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Residents urge CRA not to approve Boca Raton City Center contract ahead of March referendum
Summary
At the Jan. 5 Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency meeting, residents and a mayoral candidate urged the agency not to approve Ordinance 5769 or sign a contract with Boca Raton City Center LLC before a March 10 referendum, citing language they say could bind the city despite a voter rejection. City attorneys said terms must be finalized in January so voters know what they are voting on.
Residents and a mayoral candidate urged the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency on Jan. 5 not to approve Ordinance 5769 or sign any contract with Boca Raton City Center LLC before a March 10 referendum, saying the agreement contains language that could undermine a future voter decision.
John Perlman, a resident of 498 Northeast 8th Street, told the board that “roughly a 150 emails have come through” urging officials “do not approve ordinance 57 69 or sign any contract with Boca Raton City Center LLC prior to the referendum vote on March 10,” and argued language in the draft contract would allow obligations to survive termination and thus could bind the city even if voters rejected the project.
The concern centers on a clause that opponents read as making a postponed or rescheduled referendum effectively not a rejection. Mike Libelson, who said he is running for mayor, told the board he had pledged not to take developer money and urged the council: “No deal should be signed until the voters have spoken on March 10.”
City Attorney Mister Koehler defended the timing and the disputed clause as technical measures intended to protect the referendum process from being nullified by events outside the control of the city or its development partner. Koehler said the council must act in January so the transaction documents are publicly available in time for the March vote and noted a supervisor-of-elections mailing deadline of Jan. 24. He read proposed language aloud: “the postponement, delay, or rescheduling of the referendum due to circumstances outside the control or decision making authority of the city or the partner, including without limitation a declared state of emergency or other force majeure event, shall not constitute a rejection of the referendum.”
Mayor (speaker 3) and other officials said the city remains committed to a public vote and that finalizing terms in January would give the public a clear agreement to review before March. The mayor said staff worked over the weekend to refine deal terms and that the matter will be considered by the council on Jan. 20.
The meeting produced no formal action on the Boca Raton City Center contract. The board approved its minutes by voice vote earlier in the session. The CRA adjourned at 1:48 p.m. and said it would reconvene shortly.
What’s next: council review and a scheduled vote on whether to finalize the transaction on Jan. 20, followed by the referendum on March 10, unless the council or courts change those dates.
