At a Boca Raton City Council workshop on Oct. 14, 2025, Rob Frisbie, representing the 1 Boca development team, told the council and about two hundred residents that the project team has revised its proposal to shift most private development to the east side of Second Avenue and reduce the development footprint to about seven acres while preserving Memorial Park as public space.

The revised plan arrives as residents led by the group Save Boca presented a certified petition and more than 7,700 signatures seeking a charter amendment to protect public land, and as council members and staff discussed timing for placing ballot language with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections ahead of the next scheduled municipal vote in March. City officials and residents also debated tree removal, gopher tortoise habitat at Sugar Sand Park, the scope and transparency of public‑private partnership terms and the financial assumptions behind the proposed public investments.

Why it matters: The council and developer said the matter will go before voters if the council approves a project and places a question on the ballot; the city attorney said the next regular ballot the county supervisor has scheduled is March 10, 2026. The scope of any approved public‑private partnership, the location of developer‑built housing and retail, and whether existing parkland or conservation areas would be altered were central concerns cited by residents, park and environmental experts, and several council members.

Rob Frisbie, representing 1 Boca, said his team has held multiple public outreach events and is revising the plan based on feedback. "We believe these sessions have been extremely productive," Frisbie said, and announced a third open house for Oct. 22 at the Spanish River Library. He said the revised concept would concentrate private development on roughly seven acres east of Second Avenue, "where private development would only be built on top of existing surface parking lots or defunct buildings, where we wouldn't be reducing any green space or or losing any trees."

Residents and environmental experts pressed the city and developer on tree canopy loss and wildlife. John Perlman, a Save Boca organizer, said the group submitted 7,700 signatures and warned, "Our public land is not safe until this amendment is passed into law." Other speakers described concerns about removal of mature banyan trees and potential loss of habitat at Sugar Sand Park. Diane Borgchard, who said she served as the city's environmental planner during development of Sugar Sand Park, said the northwest sector was identified as environmentally sensitive during earlier planning and urged care in any changes.

City staff responded with programmatic clarifications and factual updates. The city attorney explained the petition process and proposed timing: identical questions under the certified ordinance and the charter amendment would be presented to the council and the county supervisor before the supervisor's printing and mailing deadlines, and the supervisor has the next scheduled municipal ballot on March 10. Jim Zervas, the city's chief financial officer, said independent fiscal and economic analyses are under way with a consultant (PFM) and explained that capital improvement programs are planning documents spanning multiple years and do not by themselves authorize spending. He clarified audited cash balances and how city funds are divided: as of Sept. 30, 2024, total city cash across all funds was about $601.8 million, of which roughly $96.2 million was in the general fund, and that investment earnings are distributed across the same separate funds.

Speakers also flagged governance and transparency issues: requests for commercial appraisals of public parcels, the terms of any right of first refusal held by third parties (Brightline was mentioned), whether campaign‑contribution restrictions would be in interim agreements, and the timetable for making full fiscal assumptions public. Martha Parker asked for public workshops that disclose key public‑private partnership (P3) terms, including risk sharing, off‑balance‑sheet liabilities and any lease options that could materially affect city assets.

Council members debated how much preliminary site work to permit before voters weigh in. Some council members and staff favored continuing limited noninvasive surveys (topographic, environmental and utility surveys) to better inform design and environmental assessments; others urged pausing activities that could be interpreted as advancing relocation of recreation facilities until after the charter/ordinance questions are decided. Public Works and Engineering Director Zach Beard said preliminary surveying and environmental assessment have been progressing and that the city planned to present concepts to the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District before any formal site work.

On recreation specifically, the city reiterated that no trees have been cut and that surveys and environmental studies are ongoing. Several residents described frequent use of Memorial Park and current softball fields; a 10‑year‑old player described practicing at Memorial Park "2 to 3 times a week." Residents and former staff warned about gopher tortoise habitat; staff said the most recent environmental survey identified only one abandoned burrow in the area slated for a potential softball complex and that the city is in communication with Florida Fish and Wildlife regarding compliance with state and federal rules.

The mayor sought to correct circulating inaccuracies and encouraged continued outreach. "Fear can lead to anger," the mayor said, encouraging collaborative public engagement while promising additional public information. The city attorney said it is the city's intent to bring the charter and ordinance ballot language to the Oct. 28 council meeting to remain within election deadlines.

What remains unresolved: the final development footprint; the detailed fiscal model and independent assumptions that will be published after the developer and city finalize project scope; whether specific recreation facilities will be relocated and, if so, where; and whether the council will take interim legal actions on the developer agreement before the March ballot. City staff said commercial market valuations and parcel‑based appraisals are being obtained, and that independent fiscal modeling will be completed by PFM and released to the public.

The council recessed at the close of the workshop and scheduled additional council consideration and public outreach; the city attorney said his office intends to present the charter and ordinance ballot language Oct. 28 for council review prior to county election deadlines.