Hollywood Beach Broadwalk designated Historic Overlay District

City Commissioners took a major step toward preserving the city’s celebrated Broadwalk for future generations by unanimously voting to designate it as a historic district at a joint meeting of the City Commission and the Hollywood CRA Board on Tuesday, June 19, 2007.

The creation of the Historic Overlay District is intended to protect the historic character of the newly paved oceanfront walkway and preserve the street-level scale of the Broadwalk’s signature shops and restaurants. The district encompasses the area east of Surf Road, which includes the 2.5-mile, 30-foot-wide pedestrian promenade built in 1923 by city founder Joseph Young, as well as the buildings that border it, including the Hollywood Beach Hotel. The district is bounded by Sherman Street to the north and Jefferson Street to the south.

“This is the first step in the whole process,” said Dr. Ralph Johnson, director of the Center for Urban Redevelopment and Education at Florida Atlantic University, who urged the commission to pass the ordinance that would preserve the essential character of Hollywood Beach in keeping with the city’s Master Plan and the area’s historic uses.

Historic designation of the Broadwalk has implications beyond preservation of an architectural treasure, according to city planners. Property owners seeking to alter existing buildings would be required to adhere to the new design guidelines and would present their plans to a Historic Preservation Board for approval before applying for a building permit, a process that is already in place in Hollywood Lakes and Downtown Hollywood.

Historic designation may allow property owners seeking to make improvements to existing structures to be exempt from federal and state regulations that currently do not allow for street-level beachside construction.

For more information, please contact Manuel Pila, Director of Marketing & Communications, Hollywood CRA Beach District, at 954.924.2980.