' privacy
and so the house interfaces better with the neighboring residences.
The McCanns moved out of 217 Bahama Lane more than a year ago to begin an extensive renovation of
their property that I had no objection to. However, after completing a partial demolition of the
property, including damaging my landscaping which resulted in my incurring thousands of dollars of
expense, they quickly ceased the renovation project resulting in their neighbors having to deal with the
eyesore of an abandoned construction site for the better part of a year. How much more inconvenience
will we need to endure?
It also is not a coincidence that the McCanns have chosen to try to ram this project through in late
Summer when many of their neighbors are out of town. I only found out about the proposed project
when alerted by a neighbor, who is in town now, late this past week. Over the weekend. I spoke with
four neighbors who were unaware of this project and, after reviewing the renderings, unanimously
oppose it and will be making their objections known if time permits.
I hope ARCOM will do the right thing here and reject this proposal for another overbuilt McMansion that
is being squeezed into a small lot that was never intended to accommodate a house of this size.
Best regards.
Yours sincerely,
James R. Freney
Received via email 9.25.23:
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
Having reviewed the revised plans for 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092), which is adjacent to our
backyard, my husband, Bill Weeks, and I reiterate our strong objections to this project. None of the
changes made thus far in the design address our concerns with the project.
The bulk and mass of the proposed house are a poor fit with the neighboring residences—it is being
squeezed into a small lot that was never intended to accommodate a house of this size. While I am not
an architect, I find the design to be graceless and lacking any cohesive features—it simply looks like a
bunch of blocks that have been slapped together. For these reasons, this project is totally out of
character with the neighborhood.
This project is representative of the disturbing trend we are experiencing in the North End whereby
outsized, tasteless speculative homes are destroying the charming and appropriately scaled
environment that attracted so many of us to the North End in the first place. We are particularly
concerned with how all this development in the North End will exacerbate the already troubling flooding
challenges we face—more needs to be done to protect our critical green space.
We implore ARCOM to help preserve our unique community by rejecting this project.
With kind regards,
Robin Weeks
Received via email 9.24.23:
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
I have lived at 216 Jamaica Lane since 1990 and my house is directly behind 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-
092). Having reviewed the update project plans, I am writing to oppose this project in the strongest
possible terms as being totally out of scale and architecturally incompatible with the neighborhood.
The proposed house is way too large for the lot and is a poor fit with the neighboring residences. I also
find the design to be very boring and lacking any inspiration. Moreover, the McCanns right to build a
house of their own choosing should not impinge upon neighborhood privacy.
The North End always has been treasured as a quiet and peaceful community where homes traditionally
were built proportional to their lot size preserving green space that benefited the whole community.
Unfortunately, now the North End is at risk of becoming a concrete jungle where flooding concerns are
becoming increasingly pronounced. Please do your part to help preserve our unique community by
rejecting this project.
With kind regards,
Carol Barton
Received via email on 9.25.23:
We have only recently become apprised of the proposed demolition and requests for exceptions to the setbacks regarding the above named property. WE, Dr. Alfred Lucier, and I have been part time residents since 1970 and now permanent residents residing at 218 Jamaica Lane. Our pool area abuts the above named property and unfortunately is experiencing(besides intolerable noise) from dusk to dawn residue from the demolition which results in breathing difficulties.
The proposed house is enormous (more square footage, more $$$$). It is totally out of scale for the neighborhood .
We a re especially concerned about the lax consideration given to these oversized projects. Our original home was at 284 Monterey Road, a beautiful land marked home which we sold in 2019 to accommodate our growing family and moved to 218 Jamaica The new owner sold during the pandemic. The new owners wanted to demolish the home but landmarks denied the requests. They came back to council, who granted approval. Is there no hope for preserving our beautiful North end when architects, real estate agents builders and owners have only disregard for preservation of the north end
Since the ARCOM meeting is scheduled for Wednesday we would appreciate your inclusion of this letter to the agenda
Sincerely,
Alfred C Lucier MD
Joan F Lucier
Received via email 9.25.23:
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
My wife and I have reviewed the revised project plan for 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092) submitted by
Dailey Janssen Architects on September 5, 2023. The modest changes made compared to the original
project plan fail to address any of our concerns.
