Boca Raton voters resoundingly rejected the proposed Terra/Frisbie downtown redevelopment project.
Also in Tuesday’s election, they rejected every mayoral and city council candidate who supported the plan.
The plan, which called for nearly 1,000 apartments and other private development on nearly eight acres of public land near City Hall, went down by roughly three to one. In a separate vote, the proposed bonds for a police station on Spanish River Boulevard also failed, though by a slimmer margin.
The three-way mayor’s race will go to a recount. Based on the unofficial results, Councilman Andy Thomson, who was the only council member to oppose the plan, trails first-time candidate Mike Liebelson by 25 votes. Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas, who supported the plan, ran a distant third. UPDATE: As of March 11, 8:15 a.m., Thomson leads Liebelson by six votes.
Under state law, races where the margin is less than 0.5% go to an automatic machine recount. If the margin then is less than 0.25%, there’s a hand recount. Coincidentally, Thomson won his first council race in 2018 after a recount.
Opposition to the Terra/Frisbie plan organized last summer under the Save Boca group. Its founder, Jonathan Pearlman, easily defeated incumbent Councilman Marc Wigder in Seat B. Pearlman got 53% to Wigder’s 32%. Meredith Madsen finished third with 15%.
In the open Seat A, accountant Michelle Grau—who opposed the plan and had Save Boca’s endorsement— defeated former Planning and Zoning Board member Christen Ritchey. She had supported the plan. Grau got 67% to 25% for Ritchey.
Stacy Sipple, running in Seat D, was the third member of the Save Boca slate. She more than doubled the total for former Councilman Robert Weinroth—56% to 27%. Former Planning and Zoning Board member Larry Cellon ran third.
The results are mostly not surprising. Conventional wisdom holds that motivated voters have the edge. In this election, Save Boca had all the motivation. Mayor Scott Singer, the project’s most enthusiastic backer, claimed for months that hidden support would materialize. It didn’t.
The one surprising result was the police station losing. Public safety referendums almost always pass. But Save Boca sought to link the station to the Terra/Frisbie project, even though the station move was on a separate track.
Even if Thomson wins, a very inexperienced council will have to start over on how to redevelop those 30 acres around City Hall and make a new plan for the police station. The new council will take office March 31.
