Palm Beach to review request for outdoor cafe seating at The Breakers, Carriage House Club
The Town Council will review a pair of applications seeking consent for the addition of outdoor cafe seating and other improvements during its development review meeting Wednesday.
The Breakers and the Carriage House Club plan to request special exception approval to add outdoor restaurant seats during the council's meeting at Town Hall.
The Breakers, at 1 S. County Road, will request approval to add up to 104 seats in its enclosed, open-air courtyard; and the Carriage House, at 264-270 S. County Road, will ask for the transfer of 40 of its approved indoor dining seats to outdoor seating during 'fair weather,' according to town documents.
Related: Modifications approved for two ballrooms at The Breakers in Palm Beach
The Breakers also will request approval to add a conservatory at the west end of its interior courtyard and install a small indoor service bar counter while the Carriage House will ask to expand its membership and modify its previously approved special exception for supplemental off-site shared parking.
Here are more details on what both applicants are seeking from the town council on Wednesday:
The Breakers
According to town documents, The Breakers is proposing a new 1,763-square-foot glass addition; the renovation of its open-air courtyard and addition of covered structures; and outdoor café seating.
The glass conservatory would be built at the west end of the Breakers' interior courtyard and adjacent to the hotel’s main lobby. It would expand the existing lobby’s exterior terrace to accommodate the installation of a small indoor service bar counter and seating area.
The bar would not be a sit-down counter, but rather a service bar station for preparing drinks for those seated within the conservatory and the outdoor courtyard, according to town documents. No seats are proposed at the bar, and only hotel staff would be able to obtain drinks at the service station bar in order to fulfill drink orders.
In the renovated open-air courtyard, outdoor café seating would be limited to hotel guests only, according to town documents. The 104 proposed seats would be taken from banquet facilities seating that is traditionally used in various seating arrangements within the hotel’s banquet and meeting hall rooms.
Carriage House
According to town documents, the Carriage House is requesting three special exceptions. The first is to modify a previously approved special exception with site plan review for the private club to allow for increased membership; the second is to modify a previously approved special exception for supplemental off-site shared parking; and the third is to allow for seating in the outdoor courtyard area.
The club is seeking to expand its membership from 232 members to a total of 457 members, translating to 75 new members a year for three years, according to documents. Carriage House also will need to modify the same approval number for supplemental off-site shared parking at 230 Royal Palm Way and valet service to that lot from 205 Royal Palm Way.
Additionally, the club will ask to transfer 40 of its approved indoor dining seats to outdoor seating if weather permits. This shift would not increase the seating counts above the prior approved total of 153 (67 at lunch), according to town documents.
Carriage House, an English-style, members-only social club modeled after an upscale private nightclub in London, opened in March 2022. It offers dining spaces, a large courtyard, a reading room, seating rooms, parlor, wine room, three bars and numerous lounge areas.
The club occupies two landmarked buildings: the ground floor of 270 S. County Road, and the entire building at 264 S. County Road. The two buildings are connected by an open-air courtyard.
The town council in February 2019 gave permission for the club to open but attached 31 operating conditions as part of a declaration of use agreement.
A proposal in October 2022 to reopen the agreement in order to add outdoor cafe seating was rejected by the town council.
Council members will meet at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Town Hall for development review and at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday for their regular meeting. Members of the public can participate in person or via Zoom. Those wishing to make public comments virtually can access the Zoom link on the town's Meeting Audio page.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach to mull applications to add outdoor restaurant seats
