6. ARC-24-061 (ZON-24-068) 171 EL PUEBLO WAY (COMBO) The applicants, Kevin and Carolyn Ryan, have filed an application requesting Architectural Commission review and approval for construction of a new two-story single-family residence with final hardscape, landscape, and swimming pool with a special exception to develop the existing nonconforming lot. This is a combination project that shall be reviewed by Town Council as it pertains to zoning relief/approval. 
Public Comment, Town of Palm Beach Admin
admin
11 months ago
Received via email 5.21.24:
To whom it may concern:
I have met with Carolyn Ryan to have a look at their new plans for their home at 171 El Pueblo and find the design charming.
I would ask for ARCOM not only to look at the design of their new home, which is impeccable and fits the island’s decorum, but also to consider their effort to make the neighboring residents happy.
This is a lovely, young family who have chosen to make Palm Beach their home, when so many other new renovations are spec homes and part timers.
Thank you for your time. I hope you find that they have met all of your specifications.
Kind regards,
Lauren Mimun
1144 N Ocean Blvd
Neighbor across the street
Received via email 5.27.24:
Dear Pat and Kelly, our proposed home is being presented to ARCOM on Wednesday May 29 and we would like to include the below as part of the public comments. Hope you are having a great long weekend.
My name is Kevin Ryan and my wife Carolyn and I are the owners of 171 El Pueblo Way. We purchased the home in June of 2022 and currently reside there with our 2 young daughters (aged 12 and 10). El Pueblo Way is our primary residence, and our daughters attend Rosarian Academy where both my wife and I serve on the Centennial Committee. We have enjoyed living in the home and being part of the neighborhood while considering what changes we would make to accommodate our family, our neighbors, and our visiting parents.
As you may recall we presented a different home in march of 2023 and were denied. We reflected deeply on that outcome and believe it to be a blessing. We relied on the advice of our former professionals in both the design of the home and the presentation. Simply put we agree that that was the wrong home for our property and we have now changed up our entire design team. For the last 14 months we took the benefit of time, did research, walked the neighborhood for inspiration and met with several of our neighbors. One evening we were walking down Mockingbird Trail and we saw the Verbokel’s home (number 217). We thought the home was stunning and added so much to the street. Through very helpful neighbors including Liza Pullitizer we were informed that Stan Dixon led the design of the home.
We were inspired by the Verbokels home and knew right away that Stan is the right architect for our project. We also called upon Don Skowron, who was the project architect with Morgan Wheelock's firm in designing the gardens at Society of the Four Arts with the Garden Club. We want an attractive family home that reflects and honors the character of the north end. We have shown the plans to multiple neighbors and have done our best to reach out to virtually all of them. They said smaller massing, and we listened to them. They said variegated roofline, and we listened to them. They said no variances and that was the primary directive, in concert with protection of the tree, that we gave Stan from the very beginning.
We purchased the home for 3 primary reasons. The first is simply the community of the north end. We will raise our children here, continue our careers from here, retire here and hopefully one day have grandchildren visit here. The north end is close knit and we are enjoying neighborhood gatherings and the spontaneous conversations you get into at the beach or on the lake trail. The second is, of course, the access to the ocean where I take a swim each day and our daughters snorkel, spotting stingrays and parrot fish. The third is the beautiful buttonwood tree that sits on our neighbor Michael’s property to the north. When we first toured the property, we found the tree to be enchanting; it was actually the reason we chose to be in this particular part of El Pueblo, a street we love very much. The owner of the home to our north which is the property on which the tree sits, Michael Poplepovich, lives in the Tampa area and rents the home. We reached out to him in Tampa and have become friendly with Michael and his family. We have spoken much about the tree and we have agreed we are taking pains to ensure we will not negatively impact the tree. We showed him renderings of the home and he said that it is all beautiful. Our new structure and footprint will be away from the tree and will be smaller in north-side footprint than the existing home in order to protect the tree. We voluntarily brought the town’s arborist in to examine the plans and meet with our landscape architect Don Skowron. We believe we came away with an agreement in support of our plans and with the goal to ensure protection of the tree.
So in conclusion we feel like we have done our best to bring to you exceptional home and landscape architects, with an excellent design. Our objective is simply to build an attractive, compatible North End home and became a forever part of the north end community.
Kevin and Carolyn Ryan
171 El Pueblo Way
Received via email 5.28.24 from Kathleen Carbonara:
Carolyn showed me Stan Dixon’s design of their home on El Pueblo Way. Another Stan Dixon gem! My husband, Jon and I would love to see more tasteful, interesting attractive homes like this on the North end. I hope that your committee feels the same.
Received via email 5.28.24:
Dear Architectural Commission Members:
This office has the pleasure of representing Mr. and Mrs. Paul L. Maddock, Jr., the property owners adjacent and East of this property.
This application is the second attempt by this property owner to raze their existing one-story home and bulid a new two-story house. The first one failed to gain approval because it was too large and proper care was not given to the specimen tree roots on the property adjacent on the North.
This project proports to protect the specimen tree roots and is not asking for any variances (which is a plus); but while the proposed house does not exceed the allowable CCR, it is almost to the max; and while the overall height is not exceeded, the house is just too tall.
I personally have watched the construction of a two-story house on a 9,000 sf lot across the street from my house for 5 years. Granted the property has changed hands three times in that period, but the plans did not change. It took some of your time, but you finally approved a house that fit in the neighborhood.
It is our hope that you will make sure this proposed house at 171 El Pueblo Way fits in the neighborhood. The biggest objection is it is too tall and 4,400 sf under air is a very big house on this undersized lot.
