Residents and planners urge Boca Raton council to rethink downtown zoning ballot question

At a Feb. 23 Boca Raton City Council workshop, several residents urged the council to delay and rewrite a proposed ballot question tied to downtown zoning and to increase community outreach before approving major ordinances.

Andrew Labino O'Rourke, who gave his address as 100 Southeast 5th Avenue, told the council the ballot language was “simply not” fair and called for clearer, neutral wording so voters can make an informed choice. He said he supported postponing three zoning ordinances and urged the city to complete a downtown plan with wider public engagement, including involvement from Florida Atlantic University planning students.

The criticism continued in public comment. Judy Morrow of Northeast 5th Avenue thanked the council for postponing the ordinances and warned against allowing taller development near shoreline areas, asking rhetorically, “Who owns the sky?” She urged voters to reject the ballot question to protect public land and called for infrastructure repairs—specifically underground water pipes—before permitting greater height.

Pam Paschke presented slide-based examples about annual sunlight and modeled shadows from a hypothetical 135-foot building across from Memorial Park, saying, “So the point that I'm making here is we've saved the park, I hope, but we haven't saved the sunlight for the park.” Paschke warned that extended morning shadows could leave turf soggy and asked the council to commit to park betterments regardless of the outcome of the downtown proposal.

Jonathan Ungeen criticized neighborhood activists' tactics and said the debate had become politicized. He also told the council he would pursue legal action under state law if leadership changed: “I will file that lawsuit on SB 102 regarding development,” he said, framing the litigation as a tool to preserve perceived property rights under state statute.

Mayor (meeting chair) opened and closed the public-comment period and acknowledged the postponement of three ordinances earlier in the meeting. No formal council vote or ordinance action occurred at the workshop; the public-comment period closed and the council moved to manager and staff reports.

The immediate next steps recorded at the workshop were the postponement of the three ordinances for further work and a continuing public discussion; speakers asked the council to pursue more outreach and technical studies (shadow/sunlight analysis, park improvements) before advancing zoning changes.