The Planning Commission heard a privately initiated request to amend agricultural reserve policies so Eternal Light Cemetery could expand and so Chabad of West Delray could establish a permanent five‑acre civic site. The applicant asked the Board of County Commissioners to initiate a text amendment that would allow, in limited cases, a reduction in the Ag Reserve preserve requirement from 60% to 50% when a project provides at least 10% of gross acreage as public or private civic uses (above the current 2% requirement). Staff recommended not to initiate the amendment, and commissioners and the public debated the proposal; no final initiation vote was recorded in the portion of the transcript provided.

Applicant Jennifer Morton of J. Morton Planning and Landscape Architecture said the amendment is narrowly written to permit Eternal Light, a long‑standing cemetery approved decades ago, to be rezoned into the Whitworth AGR PUD and to allow a collocated civic parcel for Chabad of West Delray. Morton described cemetery capacity concerns, saying Eternal Light serves multiple generations and that the existing site is projected to reach capacity in roughly nine years without adjacent acreage to expand into. The applicant presented calculations for how the change would be implemented on the Whitworth PUD (gross acreage about 1,175 acres; net PUD acreage after civic dedications roughly 1,068 acres), and emphasized the proposal would not increase residential density.

Planning Division staff planner Bryce Van Horn summarized the county’s Agricultural Reserve tier policies, the preserve requirements that underpin AGR PUD options (the 60/40 model in current use), and a historical list of prior modifications and exceptions. Van Horn reiterated staff’s recommendation not to initiate the privately proposed amendment, citing that the proposed change would represent a “significant policy change” from the 1995/2001 framework intended to preserve the tier primarily for agricultural use and noted the county had previously acquired roughly 2,400 acres with a voter‑approved bond to preserve land in the Ag Reserve.

A dozen letters of support were submitted in advance and several residents and congregants spoke in favor at the public hearing. Speakers representing Chabad and nearby residential communities described local congregants’ need for a walkable place of worship and urged the commission to allow the county and the developer to find a solution. The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations (COBRA) did not take a formal opposition position but said it would monitor future requests for exceptions closely.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about implementation and safeguards. Topics included how the expanded civic area would be excluded from preserve-area calculations, whether GL Homes (the large developer with vested PUDs in the area) could accomplish a land swap instead of a policy change, the legal mechanics of conservation‑easement releases and preserve swaps, and whether vertical development options (height allowances) could offer alternatives to outward expansion.

Some commissioners emphasized the community benefits — cemetery capacity and an established congregation’s need for a permanent facility within walking distance of its members — while others expressed concern about setting a precedent that would reduce preserve acreage and erode the reserve’s intended agricultural protections.

No formal initiation vote is recorded in the transcript excerpt provided. If the board initiates the text change at a later step of the county’s Phase 1 process, staff will process associated comprehensive‑plan and zoning applications and return with a full staff report and formal public-hearing schedule.