The City of Delray Beach Board of Adjustment on Oct. 16, 2025, voted 6-0 to approve a variance allowing a permanent awning to be installed within the 25-foot rear setback at 960 Gardenia Drive in the Tropic Isle neighborhood.

The board granted relief from Land Development Regulation (LDR) rear-setback requirements after hearing that the proposed 20-by-14-foot awning would cover an existing summer-kitchen area and that the owner seeks a more secure, hurricane-resistant structure. Board members recorded unanimous affirmative findings required under the LDR to grant a variance.

The variance request sought 16.9 feet of relief from the 25-foot rear setback to permit a cantilevered awning that will extend north toward the Intracoastal Waterway Canal. Planning staff told the board the awning would be cantilevered 3 feet 4 inches on the northwest side and anchored with two concrete footings. The staff report notes the site is zoned R-1AAB and that the rear lot faces a common open area — the Intracoastal Waterway Canal — providing more than 110 feet of unobstructed water/open space behind the lot.

Jasmine Garcia, speaking for the applicant, said the structure had been designed and approved by a licensed engineer and that the intent was to replace a temporary, nonpermitted pop-up tent with a permanent, code-compliant awning. Property owner Dava Gruentofer, who lives at 960 Gardenia Drive, told the board she moved to Delray Beach in 2014 and asked for the awning primarily for safety during hurricanes. "I just want the structure to be safe because it has fallen in the past, and I don't feel comfortable with that," Gruentofer said.

Planning staff and the city planner (Jen Buse) explained the application originated as a building-permit submittal and required a variance because the proposed permanent columns place the structure inside the regulated rear setback. Staff told the board that the 2024 LDR table clarifying encroachments into setbacks was intended to provide clearer guidance rather than to ban the type of structure outright. The planner also said all building permits for the work will undergo floodplain, planning and zoning, and structural review to ensure compliance with the Florida Building Code and applicable engineering standards for wind loads.

No members of the public spoke in opposition, and the staff report indicated no written objections were received. After discussion about precedence, ordinance history and visual impact on neighbors, a motion to approve the variance "as written in the staff report" carried unanimously; Mark Ronald was recorded absent. The board adopted the written order on the record; staff read that decisions of the Board of Adjustment are final pursuant to LDR section 2.1.7(f).

The approved variance allows the owner to pursue the required building permits; staff emphasized that issuance of a building permit and final inspections — including structural engineering sign-offs addressing wind loads — remain prerequisites to construction. No further directions to staff were recorded.