Council workshop reviews draft CIMD affordability covenant; debate centers on monitoring and tenant verification

Boca Raton — City staff presented a revised draft covenant governing affordability obligations for community and municipal development (CIMD) projects at a City Council workshop on Feb. 10, prompting council members, developers’ representatives and residents to weigh how much monitoring the city should require for workforce and affordable units.

The presentation and discussion Brandon Shadd, the city’s development services director, told the council staff had worked with applicants since October to draft covenant language and that a new draft distributed the morning of the workshop “substantially addresses and resolves all of the comments other than one minor thing,” namely a suggested change — circulated to the mayor on Friday — that would require income verification only by prior‑year tax returns rather than by projecting income for the lease year and substantiating with pay stubs, bank statements and tax returns.

Bonnie Miskell, representing an applicant with an Office Depot‑area project, told the council her client could accept the revised definition of "affordable" presented Monday…