News

By Steve Plunkett

    The City Council changed the land-use designation and zoning of its Wildflower site to accommodate a proposed restaurant, even as a Nov. 8 ballot question looms on whether the site should be commercial or green space.
    “I want to hear from the people on this in November, so I’m going to withhold my judgment,” Mayor Susan Haynie said before joining a 4-1 majority authorizing the changes. The northern portion of the waterfront parcel was coded for residential use, which Haynie said was inconsistent with the southern part.
    More than 20 members of the public spoke at the July 26 council meeting before the votes were taken.
    Resident and business owner Bobra Bush urged the council to support what would become the city’s only eatery on the Intracoastal Waterway.
    “Build a beautiful, Boca-worthy waterfront restaurant venue which can be enjoyed by residents and tourists alike, and make some money doing it,” Bush said. “That additional revenue will benefit all of Boca’s residents in work and play.”
    Another resident, artist Kim Heise, favored a park.
    “I would like to think we’re not kind of strapped for cash so much that we need to have so much revenue, we need to think like that has to be our top priority. I’d like to think that we can kind of consider, you know, environmental things as well,” Heise said.
    Council member Scott Singer, who voted against the changes, also weighed in for preserving the site.
    “There are plenty of restaurants; there’s not enough green space,” Singer said.
    In response to a citizen initiative, the council also introduced an ordinance to keep city-owned land on the Intracoastal only for “public recreation, public boating access, public streets and city stormwater uses.”
    Members will vote on the ordinance Aug. 9. If they do not approve the ordinance, they will vote on a resolution to place the question on the Nov. 8 presidential ballot.
    The July 26 votes changed the land-use designation of the northern part of the site from residential to commercial and rezoned it from single-family residential to local business district. The southern portion was already zoned local business.  The former Wildflower nightclub got special permission to put a parking lot on the then-residential portion, something that would not be allowed today, city senior planner Ingrid Allen said.
    Jeremy Rodgers, the council’s newest member, who had never taken part in a Wildflower vote, said there was a clear pattern in the history of the issue stretching back to 2006.
    “We’ve shown specific intention to move forward with this [restaurant] plan year after year, most recently in 2014, to move forward with this lease negotiation with good intention. ... I think we move forward with our original commitment and do, you know, stay true to our word,” Rodgers said.
    The city bought the 2.3-acre parcel on the north side of Palmetto Park Road in 2009 for $7.5 million. Council member Robert Weinroth said Boca Raton officials were not driven by a profit motive.
    “This has never been about [return on investment], this has never been about how much value can we get out of this land. If that’s what we were looking to do, we’d be building a condominium on there,” Weinroth said.
    City officials have tentatively scheduled a council vote on leasing the Wildflower site to the Hillstone Restaurant Group on Dec. 13 if the citizen initiative does not pass.