Boca Raton residents press council over downtown "1 Boca" campus as petition certified for referendum

Rob Frisbie, the lead representative for the 1 Boca development team, said the proposal has been scaled back and reframed after public outreach, with private development concentrated on about 7 acres on the east side of 2nd Avenue while the city’s west-side public spaces — including Memorial Park — would be preserved and enhanced. "We would be protecting, preserving all of our trees," Frisbie said, and emphasized ongoing community meetings and a third open house scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Spanish River Library.

Hundreds of residents attended the Boca Raton City Council workshop, and speakers from the Save Boca effort told the council they had delivered 7,700 verified petition signatures seeking a charter amendment to protect public land. "The people have spoken loud and clear, 7,700 citizens," said John Perlman during public comment, urging council members not to extend an interim agreement with the developer and calling for the city to let the developer agreement expire.

City Attorney counsel told the council there are two separate but identical citizen petitions — a charter amendment and an ordinance — and outlined timing constraints. The ordinance must be acted on within 60 days (mid-November) and the charter petition would be scheduled to appear to voters within the statutory window; staff said the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections’ next available scheduled election is March 10 and the city intends to present both measures to council at the Oct. 28 meeting to meet filing deadlines.

Jim Zervis, the city’s chief financial officer, sought to correct several figures circulating among residents. Citing the city’s audited numbers as of Sept. 30, 2024, Zervis said the city had about $601.8 million in cash across 22 funds (about $96.2 million in the general fund) and that total citywide revenue for fiscal year 2023–24 was roughly $456.5 million. He also described the $1.26 billion capital improvement program as a multiyear planning document and noted roughly $24 million of the transit-oriented community line item is included in this year’s operating budget.

Several residents pressed environmental and recreation concerns. Brianna Hagquist and other speakers said Sugar Sand Park’s northwest sector supports gopher tortoise habitat and criticized the city’s environmental reporting; a 10-year-old speaker, Emily Gascon, told council she plays at Memorial Park "two to three times a week" and does not want fields moved. Opponents also warned that mature banyan trees and other canopy would be lost and demanded a transparent accounting of lease terms, appraisals and project costs.

Council members debated whether to pause preliminary survey and environmental work at Sugar Sand Park until after the referendum. Some councilors argued pausing would respect the pending voter decision and avoid creating facts on the ground; others, including staff, said noninvasive surveys and tree inventories are necessary to provide accurate information and do not commit the city to construction. Zack Beard, public works director, said staff is continuing environmental and survey work and that any presentation to the Beach & Park District would be conceptual prior to any approvals.

The meeting produced no formal vote on the interim agreement or the petitions. The council agreed to continue outreach, promised additional financial and scope information as it becomes available, and said staff will present ordinance and charter items at the Oct. 28 council meeting so the city remains within the Supervisor of Elections’ filing deadlines. The workshop adjourned at 3:59 p.m.