The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-3 to recommend approval of the 0.8-acre Island Way parcel that would add four homes to Beacon Park, and voted 7-0 to recommend moving building and development-review fees out of the Town Code. Both are recommendations to Town Council only, not final approval.
JUPITER — Jupiter's Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-3 on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to recommend that Town Council rezone a small industrial parcel on Island Way for homes, a move that would take the proposed Beacon Park development from 99 to 103 homes. The commission voted 7-0 to recommend a separate change moving building permit and development-review fees out of the Town Code.
The votes are recommendations only. The commission advises Town Council, which makes the final decisions.
Beacon Park Island Way parcel
The parcel is about 0.8 acres on the west side of Island Way, abutting the southbound Interstate 95 ramp, about 180 feet south of Island Way and 1,300 feet west of Limestone Creek Road. It is vacant and is the easternmost of three small, triangular industrial remnant parcels beside the highway.
The commission acted as the Local Planning Agency on two related applications, PZ 26-6896 and PZ 26-6897, Ordinances 36-26 and 37-26:
- 2.A — Future Land Use Map amendment: from General Industrial with a Bioscience Research Protection Overlay to Medium Density Residential.
- 2.B — Zoning Map amendment: from I-4, Industrial, High Technology and Employment Center District, to R-3, Residential, Limited Multi-Family District.
The applicant is Pulte Home Company, LLC. The owner is MIC Island Way, LLC. The applicant's agent is Zach Ciciera of Cotleur & Hearing. The commission heard both items together.
Both motions passed 4-3. Commissioner Marty Rogol moved to recommend approval of each item, based on the findings in the staff report, and Commissioner David Thompson seconded both motions. Voting against both were Vice Chair Beth Kelso and Commissioners Michael Cassatly and Paul Keenan, according to the commission's official synopsis.
The change would fold the parcel into the larger Beacon Park plan, adding four homes to its site plan. "Adding this parcel will add, uh, three, no, four units to our site plan… So we went from 99 units previously to 103 units now," Ciciera told the commission. Town staff confirmed the parcel would facilitate four additional units.
Town staff said the staff report was written with the understanding that Council had already given the larger Beacon Park project first-reading approval for residential use on the west side of Island Way, and that if that larger project does not move forward, this parcel would not be expected to either.
Why the commission split
The debate was largely about whether to follow Council's first-reading direction or to hold to the commission's earlier position.
The larger Beacon Park land-use and rezoning requests came to the commission in December 2025. The commission recommended approval for the east side of Island Way but recommended leaving the west side industrial. Council then adopted the east-side changes in January 2026 and approved the west-side changes on first reading in early April 2026, still awaiting a second reading.
Commissioner Keenan, who said he had missed the December meeting because of illness, argued there was nothing materially different now. He described the density through Island Way as a "giant hourglass," with Island Way as "the little neck," and said the hybrid approach the commission had favored for the west side — keeping some non-residential uses, similar to shops in Abacoa — still made more sense. "If we were to be consistent with that, we would deny this request as well because we denied it then, and there's nothing materially different between then and now," he said.
Vice Chair Kelso said a first reading is not final approval — Council often approves on first reading, sends the item back to staff to resolve issues, and can deny it on second reading. She said she remained of the view that the parcel should stay in its current zoning because, after talking with commercial realtors, she believes "the town of Jupiter desperately needs industrial within the town city limits." She added that the change would make the property "a heck of a lot more valuable" to the applicant, but that the commission's job was to judge whether the change was good and beneficial to the town.
Others on the commission said Council, as the elected body, had already decided the direction. Commissioner Robert Grabowski said "the die's kind of cast," and that it would be better to lump the small parcel in with the rest of the project and let Council decide whether to go forward or go back. Commissioner Rogol said Council had decided residential on both sides was "the least offensive" option, and that it would not make sense to go up against that decision "for no particular reason." Commissioner Thompson said he had been in the minority last time in favor of residential on all of the land, because nothing had happened with it in years past, and he still held that view.
No member of the public spoke on the Beacon Park item. There were also no citizen comments unrelated to agenda items.
Other points raised in the discussion:
- Two other remnant parcels of roughly three-quarters of an acre each remain beside this one. The applicant has no authorization from those owners to incorporate them, so they would sit dormant or could come in later with a development plan. Staff said rezoning this parcel would add buffer requirements on both sides, making later development of the other two parcels "slightly more complicated," but they could still develop or be purchased and incorporated later.
- Island Way is four lanes now. The right-of-way could accommodate six lanes, but six-laning is not planned and would have to be studied by the town's engineering and traffic staff.
- The larger Beacon Park site plan is expected to come to the commission in December, so site-plan questions can be taken up then.
Fee changes move out of the Town Code
The commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of both parts of the fee text amendment, PZ 26-7063. Vice Chair Kelso moved to recommend approval of each part, and Commissioner Grabowski seconded.
The change would remove fee language from the Town Code and adopt fees by reference instead, so fees could be changed by resolution without a code amendment. It does not itself set new fee amounts.
- 3.A — Chapter 21, Building Code: building permit fees, including a fee for a Notice of Commencement extension request.
- 3.B — Chapter 27, Zoning Code: development-review fees, including a new planned unit development review fee and removal of the concurrency review fee.
Assistant Planning and Zoning Director Garret Watson said the building-permit change is driven by a new state law, HB 399, passed in the last legislative session. Permit fees can no longer be calculated as a percentage of a project's valuation; they must be based on the actual cost of providing the review. The Building Department has been working with a consultant on a fee study, and that study is to be brought back for adoption by resolution. Planning fees in the code were last updated in 2009, Watson said, and staff took the opportunity to align them at the same time.
No member of the public spoke on the fee item, according to the meeting record reviewed.
The commission also approved the Oct. 13, 2026, meeting minutes, 7-0, and heard a director's report on recent Town Council actions.
What happens next
- Beacon Park Island Way parcel (PZ 26-6896 and 26-6897): Town Council first reading Dec. 15, 2026. Second reading is listed as to be determined — not Jan. 19, 2027. Staff said all Beacon Park land-use and zoning second readings will be held together once the planned unit development and site plan catch up.
- Fee text amendment (PZ 26-7063): Town Council first reading Dec. 1, 2026, second reading Dec. 15, 2026. The building-department fee study is to be adopted by resolution on Dec. 15, the same night as the code changes' second reading, if the changes move forward.
- Main Beacon Park project (103 homes, PZ 26-6820 and PZ 25-6630): Planning and Zoning Commission Dec. 8, 2026, for the planned unit development and site plan, then Town Council Jan. 19, 2027, first reading, and Feb. 16, 2027, second reading.
