Boca Raton council approves rezoning, site plan and right‑of‑way change for 120‑unit Villas on 5th Avenue

The Boca Raton City Council on Tuesday approved a package of land‑use changes and a site plan to allow the Villas on 5th Avenue, a 120‑unit multifamily townhouse development at 2600 Northwest 5th Avenue.

City staff recommended and the council adopted Ordinance 5702 (a map amendment to reduce a right‑of‑way protection segment from 100 feet to 90 feet), Ordinance 5717 (a future land‑use change) and Ordinance 5718 (rezoning to a higher multifamily category), and Resolution 1242024 (site plan approval) in votes recorded 5‑0.

“It reduces the right‑of‑way requirement from 100 to 90 feet, which minimizes required dedications for the applicant and a nearby school project while preserving space for a future four‑lane complete street,” Peter Begovich, senior planner in the Development Services Department, said during his presentation. Begovich told the council the reduction would lower the dedications required of both the French American International School and the Villas project from about 50 feet to a 14‑foot dedication and that the Planning & Zoning Board had recommended approval, 5‑1.

The approved site plan allows 22 three‑story, 33‑foot townhouse‑style buildings totaling 120 units on an approximately 8.01‑acre site. Staff estimated the development would generate roughly 809 daily vehicle trips (about 48 AM peak trips and 60 PM peak trips); the applicant agreed to dedicate a 14‑foot‑wide right‑of‑way easement to make room for future roadway widening and 45 new street trees along Northwest 5th Avenue.

Applicant counsel Bonnie Miskell described the project as an infill redevelopment of a long‑vacant parcel and said the units would provide three‑bedroom townhouses suited to families, students or young professionals. “This same objective speaks to promoting compact, vibrant communities, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” she said.

The council’s discussion focused on two themes: traffic and the proposed condition requiring the applicant to seek to underground existing overhead utility lines adjacent to the property. Multiple residents from the nearby Wynwood/Windwood neighborhoods urged denial or a density reduction, citing school‑hour queuing, speeding on 5th Avenue and the visibility of three‑story buildings from existing two‑story neighborhoods. Mary Ann Sonner, a Wynwood resident, said the development would add “possibly 366 extra cars” and called the current plan “not acceptable.”

Staff and the applicant disputed whether the city could require burial of the large distribution lines in the right of way. The applicant and its consultant said Florida Power & Light characterized the lines as main distribution feeders and that the city code exempts some distribution feeders from mandatory undergrounding; staff said the site‑plan condition is discretionary and tied to site‑plan approval criteria (promoting the health, safety and welfare) and that the condition as drafted requires the developer to diligently seek approvals and permits to bury the lines but allows the city to accept documented proof of infeasibility.

Brandon Shad, development services director, said staff planned to leave the condition in the draft resolution while working with the applicant to test feasibility; if burial proved infeasible after documented attempts, the condition would not be forced. “If it can’t be done, they just have to submit proof that they tried,” Shad said.

Council members also heard a traffic update from city traffic engineer Naresh Major, who said a 2019 feasibility study recommended a future four‑lane section for 4th/5th Avenues and that preliminary design work and intersection improvements are in the city’s capital improvement program, with tentative construction programming aimed at 2026–2027 for initial phases such as left‑turn lanes and signal upgrades.

Council adopted the site plan with one additional, council‑approved condition requiring that the trees east of Buildings 21 and 22 be a minimum of 20 feet tall at time of planting. The council and staff noted the approved right‑of‑way dedication will allow the city to pursue the roadway expansion identified in the traffic study.

The applicant and staff are to work together to confirm feasibility and language around the undergrounding requirement before final permitting. The council’s action on the comprehensive plan, rezoning and site plan moves the project forward; individual construction permits and any required utility permitting remain subject to separate review and approvals.