Boca Raton City Council Workshop – May 11, 2026
Boca Raton City Council Workshop – May 11, 2026
The Boca Raton City Council held a workshop on May 11, 2026, beginning at 3:30 PM. The meeting covered board interviews, presentations on the Festival of the Arts, downtown civic engagement, a downtown civic area master plan, and the CIMD program. Council members discussed timelines, public input, and the future of the police station. Public comments were heard on several topics.
Board Interviews
- Airport Authority: Four applicants interviewed: Melvin Pollack, Bob Tucker, Howard Greenberg, Michael Grana, and Gene Bolden. All sought reappointment or appointment. No questions from council.
- Historic Preservation Board: Fabiola Bernier, a museum educator with background in cultural anthropology, applied.
- Citizens' Pedestrian and Bikeway Advisory Board: Larry Dinner, a 40-year resident and cyclist, applied late and was heard.
- Environmental Advisory Board, Marine Advisory Board: No applicants present.
- Appointments will be made at the regular meeting on May 12, 2026.
Festival of the Arts 2025 Report
- Joanna Marie Kay presented: The 20th season had 6,600 attendees, with 32% from outside Boca Raton and 19% from outside Palm Beach County. Attendees spent an estimated $154,095 beyond tickets. The festival invested nearly $500,000 with local businesses and received $450,000 in in-kind contributions. Total economic impact exceeded $1.3 million. Media impressions reached 6.5 million. Council members praised the festival as a cultural and economic asset.
Downtown Civic Engagement Task Force
- Mayor Thompson proposed tabling the discussion until a consultant (hired via RFP) can opine on whether a task force is needed. Councilmember Thompson expressed concern that the task force could create division. Councilmember Drucker and Growe agreed to table the resolution to repeal the task force. The resolution remains on the May 12 agenda, but the mayor will move to postpone.
Downtown Civic Area Discussion
- Staff presented an RFP/RFQ process for a master plan for the 17-acre civic area (City Hall, community center, Memorial Park). Timeline: RFP issued by May 15; responses due in three weeks; short list presented to council; interviews late June; contract by July 28; master plan completed by January 2027. The police facility is not included in this RFP; staff recommended using existing architect ADG (already paid over $500,000 for space needs analysis) and a community advisory panel, potentially for a bond measure in March 2026.
- Councilmember Perlman presented a critique of the $190 million police station plan, comparing it to Bradenton ($35M for 50,000 sq ft) and Clearwater ($31M city hall). He argued for including the police station in the RFP to gain efficiency and leverage. He also questioned the unit cap on CIMDs and the lack of density reductions.
- Councilmember Drucker said she was not ready to opine on the police station without more data and resident input, and supported moving forward with the downtown civic area RFP separately. Councilmember Growe called for a post-mortem on the failed referendum. Councilmember Sipple suggested including the police station in resident discussions. Mayor Thompson agreed to hold a separate workshop on the police station location and cost.
- Council agreed to proceed with the downtown civic area RFP as outlined, with parallel discussions on the police station.
CIMD Discussion
- Development Services Director Shad presented the Commercial Industrial Multifamily Development (CIMD) program. Key points: eligible properties must be in planned mobility or enhanced mobility areas, zoned commercial or industrial, and not abut single-family. Unit cap is 2,500 (plus tri-rail exemption). Density: 20 units/acre with 10% affordable; 25 units/acre with 15% affordable/workforce. Maximum height 85 ft. 2,176 units have been approved, 517 pending. Level of service analysis for 1,000 additional units: sewer, water, parks, police, fire, schools adequate; traffic failures at several intersections even without new units. Mitigation measures were identified.
- Councilmember Perlman questioned why no Live Local Act projects (40% affordable) have been approved, while CIMDs (only 10% affordable) account for 2,176 units. He also noted that future councils could increase the unit cap or exempt units at will, rendering the cap meaningless. Mr. Shad confirmed that CIMD is currently the only way to build residential on commercial/industrial zones (except Live Local).
Public Comments
- Dr. Lorraine Blank: Criticized the rushed planning process, urged a community-wide master plan, and stated that the task force should not be decided by consultants.
