A public-private partnership between Boca Raton, David Martin’s Terra and the Frisbie family’s Frisbie Group to redevelop the coastal city’s government campus has erupted into an impassioned debate over how, exactly, public land should be used, sold and leased.
But a judge just threw a wrench in local efforts to drastically overhaul these processes.
Since Terra and Frisbie’s One Boca proposal won the project bid in February, a vocal contingent of Boca Raton residents have organized against it under the banner of Save Boca, led by resident Jonathan Pearlman.
Save Boca collected more than 7,000 signatures opposing the redevelopment and securing a referendum to amend Boca Raton’s city charter and municipal code. The amendments would require referendums to decide whether Boca Raton could lease or sell any public land larger than 0.5 acres, something its proponents said would protect public land and that opponents decried as gumming up crucial city management processes.
On Monday, Palm Beach County Judge Joseph Curley ruled that the referendums were unconstitutional, citing precedent that ruled electorates do not have authority to subject city council action to referendum.
Local attorney Ned Kimmelman sued Save Boca and Pearlman in early October, seeking an emergency injunction to block the referendums.
“Save Boca and Pearlman are conducting an audacious scheme to evade Florida law and abuse our electoral process in Palm Beach County and the City,” the suit read.
In a curious sequence of events, Kimmelman quickly withdrew the suit, only to file it again on Oct. 31. This time, a new organization, Rescue Boca Community Initiative, filed an amicus brief in support of Kimmelman. In the brief, Rescue Boca alleged Save Boca accepted more than $40,000 in donations before registering as a political committee.
Parties on all sides of the issue have alleged others are spreading misinformation, including at the Tuesday city council meeting. At the meeting, the council approved ballot language for the March referendum on One Boca, which only concerns approval of the project.
Pearlman asserted that while Judge Curley granted the injunction, the suit is ongoing and Save Boca is still pursuing the changes to the city charter and municipal code.
Terra and Frisbie have whittled down the scope of One Boca considerably in recent months, with the plan consisting now of just 7.6 acres, down from 15.4.
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