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Resident urges denser, visionary development in Congress Avenue district
Summary
Resident Jonathan Ongine called on council to adopt a more ambitious development vision for the Congress Avenue area, criticized current density limits and urged the city to enable redevelopment that replaces older buildings rather than leaving them in place next to new construction.
During public requests at the May 12 workshop, resident Jonathan Ongine urged Boca Raton officials to pursue more aggressive redevelopment in the Congress Avenue corridor and to apply transit‑oriented and new urbanist principles to create a denser, mixed‑use district.
Ongine said the area near Congress Avenue and I‑95 is "the ripest part of town" for development and criticized current zoning that he said effectively keeps older buildings in place while smaller parcels are redeveloped. He argued that zoning set at 20 units per acre is not producing the density envisioned, urged creation of a "downtown 2 or 3" in the area and suggested removing barriers to economic incentives for property owners to redevelop.
Ongine also asked the council to empower staff to study alternative development scenarios that would make redevelopment financially viable for property owners, and to consider infrastructure and traffic implications when envisioning build‑out to 2050. The council did not take action on his remarks; they were entered as public comment for staff consideration.
