Terra and Frisbie Group’s failed One Boca proposal is transforming Boca Raton one way or another.
The Boca Raton City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday night that requires a voter referendum prior to the sale, lease or “alienation” of city-owned land larger than half an acre. The council also voted in favor of asking voters to bake the law into the city charter via an election before March of next year.
The ordinance, referred to as the Save Boca law, is a direct reaction to One Boca.
A staggering 74 percent of voters in March rejected the One Boca megadevelopment, envisioned to span 1.1 million square feet on city-owned land near a Brightline train station.
The election killed the megadevelopment as well as the city council’s developer-friendly majority.
It seated Andy Thompson as the first Democrat elected to mayor of Boca Raton in 30 years, as well as John Pearlman, the grassroots organizer of Save Boca, who was elected to city council after rallying residents against One Boca.
The city-owned land ordinance takes effect immediately and includes exceptions for underground utilities, existing leases with nonprofits and temporary events.
The Save Boca law is based on a proposal pushed last year by Pearlman’s Save Boca. The group collected thousands of signatures in an attempt to get a similar ordinance on the ballot, but it was blocked by a judge following a lawsuit by One Boca project supporter Ned Kimmelman, which has since been dropped.
Thomson hailed the law’s passage as an example of “democracy in action.”
“We have to stay vigilant and keep city hall accountable to the taxpayers,” Pearlman added. “But to push this through, to protect our public land, our parks and our way of life, that was the mandate.”
What’s next for the former One Boca’s development site? The council deferred moving forward with creating a panel to determine its future.
Thomson said the city should hire a consultant to help guide the city through a charette, which would gather input directly from residents on desired development characteristics. Pearlman said council members should meet with their constituents and hear how they want to shape publicly owned land.The council also approved Opterra Capital’s plans to transform a 183-room Holiday Inn within the Park at Broken Sound into a 125-unit apartment building with some workforce and affordable housing.
