TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Anthea Gianniotes, Development Services Director
THROUGH: Terrence R. Moore, ICMA-CM
DATE: October 14, 2025
Title
ORDINANCE NO. 08-25: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE “COMMUNITY PLANNING ACT”, FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 163.3177 AND SECTION 163.3184, BY AMENDING THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION ELEMENT AND THE NEIGHBORHOODS, DISTRICTS, AND CORRIDORS ELEMENT OF THE ALWAYS DELRAY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO ADOPT POLICIES FOR THE PRESERVATION AND ADAPTIVE REUSE OF HISTORIC PLACES OF WORSHIP; PROVIDING A CONFLICTS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AUTHORITY TO CODIFY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (SECOND READING / PUBLIC HEARING)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Consider Ordinance No. 08-25, a privately initiated amendment to the Always Delray Comprehensive Plan, by adopting a text amendment to the Historic Preservation Element and Neighborhoods, Districts, and Corridors Element to support adaptive reuse of historic places of worship as a residential use.
Body
Background:
Ordinance No. 08-25 is a privately initiated amendment to the Historic Preservation Element and Neighborhoods, Districts, and Corridors Element of the Always Delray Comprehensive Plan to adopt policies in support of the adaptive reuse of historic places of worship as a residential use.
The subject request relates to a contributing historic church structure on a 0.5021-acre property located at 200 SE 7th Avenue on the southeast corner of SE 2nd Street and SE 7th Avenue. The property has Community Facility (CF) land use and Community Facilities (CF) zoning, and is located within the Locally and Nationally Designated Marina Historic District. According to the Florida Master Site File (FMSF) Form, 200 SE 7th Avenue is an “excellent example of the classical revival style.”
In 2024, the property owner requested a Land Use Map Amendment (LUMA) from Community Facility (CF) to Low Density (LD) a rezoning from Community Facilities (CF) to Single Family Residential (R-1-AA), to allow for the adaptive reuse as a single-family residence. The request was denied by the City Commission, who directed staff to evaluate alternative options to facilitate the desired adaptive reuse.
In November 2024, a privately initiated request to amend the Always Delray Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Regulations (LDR) was submitted. Together, these changes would to allow for the adaptive reuse of historic places of worship as a residential use in CF zoning district.
The following new or amended Objectives and Policies are proposed to allow "contextually appropriate adaptive reuse" of historic places of worship.
Historic Preservation Element (page 3):
Objective HPE 1.5 Historic Places of Worship: Maintain the community benefit of historic places of worship revered as community landmarks through historic preservation and adaptive reuse.
Policy HPE 1.5.1: Support the preservation of historic places of worship by allowing contextually appropriate adaptive reuse in consideration of the surrounding neighborhood.
Policy HPE 1.5.2: Adopt Land Development Regulations that advance the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic places of worship.
Neighborhood, Districts, and Corridors Element (page 10):
Policy NDC 1.1.15: Support the preservation of historic places of worship by allowing contextually appropriate adaptive reuse in consideration of the surrounding neighborhood.
Objective NDC 1.6 Community Facility Land Use Designation: Provide a full range of local or regional community-based uses primarily intended to serve and/or benefit the public by appropriately applying the Community Facilities Facility land use designation.
This change will not change the historic status of any buildings and the provisions of the LDR, including 4.5.1 will remain in effect. A complete analysis of the request is provided in the attached Staff report.
The Historic Preservation Board heard the request on July 2, 2025, and voted 5 to 0 to recommend approval.
The Planning and Zoning Board heard the request on July 21, 2025, and voted 5 to 1 to recommend approval.
City Attorney Review:
Ordinance No. 08-25 is approved as to form and legal sufficiency.
Funding Source/Financial Impact:
Not applicable.
Timing of Request:
Ordinance No. 08-25 will be effective 31 days after adoption. Ordinance No. 07-25 amending the LDR accompanies this request.