Council puts downtown measure on March ballot after Save Boca’s setback
Developers provided this scaled-down version of the downtown campus plan, which mainly separates park and recreation — and City Hall and Community Center — on the west side of Northwest Second Avenue from the 7.8-acre proposed development on the east side of the road, also called Boca Raton Boulevard. The proposal was in response to criticisms of earlier versions. Save Boca says the changes still aren't sufficient. Rendering provided
By Mary Hladky
What seemed likely to be a routine action approving language that will appear on the March 10 city election ballot allowing voters to cast up or down votes on whether downtown campus redevelopment can go forward instead hit a major snag.
The problem, that surfaced at the Dec. 2 City Council meeting, ended up turning into a major negotiation among City Council members about wording.
Council member Andy Thomson objected to ballot language drafted by the city attorney, saying it was weighted in a way that seemed intended to persuade residents to vote in favor of the redevelopment.
“It is in my view strongly slanted and essentially a sales pitch in favor of the project,” Thomson said.
The wording, he said, needed to be neutral. “Our residents are smart enough to make decisions on their own,” he said.
As a test, Thomson had sought the opinion of AI ChatGPT, which said that the language was 8.5 to 9 out of 10 strongly in support of the redevelopment.
“That is not how ballot questions are to be posed,” he said.
Thomson is the only council member to oppose the redevelopment project, and has repeatedly said that the city’s partnership with developers Terra and Frisbie Group should be terminated.
City Attorney Joshua Koehler did not object to the wording changes. “There is more than one way to bake a cake,” he said.
Mayor Scott Singer and Council member Yvette Drucker both said they wished Thomson would have proposed this at their Dec. 1 workshop meeting so that they would have more time to evaluate it.
“I hope this is not a political move that is being made on the dais,” Drucker said. Thomson and Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas both are running to succeed Singer as mayor in a race that also will be decided on March 10.
And then the wordsmithing began, dragging on until 12:33 a.m. The vote in favor of the new language was 4-1, with Thomson dissenting because he believed the language still was not neutral.
The negotiation came a week after Save Boca’s efforts to thwart the city’s plans to redevelop its 31-acre downtown campus ran into a wall on Jan. 25 when a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge ordered that the group’s two ballot measures be thrown off a Jan. 13 special election ballot.
Judge G. Joseph Curley, in a ruling from the bench and in a Dec. 1 written order, said the group’s proposed City Charter amendment did not meet state constitutional standards and its proposed ordinance required a vote before Jan. 13 based on the city charter. The special election is now canceled.
Both the charter amendment and ordinance would not have allowed the council to lease or sell any city-owned land greater than one-half acre — “or any part thereof” — without a vote. They were aimed against the city’s plans to lease the campus land for 99 years to developers Terra and Frisbie Group for the redevelopment.
Save Boca immediately cried foul about legal maneuvering that had left the group unable to defend its measures in court. But its leaders said the case is not yet closed and vowed Save Boca will succeed in the end.
“The will of the great citizens of our city will prevail,” the group said on its Facebook page and in an email.
“There were obstacles for us to get here, and there will be obstacles in the future, however we will accomplish our shared mission to restore protection to all of our parks, beachfront properties and the public land across our city.”
They followed that up with a Nov. 28 two-minute “commercial” on YouTube intended to stir resident outrage.
It blasted city officials, claiming they intended to bulldoze existing recreation facilities on the campus and had fast-tracked a public land transfer to developers “without your knowing about it.”
“They were going to get away with it but without anybody knowing until Save Boca stopped it,” the video said.
While Save Boca has lost this skirmish, at least for now, residents will have the ability to cast an up or down vote on whether the redevelopment can go forward.
They will do so at the March 10 city election when voters also will elect a mayor and three council members.
City Council members promised that vote in September, and on Dec. 2 they approved the ballot language.
‘Constitutionally invalid’
The lawsuit that led to the court ruling was filed by Ned Kimmelman, a retired attorney and Boca Raton resident.
It contended the ordinance and charter amendment contain falsehoods, are misleading and confusing, and violate Florida law.
If approved, the lawsuit said, the measures would have made it cumbersome and costly for the city to lease its land to cultural and civic organizations such as the Boca Raton Museum of Art and Boca Raton Historical Society, since every time it wanted to do so, it would have to hold an election.
Named defendants were Save Boca and its founder Jon Pearlman, the city and the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections.
But Kimmelman dismissed Save Boca and Pearlman as defendants on Nov. 12. As a result, they could not defend the measures at the Nov. 25 hearing.
Court records do show that Ron Rice, Pearlman’s attorney, was allowed to make a statement at the beginning of the hearing.
The city filed only one pleading in the case. It was limited to comments made by City Council members during meetings or to the media detailing how the wording of the ballot measures are imprecise and confusing and how difficult and expensive they would be to implement.
