Boca Raton city officials have approved a new ordinance that imposes stricter requirements on the sale or lease of public land. The city council voted 3 to 1 in favor of the measure, which mandates two public hearings and formal findings that justify how each transaction serves the public interest.
The ordinance comes after a judge blocked a proposed referendum that would have required voter approval for any sale or lease of more than half an acre of public land. The referendum effort had received thousands of signatures from local voters, but Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Curley ruled it unconstitutional in late November after a lawsuit by Boca Raton attorney Ned Kimmelman. Jon Pearlman, founder of the grassroots group Save Boca, said that ruling is currently being appealed.
The debate over public land deals has been shaped by a pending agreement with developers Terra and Frisbie Group. Their plan calls for a 99-year lease to build a 1.15-million-square-foot mixed-use project near Brightline’s Boca Raton station, which has already gained support from the city’s planning and zoning board.
Brandon Schaad, director of development services, described the new rules as establishing a “higher standard” for such transactions. The ordinance also requires notification to people living within 500 feet of affected properties at least 10 days before the first hearing. Additionally, any deal must achieve a public purpose such as generating revenue for the city or providing significant community benefits.
Exceptions are included in the code: easements or right-of-way conveyances for utilities and other public uses are not subject to these requirements. Renewals or extensions of existing leases are also exempt if they continue to serve their original purpose.
Pearlman criticized the ordinance, saying: “The bottom line is that [the city ordinance] does not put the power of disposition of city land, the sale of city lands and the lease of city lands, in the hands of the people, which the Save Boca laws do.”
Mayor Scott Singer defended his proposal: “We should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said.
Councilmember Andy Thomson opposed the measure and voted against it, arguing he did not see it as “meaningful.”
Despite legal setbacks for future referendums on city land deals, an agreement was reached last year among council members and developers to hold a referendum specifically on the One Boca project on March 10. City officials are continuing with preparations; this week they introduced an ordinance to approve Terra and Frisbie’s 99-year lease.
According to Deputy City Manager Andrew Lukasik, plans call for three buildings up to 130 feet tall on about 7.8 acres at Northwest Second Avenue and Northwest Fourth Street. The development would include nearly 950 condos and apartments, over 120,000 square feet of office space, almost 80,000 square feet for retail use, a grocery store covering about 30,000 square feet, and a hotel with 180 rooms. Developers would also renovate part of the existing city hall campus—a proposal scheduled for further discussion on January 20.
The scope of Terra and Frisbie’s plans has been revised several times since they were selected nearly a year ago from five contenders to redevelop city-owned property. Originally spanning roughly 2.5 million square feet across more sites, their latest proposal reduces both total size and footprint after pushback from residents who called for limiting construction east of Northwest Second Avenue.
