‘Save Boca’ Organizers Say They Have the Signatures to Force Vote on City Hall Plan

The organizer behind the “Save Boca” campaign, which opposes the city council’s plan to redevelop a 31-acre portion of downtown Boca Raton in partnership with a private developer, held up stacks of paper containing what he said were over 5,200 signatures collected in a petition drive before hand-delivering them to the city clerk during a council meeting Tuesday night.

Jon Pearlman, the Save Boca leader, delivered the petitions around the midpoint of a meeting that spanned over six hours, the vast majority of which was dedicated to discussions on the redevelopment plan. Pearlman conducted the petition drive with the hope of collecting enough signatures to force both an ordinance and an amendment to the city charter to the general election ballot. The dual measures would seek to accomplish the common goal of requiring a referendum vote before public lands are transferred to developers.

City officials have pitched a public-private partnership with the Terra-Frisbie development consortium to redevelop the 31-acre parcel surrounding the current city hall complex, as well as Memorial Park and adjacent properties, with apartments, retail, green space and other facilities with the expectation that $350 million in revenue generated from the project will fund the construction of a new city hall, community center and associated buildings. The project would generate about $3 billion over the course of a 99 year lease of public land, according to a presentation made by officials Tuesday night.

Jon Pearlman holds up a stack of petitions before presenting them to the Boca Raton city clerk, Aug. 26, 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

A sign from the ‘Save Boca’ campaign in opposition to a government campus redevelopment plan. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

The plan has run into considerable opposition, though council members reiterated at the end of Tuesday’s marathon public comment session that the agreement between Terra-Frisbie and the city is, thus far, non-binding and could change significantly or even be canceled before a final vote to adopt the plan. The effort to force the issue to a public vote could further complicate the council’s plans. If certified, the petition would constitute the first reading of an ordinance that could either be voluntarily adopted by the council or places on the ballot. City charter amendments, which follow their own legal standards, would also appear on the ballot if the requisite number of signatures are certified.

Ballot initiative drives by ordinance introduction require the signatures of 5 percent of the total number of electors from the most recent municipal election; city charter amendments require additional support. According to officials, the ordinance amendment could be forced onto the ballot with 3,676 signatures and a city charter amendment would require 6,112 signatures. Pearlman said he would continue collecting signatures so the charter amendment could also be placed on the ballot.

Residents spent hours waiting for their turn to address the governing body Tuesday night, with all but one speaking in opposition to the project. Most focused their objections on the participation of a private developer in the project, arguing that the city would effectively be turning over a large swath of land in the center of town without guarantees as to financial outcome of a 99-year lease that would be extended to Terra-Frisbie. By allowing the private redevelopment, revenue generated by the developer through the construction of 1,129 units of residential housing, plus commercial space and potentially a hotel, would fund a city hall complex of about 36,000 square feet, a 50,600 square foot community center, a 10,000 square foot police substation, and 265,000 square feet of open space and recreational facilities, officials have said.

Renderings of a proposal by Boca City Center, Terra-Frisbie Group, for the city’s new downtown campus. (Planning Document)

Renderings of a proposal by Boca City Center, Terra-Frisbie Group, for the city’s new downtown campus. (Planning Document)

Renderings of a proposal by Boca City Center, Terra-Frisbie Group, for the city’s new downtown campus. (Planning Document)

The residents said they were concerned not only about the financial aspects of the deal, but the addition of more housing and commercial units in the downtown sector. Some argued they would rather the city simply use a traditional bond measure to finance a new government campus.

“We have a AAA bond rating, we have strong financial management,” said resident Mary Powers. “We can do this ourselves, we don’t need a private developer profiting off of us.”

“Nobody in Boca Raton today will live to see the end of this contract – not even someone born this morning,” added resident Kevin Meaney.

Council members largely took the long round of opposition in stride, holding up Mizner Park as an example of a successful public-private partnership and stating that, despite Memorial Park being eliminated as part of the redevelopment plan, the city would add “state of the art” facilities in other parks around town. Two softball fields at Memorial Park would be doubled to four at Sugar Sand Park, and 10 new clay courts, plus a full tennis center would be added to Meadows Park. A 55,000 to 65,00 square foot skate park and pump track, designed with community input, would be built at North Park.

Andrew Lukasic, the deputy city manager, told residents the project would also ease traffic flow by adding more east-west throughput and placing safety features such as wider lanes, shoulders, and even traffic circles to help calm speeders.

“We will have a much better grid system under this plan as we do currently,” said Lukasic. “It connects from west-to-east. The grid system is great from a transportation perspective, but what we really capture is the ability to move pedestrian, bicyclists and other multimodal activities throughout the campus area.”

The project will also be designed with street parking in mind to combat the aversion of some drivers to using parking decks.

After hours of residents’ comments, city council members said they are still completing their own due diligence on the project and – in the end – may change their minds. The current agreements between the city and Terra-Frisbie is not expected to be finalized until the end of October.

“I’m actually nowhere near making up my mind yet,” said Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas, who is running to replace Mayor Scott Singer next year. “When I do vote, it will be an informed decision and I will have all the facts. There are a lot of questions out there we need to get information about. That’s what our staff is doing, that’s what our consultants are doing and that’s what our partners are doing. Once we have that information, our partner may also decide to walk away, and that’s okay.”

Councilman Andy Thomson, who is also running for mayor next year, said he favors scrapping the plan outright, adding residents have lost confidence in the project.

“They don’t trust the process that we’ve used to get to this point,” said Thomson. “More than anything, I think it reflects a lack of trust in this project. They just don’t trust it, and government relies on trust.”

Singer said he welcomed the comments from residents, despite his view that some were based on misinformation that has been floated on social media.

“Your opinions are part of our due diligence,” he said. “The questions you’ve asked, and my colleagues are asking, deserve to be answered – and they will.”