Michael Bickford, a resident of the tony Florida city, wants to open a club similar to exclusive London private clubs such as Annabel’s and 5 Hertford Street. He provided requested documents regarding traffic arrangements, but a Town Council vote was still delayed because some members felt more information is needed about noise, hours of operation and the club’s attendance capacity. Some Palm Beach residents have expressed concern that the club would turn the streets around the proposed location “into a parking lot,” but supporters say it’s a better alternative than restaurants, because members would be vetted and more familiar with the area.
The Town Council of Palm Beach, Fla. might have made strides leading to a vote on a proposed new private club for the city, but a decision will have to wait at least one more month, the Palm Beach Daily News reported.
The council voted 3-2 on January to again defer the Carriage House project proposed by resident Michael Bickford, the Daily News reported. Bickford is hoping to open a club that would be similar to such exclusive London private clubs as Annabel’s and 5 Hertford Street. The 11,000-sq. ft. club would serve more than 200 members, and feature a dining area, lounges, a kitchen, a parlor, and a bar.
The council also delayed the same decision last month (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2017/12/council-delays-carriage-house-decision/), asking Bickford and his team to bring back a Palm Beach County traffic approval and a submitted application to the Florida Department of Transportation for a crosswalk leading to the valet pickup on the east side of South County Road.
The team had those documents this time, the Daily News reported, but encountered some minor differences in negotiating guidelines for the approval — including noise, hours of operation, and how many people could be in the club at one time.
Councilwomen Bobbie Lindsay and Danielle Moore voted against deferring the proposal, the Daily News reported, because they think the council won’t receive much more new information by next month and that it has everything it needs to make a decision.
But council President Richard Kleid and the other two councilwomen weren’t ready to make a call.
“This is a work in progress,” Kleid said. “You may not think we’re making progress, but I think we are.”
Parking was the chief concern for many of the members of the public who spoke at the council meeting, the Daily News reported. Though its 68 shared parking spaces at 230 Royal Palm Way satisfy the town code, residents are concerned that club members will park in Phipps Plaza or on nearby streets such as Seaspray Avenue.
Town rules, resident Steven Jeffrey Greenwald said, realistically won’t be followed all the time, affecting neighbors. “It’s going to turn into a parking lot,” Greenwald said.
But many supporters also attended the meeting, including Phipps Plaza resident Michael Formica, said they prefer this proposal to the restaurants that previously occupied the location.
With the club, these supporters said, owners will know their members and can enforce parking rules, which would be more difficult with anonymous restaurant patrons.
“It’s not a restaurant,” Formica said. “It’s not strangers driving in from Boca [Raton]. It’s people here… people who have been vetted.”
Bickford and his team are expected to meet with Zoning Administrator Paul Castro during the next month to discuss agreements on possible conditions of approval before the proposal goes back to council for another shot at a vote.
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