By Mary Hladky
Save Boca has prevailed in its long battle to ensure that residents will be the ones to decide if Boca Raton can sell or lease any of the land it owns larger than one-half acre.
The city’s now-dead plan to lease its downtown campus land to developers was the impetus for the grassroots group’s formation and its efforts to defeat the redevelopment project.
Even after Boca Raton voters overwhelmingly rejected the project in the March 10 city election, Save Boca pressed ahead in its effort to get an ordinance and a City Charter change that would require voter approval of proposed city land leases or sales.
Save Boca got its wish on May 12 when the City Council unanimously approved the ordinance.
The council also approved a resolution by a 4-1 vote, with Council member Yvette Drucker dissenting, that provides for an amendment to the City Charter that also prohibits a land sale or lease without voter approval. Residents will vote to approve or disapprove the charter change no later than the March 9, 2027, municipal election.
There are limited exceptions to the vote requirement, such as for the extension of existing leases to nonprofit organizations and for utility easements. Those are intended to avoid the need to hold costly special elections for noncontroversial and routine matters unlikely to be controversial.
“I just want to thank all the citizens,” said Council member Jon Pearlman, Save Boca’s founder, who was voted into office on March 10. “Without you, we would not be in the position we are today … to protect our public parks and our way of life, that was the mandate why we were sent here.”
But he warned against complacency, saying the council’s action was “by no means a victory. We have to stay vigilant and continue to keep City Hall accountable to taxpayers. …”
Deputy Mayor Michelle Grau and Council member Stacy Sipple, also Save Boca members, thanked Pearlman for his efforts.
“We may not agree on everything,” Grau said. “But on this issue residents came together to protect our public lands and our public parks.”
“I don’t think people really know how much work was behind the scenes that (Pearlman) actually did,” Sipple said. “I don’t think he actually slept for a year. I am thankful he came forward and brought the community together.”
Mayor Andy Thomson, who as a council member opposed the proposed downtown campus redevelopment, also praised the outcome.
“I think this is an example of democracy in action,” he said. “It represents cooperation and common sense.”
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