Terra/Frisbie on Monday announced what Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer correctly called “substantial changes” to its plan for redeveloping the area around City Hall. This is the third version of the company’s proposal.
Gone is any private development west of Second Avenue, which forms the backbone of those 31 acres. All projects on that side would be public parks and recreation. Terra/Frisbie Principal Rob Frisbie said a quarter-mile, north-south “promenade” will be in the center of that section. On the north end will be the new city hall.
A new tennis facility would go on the south end, though Frisbie said the courts could be more spread out. There would be an indoor gymnasium at the new community center, another key feature of the public side. Frisbie said the space would include a heightened Memorial Park to honor veterans. There would be basketball courts and a playground.
On the east side, back in is a hotel, near the library and Brightline station. Frisbie said they got “positive feedback” on a hotel, which had been in the first version and out in the second. The first hotel was 150 beds. This one would have 180.
The number of apartments is back up, to 769. Frisbie said this version also includes 186 condominiums—private land—with a maximum height of 140 feet. A 150,000-square-foot office building also would go on the north end near the library. A grocery store might be part of that building.
Most retail for the mixed-use development would go along another north-south corridor. It would be closed to cars. Renderings show extensive landscaping.
The first phase of the private development would comprise the office, hotel and condos to the north. The second would have to wait until demolition of the police station. Voters will decide in March whether to approve bonds for a new station next to the Spanish River Library.
Frisbie said the company based this “fundamental reset” on community feedback. In particular, he said, residents wanted more formal recognition of Memorial Park and focusing private buildings on “underutilized” areas east of Second Avenue. Frisbie called the new plan “a shared vision” and promised “world-class planning.” Terra/Frisbie would work with the city on connecting the project area to Mizner Park.
Council members generally seemed pleased with the changes. Frisbie said he would provide more information at the next meeting in two weeks.
Flooding in Delray Beach and Boca Raton
Delray Beach apparently fared better than Boca Raton during Sunday night’s biblical-level deluge.
On Monday, City Manager Terrence Moore said staff had reported few problems outside of some issues along the beach. As Moore drove to City Hall, people were playing at the tennis center. Moore said, “The stormwater system performed well.”
In Boca Raton, however, there were serious issues. The Boca Raton Airport closed, then reopened at 7 a.m. Monday. A video showed that the newly renovated lobby at The Boca Raton was flooded out. Drivers abandoned cars in some neighborhoods after high water flooded out engines.
According to one report, an “isolated bullseye” of rain went over Boca Raton, mostly from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. The National Weather Service said it dumped eight to 10 inches in some places. Delray Beach got about six inches.
During Monday’s city council workshop meeting, City Manager Mark Sohaney said between 80 and 100 vehicles had been abandoned. That number was down to 25 by Monday morning. The worst flooding, he said, had been in the southeast corner of the city. Municipal Services Director Zachary Bihr said the Palm Beach Farms and Boca Square neighborhoods received seven inches of rain in two hours.
Sohaney, though, said the city’s stormwater system had functioned “exactly as intended.” Bihr noted that swales are key to preventing flooding. The city will increase efforts to encourage homeowners to maintain them and to keep storm drains clear.
An “after-action report,” Sohaney said, should be complete by the end of the week. Boca Raton officials are warning residents to be “extra careful,” as high tides were expected late Monday and today. Fortunately, the forecast after today is for many days of sunshine, with a cool front coming.
Unresolved parking issues in Delray Beach
Delray Beach just resolved one years-long issue with approval of a plan to renovate the golf course. Another issue that has persisted even longer remains unresolved.
That would be downtown parking. As a staff memo noted last July, the city has been trying for two decades to devise a plan for Atlantic Avenue between Swinton Avenue and the beach and the beach area itself. Any plan must please residents and downtown business owners and employees.
During that July discussion, Public Works Director Missie Barletto noted that the usage rate of the downtown garages and lots is just 55%. The most recent study recommends a rate of between 85% and 90%.
One problem, the study said, is that the nine-hour limit for “highly-valued” parking lot spaces “incentivizes long-term parkers” to use them, even though their best use is for “shorter durations.” Drivers also often ignore the 20-minute free limit.
The recommendations used terms such as “right-priced parking” and “variable pricing,” but the upshot is that the city decided to charge more for the best spaces and discourage people from overstaying. Parking, the study said, “should be grounded in supply/demand economics that help consumers make decisions based on convenience/cost tradeoffs.”
Among the changes: rates for “premium spaces” rose to $3 per hour; the 20-minute-free time was eliminated; lot spaces went up slightly in price, and the limit dropped to four hours. The goal was to raise occupancy in garages to 90%. The commission approved a trial program that began this month and will run through April.
Complaints came almost immediately. Business owners came to commission meetings. Last week, commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert said they had received many emailed criticisms.
Stephanie Immelman is executive director of the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. She told me that the group’s chief concern is the effect on daytime businesses, such as small accounting and law firms. In the suburbs, Immelman said, such businesses “would have free parking.”
Immelman did acknowledge that the plan allowing employees to park in garages for $10 per month is attractive. The chamber plans more education on that topic. A survey is going out to members.
Mayor Tom Carney remains the strongest advocate of the new plan. He has been skeptical of the complaints. After hearing from Casale and Markert, Moore said staff would present an update on the plan at the Nov. 18 commission meeting.
Delray’s new approach to keeping dogs off of the beach
Delray Beach has tried to gently discourage people from bringing dogs to the beach. That isn’t working.
As a result, Moore said in a recent information letter to the commission, the city will try to fix what he called “a bit of a mess.” For now, that effort will involve “more citations” from code enforcement. Those fines will be “on a scale.” In the worst case, Moore said, the police department will be involved. He hopes that it doesn’t come to that.
Realizing Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney’s budget goals
Almost since taking office 18 months ago, Carney has called for administrators to use “zero-based budgeting.” Under that approach, department heads won’t start from the current budget. They essentially will start over.
As Chief Financial Officer Henry Dachowitz put it, “Personnel/payroll cost projections start NOT with the existing payroll but with the tasks, goals and objectives for the department. What activities are performed based on the demands of the citizens and requirements from the city manager (and the commission). An analysis then reviews how well we are meeting these goals and objectives: should we be doing more to achieve broader goals?” The city will also seek ways to add revenue.
Dachowitz said the staff will “do its best” for next year but added that this is a “multi-year process.” Moore noted that such a review may find that some departments are overstaffed while some are understaffed.
