Boynton Beach commission reviews comprehensive plan update and schedules follow-up briefings

City staff and their consultants presented an updated draft of Boynton Beach's comprehensive plan at a March 26 commission workshop, outlining proposed policies on housing, transportation, utilities, parks and a new economic development chapter and setting a schedule for further review.

Amanda Radigan, the city's development director, opened the presentation and called the draft "quite a milestone in this process," saying staff and consultants would take tonight's feedback and prepare a strike-through/underline draft for formal review. Consultant Nelsa Zacharias told commissioners that the comprehensive plan is "required by Florida statutes" and that the draft and outreach (surveys and pop-up events in English, Spanish and Creole) shaped recommended policy directions.

The draft at workshop contained multiple elements: a future land-use element that sets maximum densities for categories (staff emphasized the plan itself does not rezone properties), expanded housing and neighborhood objectives aimed at protecting character and encouraging reinvestment, a transportation and mobility element to expand pedestrian and bicycle networks and coordinate with FDOT and the MPO, and a utilities chapter that details service standards and water-resource strategies.

Key numeric details cited by staff included a sanitary-sewer level of service of 100 gallons per capita per day and potable-water benchmarks of about 154 gpcd; the consultants noted a reclaimed-water expansion goal and a CUP allocation of 20 million gallons per day. The parks and open-space analysis showed an estimated 84-acre surplus in 2020 that projects to a 37-acre surplus by 2045 under current assumptions; commissioners asked staff to better represent deed-restricted green space that does not appear on the map.

Staff said the draft will be updated based on tonight's comments, offered one-on-one briefings to absent members (Mayor Shelton, Commissioner McCray) and plans to distribute a revised draft roughly three weeks before a formal discussion item so the commission has time to review before a transmittal hearing. After local review (including the Local Planning Agency), the plan will be transmitted to state and regional agencies for review, including the South Florida Water Management District and FDOT.

The workshop produced no formal votes on the plan itself; the agenda and adjournment motions were routine and passed unanimously. Staff also flagged a parallel policy issue: Senate Bill 180 may constrain some local policy language and could produce state review comments or legal challenges; staff said they will prepare follow-up materials and noted the city will receive agency feedback as part of the transmittal process.

Next steps: staff will incorporate commissioner and public feedback, circulate the strike-through/underline draft for review, hold additional briefings and return the plan as a transmittal item after Local Planning Agency review.