“The City respects both the will of our residents and the rule of law and will fully comply with the Court’s order,” the city said in a statement.
Kimmelman declared victory immediately after Curley’s spoken ruling.
“I defeated his handiwork,” he said of Pearlman’s ballot measures. Both, he said, are “legally dead.”
“Their ordinances in fact were constitutionally invalid from the very moment of their creation,” he said.
Pearlman, he said, “almost got away with it. He just ran out of time and got caught by the court.”
Financial impacts
The special election cancellation will save the city a significant cost.
The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office had estimated that the election would cost about $390,000 — well above what an election typically costs. Boca Raton paid only $67,000 for the March 2024 election.
That’s because Boca Raton was the only city in Palm Beach County holding a special election on that date.
It could do so because Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order calling for a special Jan. 13 election to fill the House District 87 seat that had been held by Mike Caruso until DeSantis appointed him as Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller.
Under pressure from Save Boca to hold an election as soon as possible, the city took the opportunity to do so.
Usually, cities share the cost of an election. But with Boca Raton standing alone, it would have had to bear the full cost of poll worker pay, printing ballots, equipment delivery and more.
Plans move forward
Despite Save Boca’s forceful opposition, the city is surging ahead with preparations for campus redevelopment, sticking with an aggressive timeline.
Even though voters ultimately will approve or reject the redevelopment plan on March 10, the City Council and staff are rushing to complete everything needed to finalize that plan and an agreement with Terra and Frisbie Group.
Council meeting agendas in December and January are now expected to be dominated by key matters relating to the project. The lion’s share of work could be wrapped up in January.
The City Council saw drafts of a master partnership agreement with Terra/Frisbie, ground lease agreement and other key documents as well as land appraisals on Dec. 2. Final votes on them were still expected Jan. 20.
A revenue windfall for city?
City leaders are trying to convince residents that the redevelopment project will be a financial boon that will generate revenue for decades to come.
Final figures are still being refined, but city consultant CBRE so far has determined that the project will yield the city $4.1 billion over the 99 years that Terra/Frisbie leases 7.8 acres within the 31-acre downtown campus. That is double the amount of Terra/Frisbie’s most recent estimate.
“In my opinion, this is an excellent transaction for the city,” CBRE Executive Vice President Michael McShea told City Council members on Nov. 18. Nearly $2 billion would come from lease payments made on the land. Taxes paid to the city on the 7.8 acres located east of Northwest Second Avenue, which is now untaxed, would bring in about $1.3 billion.
Nearly $576 million would come from the city’s 10% share of the project’s profits.
If Terra/Frisbie sells any of the apartments, offices or other buildings constructed on the 7.8 acres, the city would get a 1% fee of the gross sales price. For example, if a building sold for $50 million, the city would get $500,000.
But there’s also a price to be paid by the city. The cost of the project to the city would be about $200 million.
About $96 million would pay for a new 30,000-square foot City Hall, 30,000-square-foot Community Center and a 10,000-square-foot police/fire substation west of Northwest Second Avenue.
Recreation facilities, a children’s playground, green space and site work would cost about $52 million. Most of the rest would go to infrastructure improvements.
City officials maintain that residents will not bear any of that cost. But so far, city officials have not decided how they will pay for these improvements.
“City staff will continue to evaluate various financing options available to fund the public improvements to ensure the lowest cost to the city,” Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Jim Zervis said in an email.
Among the options are a type of bond financing that would not increase property tax rates and would not require voter approval.
The city would be able to support a $114 million bond issue that would be repaid using new revenue generated from the project.
The city also has about $50 million in available cash that could cover some of the cost.
An evolving plan
In response to strident complaints by Save Boca, Terra/Frisbie has made significant changes to its plans.
Residential, office and hotel construction will be limited to 7.8 acres, rather than being located across all 31 acres of the downtown campus. Recreation and green space on the land west of Northwest Second Avenue are now preserved, with only the new city buildings located there. Overall density is greatly reduced.
But that has not satisfied Save Boca, whose supporters continue to condemn the project at every City Council meeting.
Pearlman wants the entire project scrapped. The city, he says, can rebuild the old and crumbling city buildings on its own.
Ballot question
The Boca Raton City Council agreed to place the following question on the city’s March 10 election ballot:
Approving Lease of Downtown City Land, Agreements for Public Improvements, And Preserving / Enhancing Memorial Park
Shall the City approve agreements with Boca Raton City Center, LLC leasing 7.8 acres of City property east of Northwest Second Avenue near Brightline Station, for 99 years, creating a walkable neighborhood with residential, retail, office and hotel uses, generating rent and revenues to City for general uses and enhancements to City property, including:
• Preserving Memorial Park area, honoring veterans,
• Expanding public recreational and green spaces,
• New community center, City Hall, and police substation?
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