In summary, this project remains out of scale and architecturally incompatible and unattractive to the
surrounding neighbors. Every neighbor we have spoken to about this project shares these same
concerns and I expect several will be expressing their objections directly to ARCOM. While the McCanns
have every right to build a beautiful home on their lot, they should not be allowed to impinge on their
neighbors' rights and quiet enjoyment of their own properties.
As a reference, I am attaching my initial objection letter dated August 21. I hope ARCOM will reject this
revised proposal for another overbuilt McMansion and force the McCanns to come back with a plan that
is appropriate for their lot and neighborhood.
Best regards.
Yours sincerely,
James R. Freney
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
My wife, Caroline N. Freney, and I are longstanding residents of Palm Beach. We have lived at 214
Jamaica Lane for 19 years. I am writing this letter to strongly oppose the proposed project at 217
Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092) which is directly behind my residence.
ARCOM should reject this project for the following reasons:
1. The proposed house is enormous and is totally out of scale with the neighborhood. Given its
historical character, the North End, in particular, should be protected from this out of scale
development.
2. The design is a bizarre agglomeration of different styles resulting in a distinctly unattractive
house that the addition of some high-end design elements cannot save. The renderings
provided by Dailey Janssen Architects are incorrectly labeled. What is labeled as the South
Elevation actually is the North Elevation, which is what faces my home. The Dailey Janssen
South Elevation, which is monotonous with three oversize blocks, is particularly unattractive and
completely uninspiring architecturally.
3. Roof lines need to be reduced across the board so as not to impinge on the neighbors' privacy
and so the house interfaces better with the neighboring residences.
The McCanns moved out of 217 Bahama Lane more than a year ago to begin an extensive renovation of
their property that I had no objection to. However, after completing a partial demolition of the
property, including damaging my landscaping which resulted in my incurring thousands of dollars of
expense, they quickly ceased the renovation project resulting in their neighbors having to deal with the
eyesore of an abandoned construction site for the better part of a year. How much more inconvenience
will we need to endure?
It also is not a coincidence that the McCanns have chosen to try to ram this project through in late
Summer when many of their neighbors are out of town. I only found out about the proposed project
when alerted by a neighbor, who is in town now, late this past week. Over the weekend. I spoke with
four neighbors who were unaware of this project and, after reviewing the renderings, unanimously
oppose it and will be making their objections known if time permits.
I hope ARCOM will do the right thing here and reject this proposal for another overbuilt McMansion that
is being squeezed into a small lot that was never intended to accommodate a house of this size.
Best regards.
Yours sincerely,
James R. Freney
Received via email 9.25.23:
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
Having reviewed the revised plans for 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092), which is adjacent to our
backyard, my husband, Bill Weeks, and I reiterate our strong objections to this project. None of the
changes made thus far in the design address our concerns with the project.
The bulk and mass of the proposed house are a poor fit with the neighboring residences—it is being
squeezed into a small lot that was never intended to accommodate a house of this size. While I am not
an architect, I find the design to be graceless and lacking any cohesive features—it simply looks like a
bunch of blocks that have been slapped together. For these reasons, this project is totally out of
character with the neighborhood.
This project is representative of the disturbing trend we are experiencing in the North End whereby
outsized, tasteless speculative homes are destroying the charming and appropriately scaled
environment that attracted so many of us to the North End in the first place. We are particularly
concerned with how all this development in the North End will exacerbate the already troubling flooding
challenges we face—more needs to be done to protect our critical green space.
We implore ARCOM to help preserve our unique community by rejecting this project.
With kind regards,
Robin Weeks
Received via email 9.24.23:
RE: 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-092)
Dear ARCOM:
I have lived at 216 Jamaica Lane since 1990 and my house is directly behind 217 Bahama Lane (ARC 23-
092). Having reviewed the update project plans, I am writing to oppose this project in the strongest
possible terms as being totally out of scale and architecturally incompatible with the neighborhood.
The proposed house is way too large for the lot and is a poor fit with the neighboring residences. I also
find the design to be very boring and lacking any inspiration. Moreover, the McCanns right to build a
house of their own choosing should not impinge upon neighborhood privacy.
The North End always has been treasured as a quiet and peaceful community where homes traditionally
were built proportional to their lot size preserving green space that benefited the whole community.
Unfortunately, now the North End is at risk of becoming a concrete jungle where flooding concerns are
becoming increasingly pronounced. Please do your part to help preserve our unique community by
rejecting this project.
With kind regards,
Carol Barton