Planning board recommends approval of Boca Technology Center DRI amendment to remove 129.6 acres

The Boca Raton Planning & Zoning Board voted unanimously on Jan. 6 to recommend approval of an amendment to the Boca Technology Center Development of Regional Impact that would reduce the DRI from approximately 217.5 acres to about 87.9 acres.

City senior planner Peter Begovich told the board the amendment would remove roughly 129.6 acres from the DRI, chiefly the roughly 124.2‑acre Boca Raton Innovation Campus at 5000 T Rex Avenue and an approximately 5.4‑acre utility parcel near 950 Northwest Spanish River Boulevard. Begovich said staff’s analysis found the amendment does not create any new regional impacts, does not increase external peak‑hour trips and leaves open‑space counts intact; staff recommended approval.

The applicant, David Millage, said the application does not seek new entitlements and that existing vested traffic capacity (he cited roughly 49,000 square feet of remaining office and 100 square feet of retail in the DRI) would remain available to the other owners. “We’re not taking any rights away from them,” Millage said, adding that master plans and site plans remain subject to standard city review.

Several property owners and representatives asked the board to slow the process so owners could review the proposal. Steve Tilbrook, counsel for the GEO Group, said the company — a DRI property owner — only learned of the filing late and requested a continuance so owners could determine who would assume ongoing DRI monitoring and maintenance obligations if BRIC (the current major owner) leaves the DRI. “There are a number of property owners within the DRI that will be impacted by this change,” Tilbrook said, asking the board to give owners an opportunity to engage with the applicant and staff.

James Matthews, president of the Centra Homeowners Association, said Centra, a 198‑unit townhome community inside the DRI, had not been contacted and that residents needed more information. Patricia Amie, representing BV Partners Limited (a retail parcel owner in Boca Village), echoed requests for more time to evaluate impacts.

Development Services staff and the Development Services director told the board that much of the DRI’s infrastructure and mitigation has already been constructed since the DRI’s 1999 approval and that the DRI’s remaining entitlements are nearly exhausted. The director said staff supports terminating the DRI in the near future because, in practice, the DRI serves as an extra layer of paperwork now that statutory review has largely shifted to local government.

After closing the public hearing, the board moved to recommend approval of the amendment and on roll call the motion passed 6–0. The recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council for its consideration; council action is required for final approval.