By Mary Hladky
Although many Boca Raton residents are passionate about keeping low building heights in the downtown, the City Council has opened the door a bit wider to allowing taller structures.
The council voted 3-2 on Jan. 13 to allow owners of parcels of at least 1.2 acres to be eligible to build as high as 140 feet, or 12 stories, plus an additional 20 feet for decorative elements. Previously, a parcel had to be at least 2 acres to qualify.
The change does not open the floodgates for taller buildings. City officials said it allows six additional downtown parcels to have 12-story buildings, and it is not yet known how many of the landowners would want to take advantage.
But the change comes as three 12-story projects are moving ahead under building rules established in 2008, and more have been proposed.
The city still does not allow super-tall buildings such as the originally proposed New Mizner on the Green condo towers, with up to 30 stories, that now are in the process of being downsized. And much of downtown is still governed by 1992 rules that limit building heights to 100 feet, or nine stories.
Even so, residents turned out in force at a Community Redevelopment Agency meeting on Jan. 12 and the council meeting the next day to urge council members, who also preside over the CRA, not reduce the acreage requirement.
“I moved here to get away from the sprawl and density (of Miami),” said resident Monica Mayotte, who chairs the city’s Green Living Advisory Board. “I hope we can preserve our small-town feel.”
“What you heard on Jan. 12 and Jan. 13 in your council chambers was ‘enough is enough’,” resident John Gore wrote on the BocaWatch website after the meetings. “I expect there will be political consequences unless our elected leaders put a brake on future high-rise development in the downtown.”
The acreage change was the result of a request by the developer of Tower One Fifty Five condos to be allowed to exceed 100 feet even though the project is on 1.25 acres.
Urban Design Associates, the city’s architectural design consultant, concluded that Tower One Fifty Five would be much more attractive if it was built under Interim Design Guidelines approved in 2008. It recommended the city scrap the two-acre requirement completely, saying it was wrong to recommend it in the first place.
But after Mayor Susan Haynie warned of possible “unintended consequences” at the CRA meeting, commissioners compromised at 1.2 acres and cleared the way for a taller Tower One Fifty Five.
The change stirred controversy in part because the City Council moved so quickly. Although plans for other 12-story buildings have been approved, none of the projects is complete yet. The council was supposed to re-evaluate after the Mark at CityScape apartment project is completed this spring to determine if the 2008 guidelines did in fact work as intended.
The City Council’s vote allowed one more tall building and the prospect of more before that evaluation is done.
The 100-foot rule dates to 1992, with the intent of preserving the city’s signature Addison Mizner-style low-rise architecture and preventing the city from becoming another West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale.
The city made a significant change in 2008 after residents complained of monolithic and unattractive buildings going up downtown, even though they didn’t exceed 100 feet. Urban Design Associates was brought in to do a design overhaul after consulting with residents.
The firm recommended the guidelines that allowed the 40 foot increase in height to 12 stories in an area roughly bounded on the west by Dixie Highway, on the north by Northeast Eighth Street, on the east by Mizner Boulevard and then South Federal Highway, and on the south by East Camino Real.
The concept was to encourage more attractive buildings, pedestrian-oriented streets and public spaces. To avoid massive structures, the rules required that if a building rose above 100 feet, portions of it had to be shorter to create a varied skyline. The rules also called for setbacks that allowed for wide sidewalks, landscaping, and sidewalk cafes. The tops of buildings could have attractive architectural features. Buildings were to convey the sense that people were living and working in them. Tall buildings would not be allowed next to low-rise residential areas.
Developers had to apply to build taller within the specified area, and the City Council had to bless their plans.
Other 12-story projects that earlier got the go-ahead under the 2008 guidelines are the Mark at CityScape just east of the southeast corner of Palmetto Park Road and Federal Highway; Via Mizner, an apartment complex at the corner of East Camino Real and Federal Highway; and a Hyatt Hotel, on the corner just west of The Mark at CityScape.
Sallie James contributed to this story.
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