The Town of Briny Breezes is an oceanfront, residential mobile home park situated on a barrier island in the southern part of Palm Beach County. It is located between and area of unincorporated land to the south and the Town of Ocean Ridge to the north. Briny Breezes is entirely developed and has almost no remaining vacant land. It is a unique municipality because of its location, housing type and, as described below, ownership pattern.
The entire land area of Briny Breezes is owned by Briny Breezes Incorporated. In the late 1950s Briny Breezes Incorporated purchased a 43 acre tract of unincorporated land. The land had been platted in the early 1920s, but the original plat had been abandoned in 1955. The Corporation wished to see and operate a mobile home subdivision and platted small lots to reflect this aim. The plat was officially registered in 1960. The residents applied to the legislature for incorporation in 1963.
Briny Breezes Incorporated controls property through a system similar to that used in a condominium. A resident owns his mobile home privately. The homeowner is given one or more voting shares in the Corporation, based on the size of the lot. The Corporation is responsible for maintenance and installation of public facilities such as sewer and water lines, drainage and streets. The Corporation is funded through assessment of the mobile home owners. In addition, the Corporation provides and operates recreation facilities for residents.
On January 10, 2007, the majority of the 488 property owners in Briny Breezes voted in favor of selling the Corporation to Ocean Land Investments for $510 million. The developer desires to build an upscale resort community, replacing the 550 platted mobile home lots with 700 to 900 condominium and resort units, which would increase the current density of approximately 12.9 units per acre to between 16 to 20 units per acre. The contract will result in the payout to the property owners upon closing (approximately two years from now), and will require the residents to relocate upon that date. Between now and then, the Town elected officials will be presented with changes to their Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Regulations and an application to approve the resort. The documents would also require review by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and require the review and approval by the State’s Department of Community Affairs.
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