Boca Raton City Council Workshop – February 23, 2026
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Boca Raton City Council Workshop – February 23, 2026
The Boca Raton City Council held a workshop meeting on Monday, February 23, 2026, starting at 3:51 p.m. The meeting included public comments on downtown development, a ballot question, and zoning ordinances, followed by city manager and council member reports on transit, legislative updates, and community events. No formal votes were taken; several items were noted for future action.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Andrea Lavino Rourke (100 Southeast Fifth Avenue) argued that the ballot question on public land development was unfair and not truthful, and expressed support for the council's decision to postpone three zoning ordinances. She criticized the city for turning away FAU graduate students who wanted to hold a downtown planning outreach at the community center, and urged the council to prioritize community and business engagement before proceeding with the ordinances.
- Judy Morrow (1305 Northeast Fifth Avenue) thanked the council for postponing the three ordinances, questioned the city's development trajectory ("Who owns the sky?"), and called for fixing underground water infrastructure before allowing more high-rise buildings. She urged voters to vote no on the ballot question to "save our public land."
- Pam Paschke (341 Southwest 2nd Street) presented a shadow analysis showing that 12‑story (135‑foot) buildings across the street from Memorial Park would cast shade over the park until mid‑day, causing soggy grass. She requested that the city council commit to park improvements irrespective of the Boca One development.
- Jonathan Unj (6501 Congress Avenue) criticized the developer (Boca) for not compromising on building heights (e.g., five or seven stories) and accused the development of being a political tool. He threatened to file a lawsuit under SB 102 if council leadership changes, arguing that downtown density should be the development right for all property owners.
City Manager Reports
- City Manager announced the final public workshop for the new police department headquarters: Wednesday, February 25, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Spanish River Library.
Council Member Reports & Legislative Updates
- Councilmember Rucker (also referred to as Drucker) reported on the inaugural America 250 train along Brightline, which she rode on Presidents’ Day. She noted Brightline’s strong interest in Boca Raton’s station and the potential for a second platform and coastal connection commuter rail. She also reported that Tri‑Rail (SFRTA) funding was restored in both the House and Senate budgets, and that e‑bike legislation is being discussed at the state level. Finally, she provided a legislative update on House Joint Resolution 203, which would eliminate homestead property taxes. She stated that the House had removed a phase‑out provision and now proposes full elimination, and that the Senate is expected to produce its own plan, possibly leading to a special session.
- Councilmember Reeder noted that if HJR 203 passes immediately, Boca Raton could lose $58 million in revenue in the first year, with further impacts on other cities. He also announced the start of the Festival of the Arts downtown, beginning February 27, with events running through the first week of March.
- Mayor highlighted the Freedom 250 mobile museum that stopped at FAU, the upcoming James Hardy Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational golf tournament, and the city's positive achievements: a 25.5% reduction in crime over seven years, a $850 million infrastructure improvement plan (ISIP) without bond or tax increases, and a water rate one‑sixth lower than some other cities. He encouraged residents to vote in the upcoming election while keeping in mind all the city's successes.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were taken; the workshop was informational.
- The council acknowledged the postponement of three zoning ordinances, as previously mentioned by a council member.
- The city manager directed attention to the upcoming police headquarters workshop.
- Council members provided updates on state legislation (HJR 203) that could significantly affect the city’s budget, and noted ongoing discussions about e‑bike regulation.
- The mayor urged voters to consider the city's overall positive trajectory when voting in the March election.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to a workshop meeting of the Boca Raton City Council. It is Monday, February 23rd, 2026. The time is 3.51 p.m. We have no proclamations nor any board interviews today. So we'll turn to future agenda matters. Councils, Council members, anything to raise? Mayor, nothing beyond what we already mentioned, which is the postponement of those three ordinances. Yes, very well, thank you. And then do we have any review of the any items for review of regular agenda items? If not, we'll take them up tomorrow night. Solve on the floor to public request. I have two cards, one from Andrea Lavino Rourke, one from Kevin Meaney. Then after that, please come forward, give your name and address, so you'll live up to three minutes. Andrew Lavino Rourke 100 Southeast Fifth Avenue, Boca Ratone. I'm going to continue where I left off. Um and I'm going to talk about the ballot question. Four of you agreed that it was fair and unbiased. I beg to disagree. It's simply not. It's just not. And when questioned, your reasoning was the citizens are smart enough to figure it out. And yet the citizens are constantly admonished for not having the correct details. So I think that to have put the ballot question with reasonable, fair dial, you know, uh verbiage would have been just much fairer, much more open, and again, the truth matters, and it's just not a truthful statement, that ballot question. While I have a minute, I just want to say uh because I was going to talk about the um the three ordinances, and I'm so glad that you put that aside. That needs some major work. And by the way, let's not forget our downtown master plan that was updated in 2007. It needs more work, but we have a really good foundation here, so we shouldn't forget about that. It's important. We've done a lot of the work. We just need to follow through with it. Uh this past uh school semester, I had the opportunity of working with graduate students at FAU and the urban planning program, uh, our future planners, the very talent that we say we want to attract and retain in Boca Ratone. They were so eager to engage in a downtown discussion. They worked all semester on their plan. They have a beautiful presentation. I will share the link with all of you. And yet when they were they were scheduled to do an outreach for their downtown planning session, it was part of their project, they were refused uh to to be able to meet at the community center in our very own community center in Boca Raton, our FAU students were turned down. We ended up securing the room through a land use attorney that we were working with, and she meets with with residents for projects that they're approving. She was able to secure and rent the room so the students could do their public outreach. When they tried to do it through the university, they were actually turned down. So I don't understand where we are with community involvement, collaboration. We should embrace the university students, we should embrace residents that have good ideas. There needs to be community outreach, pub uh business outreach. Our downtown businesses should be involved. 4035 is crucial. These three ordinances coming forward are probably the most important zoning issues we will have worked on in 30 years. We need to get it right. Let's not follow this path of of putting the the horse before the cart, uh shooting before we aim. Let's aim first, let's plan first. I always said what's the plan? Let's do it.
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