- Jonathan Ungian: Agreed with Perlman's questions but noted that a cap on development may be challenged by the state. He also criticized the low retail requirement in CIMD projects.
- Marie Hester: Supported Fabiola Bernier's appointment to the Historic Preservation Board, citing her work in Pearl City.
- Earl Starkoff: Urged balancing urgency with public input and noted that technical work already done (e.g., space needs) should be leveraged.
Key Outcomes
- Board appointments will be made on May 12, 2026.
- Downtown Civic Engagement Task Force resolution will be postponed until a consultant is hired.
- Downtown Civic Area Master Plan RFP will proceed as presented, with a separate workshop on the police station scheduled for a future meeting.
- No vote was taken on the CIMD program; council will study the information provided.
- The meeting adjourned at 6:10 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right, friends, we are back in action. This is your Bookeratone City Council Workshop. We will start, I think we would normally start with proclamations and presentations, but I do recognize that there have been several members of the public or interviewees for our boards that have been waiting patiently, and with everybody's indulgence, I think we may move that up to the front so we can uh hear from our applicants for our board interviews, and then we can go into proclamations and presentations. Is that okay with everybody? All right, so then we can go to board interviews. First one is affordable housing advisory committee. I don't believe we have any applicants here for that, but if you're here and you submit an application, please let us know. We're excited to have you. Not seeing anybody. We can move on to the Booker Tone Airport Authority. Who would like to interview first? Mr. Pollack, congratulations. Good afternoon. My name is Melvin Pollack, 2003 North Ocean Boulevard in Boca Raton, Florida. I have been on the Airport Authority Board for a few years now, and also served as chairman for two years. Likewise, before that, I was chairperson of the Authority Noise Abatement Committee for two years, and we had great success. Excuse me. I am the only aviation airport management professional and trained aviation safety expert from the University of Southern California Safety Center on the board. I hold an FA I hold an FAA commercial pilot's license with instrument ratings since I'm sorry to say 1966. And I have been functioned as the airport manager of two large Air Force bases here in Florida, Homestead Air Force Base and Patrick Space Force Base. In my civilian career, I have been involved with master planning and design of major airports here in Florida and all over the world, including all safety and noise abatement protocols. I also spent 20 years as an Air Force fighter pilot and instructor fighter pilot and flew 78 combat missions in Vietnam. From a local from a local perspective, I was trained and certified as an aircraft accent investigator, which allows for my input on Boca Ratone, air and ground safety enhancements. Also from a local perspective, I have vast experience in both my military and civilian airport and aviation experience with noise issues, noise studies in the basement, master planning, and overall airport design. I have been on the board now for about eight years, and I hope you'll consider appointing me again. I think we're doing great things. We have a fantastic airport manager, a fantastic staff, and the airport is just booming. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Pollack. Any questions for Mr. Pollack? Doesn't look like it. Thank you, sir. Thank you for your service. Who's up next? Mr. Tucker. Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and members of the City Council, Bob Tucker, 2609 Northwest 23rd way. I have lived in our beloved Boca since 2008 after leaving California with my wife and four children. Now, 18 years later, the children are grown and we are empty nesters. That plus being retired gives me plenty of time to serve our community. Not only do I lead the Boca Ratone Police Foundation, which helps keep our brave men and women in blue safe and secure, but I also serve on the Chamber of Commerce Board, and I'm an incoming president of the Downtown Rotary Club. Plus, I serve on a couple of other nonprofits like Men Giving Back. In these roles, I leverage my four decades of marketing and PR experience as an executive with Boeing, Disney, and my last assignment at ADT, which is headquartered here in Boca. Serving on the Airport Authority Board for the past eight years has been an absolutely incredible experience. Along with my six other board members, we give guidance to the world's best airport executive director, Clara Bennett, and her extremely highly talented team. During my recent term as board chair, we kicked off the airport's 75th anniversary celebration and opened our new observation area, which I'm very pleased to tell you has hosted 15,000 visitors to learn more about the magic of flight.
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