The design board's approval on March 25 came after the condominium project became a topic of discussion at a combined five Code Enforcement Board meetings, which began about a year ago and focused on cooling towers installed on top of the buildings without the proper permits. The code board has so far delayed imposing fines due to condo representatives’ proactivity in addressing the issue.

James Gavigan, attorney for The Claridges Condominium Association, said the building's officials had erroneously believed the proper permits had been issued for the work before it was begun.

The code board also delayed any fines because of the extended process needed to pull the proper permits for the air conditioners, which are taller than allowed by the town code, Gavigan told the board.

Architectural commissioners had no problem with the height of the air conditioning units, since many modern commercial-sized units are well above the town’s standards.

But the commission was hesitant to allow the air conditioners to stand without screening, especially since there are structures around the air conditioners that appeared to have been screening at some point.

David Miller, the project architect, said none of the condo’s previous site plans included screening for the air-conditioning systems.

Condo officials hoped to avoid installing screening, because the cheapest bid they received for the work was around $500,000, Gavigan said. He also emphasized that the condo’s after-the-fact approval request had received support from the condo’s neighbors, The Patrician Condominium to its North and La Bonne Vie Condominium Apartments to its south.

Claridges Condominium on Palm Beach's South End has been caught up in two code-violation cases, after the cooling towers were installed at the property's two buildings without the town's approval.

 

Instead, The Claridges' homeowners group proposes painting the air conditioning units white, the same color as the building, to help disguise them.

Gavigan said the air conditioners are not visible from the street and The Claridges' neighbors have not objected to the request not to screen the equipment. But commissioners worried that approving the project without screening could establish a precedent for similar projects in the future.

Alternate Commissioner David Phoenix said the commission could be inundated with such requests: "'You didn't screen the Claridges, (so) why do we have to screen ours?'" he said.

The condo’s variance request is expected to be reviewed by the Town Council during its April 15 Development Review Meeting.