Four Arts zoning proposal gets initial OK, would pave way for $150 million renovation

A proposal to create a zoning district for cultural institutions in Palm Beach is moving forward, helping to set the stage for a $150 million renovation at one of the town's oldest organizations.

After hours of meetings over the past few months, from the Town Council to the Planning and Zoning Commission and back again, the Town Council voted unanimously on March 13 — meeting first as the Local Planning Agency and again the same day as the Development Review Committee — to grant initial approval to a pair of measures that would create and apply a cultural institution zoning district in Palm Beach.

The Society of the Four Arts petitioned the town to create the zoning district, which it then would request to apply to its 10-acre Midtown property, attorney Harvey Oyer, the agent for the organization, has said.

The town is currently amid a comprehensive review and rewrite of its outdated zoning code, in a process being led by consulting firm ZoneCo and lead consultant Sean Suder. Oyer worked with Suder and town staff to draft the new zoning district.

While some members of the Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission expressed hesitation to create a new zoning district while that rewrite is happening, the measures received unanimous supporting votes from both boards.

Right now, the Four Arts property and that of the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum to the north are zoned single-family residential, an inappropriate zoning designation that has created hardships for both organizations, Oyer said.

The Four Arts campus includes several uses, with the King Library, children's library, performance hall, education center and sculpture and botanical gardens. Oyer called the society the most town-serving organization in Palm Beach's history, considering the number of services the Four Arts provides for free to residents and visitors.

"If you asked 100 land planners in America whether they thought it's a good idea to put the Four Arts in R-B single-family residential zoning, that is the one thing that 100 land planners could all agree to," he said.

It's unclear why the Four Arts and Flagler Museum were zoned as residential, Oyer said. The zoning designation has meant that any time either organization seeks to make changes to their properties, they have to request a slew of time-consuming and expensive variances from the town, he said.

"It makes no sense whatsoever," Oyer said. "So we're asking you to rectify that. We are asking you to create a cultural institution zoning district that we have talked about for years. The time is now."

In addition to the measure establishing the new zoning district, the council voted unanimously to grant initial approval to a comprehensive plan amendment that creates a future land use of "private group use," to match the new zoning district.

That amendment corrects an error Oyer has said was made by the town nearly four decades ago when it created the private group use designation but did not also create zoning districts to go with it. That is in violation of Florida law, Oyer has said in past meetings.

The proposals will return to the council at a future meeting for a final vote. The state first must review the comprehensive plan amendment. Once that is returned to Palm Beach, the council will have 180 days to review it and issue a final vote.

While council members gave a fairly quick initial approval to the comprehensive plan amendment, they pored over the proposed zoning district language.

Several times, the council emphasized to Four Arts supporters that their careful review was not caused by a lack of trust for that organization.

"This is not about Four Arts or about the Flagler; this is about another group that could come in and use this," Councilwoman Julie Araskog said as officials discussed the language that outlines permitted uses in the proposed zoning district.

The updated approved language will say that organizations in the district must be "a not-for-profit that is tax exempt under the Internal Revenue (Service) code," Oyer said. Organizations in the zoning district may also have one or more uses, including museums, art galleries, performing arts centers, gardens and libraries.

Among other changes agreed to by Oyer on behalf of the Four Arts:

• The Landmarks Preservation Commission or Architectural Commission will have master sign approval within the district. `

• No neon, backlit or blinking signs will be allowed in the district.

• Organizations within the new zoning district will be able to serve alcohol. The previous version of the proposed district did not allow that. The change was suggested by the council.

The proposals received overwhelming support from members of the Four Arts' boards and committees, neighbors of the organization's 10-acre property and officials with the Flagler Museum.

"The proposed change from residential to cultural zoning of our property is long overdue and would be a positive step in aligning our unique needs with our goal of providing excellence in education, entertainment and enrichment to all the residents of Palm Beach," Patrick Henry, vice chairman of the Four Arts board, said, adding that the Four Arts is "a nonprofit, town-serving jewel."

The final phase of the campus' modernization is on the horizon, Henry said.

The planned renovation — which has not yet gone through the town's development review process — would modernize the organization's Esther B. O’Keeffe Building and Rovensky Administration Building on the Four Arts' south side.

The Rovensky Building was a car dealership and apartments. It's now home to offices, the garden club and the children's library. The O'Keeffe Building was a private club built by Palm Beach architect Addison Mizner and real estate developer Paris Singer. The 700-seat Gubelmann Auditorium was added to the O'Keeffe Building as part of a renovation led by another noted Palm Beach architect, John Volk.

Philip Rylands, president and chief executive of the Four Arts, previously said the pair of buildings are lodged in the past. Access is not safe to the children's library, which is too small, and the auditorium does not have basic features such as a green room or dressing rooms.

The renovation also would extend the third floor of the Rovensky Building, Oyer said. Adding a third floor in the proposed zoning district would require approval of a special exception by the Town Council.

Rylands told the council in March that when he first visited the Four Arts, he was struck by the aging campus.

"That was the impression of an outsider, and one of the issues I think that we're addressing," he said.

"The Four Arts has no sense of place really," Rylands added. "It has four major buildings, two of which have been beautifully restored, two of which seriously need it, but it has no sense of place."

The improvements would serve the existing membership, not aim to expand those ranks, he said. "I think beauty and culture may be the most important priorities for Palm Beach, and that's what dominates this project," Rylands said.

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, chair of the Four Arts' capital campaign, wrote the following poem that she read to the council:

"Amidst the palms where culture thrives,

The Four Arts campus sits where hope revives.

For 44 years, wrongly residentially zoned.

Cultural institutional we implore, not to dethrone.

A plea for change to rezone the land

For excellence in art to take a stand.

State-of-the-art facilities they yearn to bring

And programming that makes young and old hearts sing.

For members and guest experiences brought

The need is dire, the urgency sought.

A $150 million project not swift as a breeze

Rezoning approval, the need to appease.

Variances and restrictions, they implore

To lift the barriers, to open the door.

Let's support the change, Town Council,

Let's make it right

To continue Palm Beach viewed

In the consummate cultural light.

Join hands, stand tall, let's pave the way

For a campus that shines by night and by day

To represent the best in Palm Beach's view

A cultural oasis for members, guests, and for me and you."

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Four Arts zoning proposal gets initial OK from Palm Beach council