Also, whatever gets approved, it is very important to my clients that the East property line be planted with a hedge tall enough to block second story views into their pool area. And finally, since this is a small lot on the corner of El Pueblo Way and North Ocean Way, there needs to be ridged control of the construction vehicles allowed on the streets.
Please do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Peter S. Broberg
Received via email 5.21.24:
To whom it may concern:
I have met with Carolyn Ryan to have a look at their new plans for their home at 171 El Pueblo and find the design charming.
I would ask for ARCOM not only to look at the design of their new home, which is impeccable and fits the island’s decorum, but also to consider their effort to make the neighboring residents happy.
This is a lovely, young family who have chosen to make Palm Beach their home, when so many other new renovations are spec homes and part timers.
Thank you for your time. I hope you find that they have met all of your specifications.
Kind regards,
Lauren Mimun
1144 N Ocean Blvd
Neighbor across the street
Received via email 5.27.24:
Dear Pat and Kelly, our proposed home is being presented to ARCOM on Wednesday May 29 and we would like to include the below as part of the public comments. Hope you are having a great long weekend.
My name is Kevin Ryan and my wife Carolyn and I are the owners of 171 El Pueblo Way. We purchased the home in June of 2022 and currently reside there with our 2 young daughters (aged 12 and 10). El Pueblo Way is our primary residence, and our daughters attend Rosarian Academy where both my wife and I serve on the Centennial Committee. We have enjoyed living in the home and being part of the neighborhood while considering what changes we would make to accommodate our family, our neighbors, and our visiting parents.
As you may recall we presented a different home in march of 2023 and were denied. We reflected deeply on that outcome and believe it to be a blessing. We relied on the advice of our former professionals in both the design of the home and the presentation. Simply put we agree that that was the wrong home for our property and we have now changed up our entire design team. For the last 14 months we took the benefit of time, did research, walked the neighborhood for inspiration and met with several of our neighbors. One evening we were walking down Mockingbird Trail and we saw the Verbokel’s home (number 217). We thought the home was stunning and added so much to the street. Through very helpful neighbors including Liza Pullitizer we were informed that Stan Dixon led the design of the home.
We were inspired by the Verbokels home and knew right away that Stan is the right architect for our project. We also called upon Don Skowron, who was the project architect with Morgan Wheelock's firm in designing the gardens at Society of the Four Arts with the Garden Club. We want an attractive family home that reflects and honors the character of the north end. We have shown the plans to multiple neighbors and have done our best to reach out to virtually all of them. They said smaller massing, and we listened to them. They said variegated roofline, and we listened to them. They said no variances and that was the primary directive, in concert with protection of the tree, that we gave Stan from the very beginning.
We purchased the home for 3 primary reasons. The first is simply the community of the north end. We will raise our children here, continue our careers from here, retire here and hopefully one day have grandchildren visit here. The north end is close knit and we are enjoying neighborhood gatherings and the spontaneous conversations you get into at the beach or on the lake trail. The second is, of course, the access to the ocean where I take a swim each day and our daughters snorkel, spotting stingrays and parrot fish. The third is the beautiful buttonwood tree that sits on our neighbor Michael’s property to the north. When we first toured the property, we found the tree to be enchanting; it was actually the reason we chose to be in this particular part of El Pueblo, a street we love very much. The owner of the home to our north which is the property on which the tree sits, Michael Poplepovich, lives in the Tampa area and rents the home. We reached out to him in Tampa and have become friendly with Michael and his family. We have spoken much about the tree and we have agreed we are taking pains to ensure we will not negatively impact the tree. We showed him renderings of the home and he said that it is all beautiful. Our new structure and footprint will be away from the tree and will be smaller in north-side footprint than the existing home in order to protect the tree. We voluntarily brought the town’s arborist in to examine the plans and meet with our landscape architect Don Skowron. We believe we came away with an agreement in support of our plans and with the goal to ensure protection of the tree.
So in conclusion we feel like we have done our best to bring to you exceptional home and landscape architects, with an excellent design. Our objective is simply to build an attractive, compatible North End home and became a forever part of the north end community.
Kevin and Carolyn Ryan
171 El Pueblo Way
Received via email 5.28.24 from Kathleen Carbonara:
Carolyn showed me Stan Dixon’s design of their home on El Pueblo Way. Another Stan Dixon gem! My husband, Jon and I would love to see more tasteful, interesting attractive homes like this on the North end. I hope that your committee feels the same.
Received via email 5.28.24:
Dear Architectural Commission Members:
This office has the pleasure of representing Mr. and Mrs. Paul L. Maddock, Jr., the property owners adjacent and East of this property.
This application is the second attempt by this property owner to raze their existing one-story home and bulid a new two-story house. The first one failed to gain approval because it was too large and proper care was not given to the specimen tree roots on the property adjacent on the North.
This project proports to protect the specimen tree roots and is not asking for any variances (which is a plus); but while the proposed house does not exceed the allowable CCR, it is almost to the max; and while the overall height is not exceeded, the house is just too tall.
I personally have watched the construction of a two-story house on a 9,000 sf lot across the street from my house for 5 years. Granted the property has changed hands three times in that period, but the plans did not change. It took some of your time, but you finally approved a house that fit in the neighborhood.
It is our hope that you will make sure this proposed house at 171 El Pueblo Way fits in the neighborhood. The biggest objection is it is too tall and 4,400 sf under air is a very big house on this undersized lot.
Also, whatever gets approved, it is very important to my clients that the East property line be planted with a hedge tall enough to block second story views into their pool area. And finally, since this is a small lot on the corner of El Pueblo Way and North Ocean Way, there needs to be ridged control of the construction vehicles allowed on the streets.
Please do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Peter S. Broberg