Boca Council Plans to Consider Its Own Ordinance on Selling, Leasing Public Land

The city government campus and Memorial Park redevelopment area, Boca Raton, FL, Oct. 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

The Boca Raton city council is set to consider an ordinance concerning the sale or lease of public property which was promulgated “at the request of Mayor Singer” at a meeting scheduled next week, a memorandum that appears with the ordinance on the meeting agenda stated.

The ordinance comes after a Circuit Court judge struck down a ballot measure asking voters whether to amend the city charter and local ordinances to require public referenda on future sales, leases, or “alienation” of public property over a half-acre in size. The Save Boca organization, which successfully collected enough signatures to place the questions on the ballot, has since filed a motion to intervene in the case, which was brought by retired local attorney Ned Kimmelman. Kimmelman is opposing that motion, which would reopen the case and add Save Boca and its founder, Jon Pearlman, as parties to the action.

The ordinance to be considered by the council next Tuesday concerns the same issue: the sale or lease of publicly-owned property more than a half-acre in size. If it is introduced and ultimately adopted by the council, it would immediately become part of the city code. The memorandum states that the ordinance would amend the code to require two “duly-noticed public hearings prior to approving a sale, lease, or other conveyance of city-owned land larger than one-half acre.” It also requires the council to adopt written findings establishing that the disposition of land serves a public purpose, provides a benefit to city residents, and is “consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and overall public interest.” The required written findings would be included in the authorizing resolution or ordinance and would be required to identify the “specific public benefits to be achieved.”

The Save Boca movement arose from opposition to a proposal for a public-private partnership which would see a 99-year lease of 7.5 acres of city land to a development group. The developers have proposed 947 residential units, a 180 room hotel, plus other reatil and commercial space, in exchange for a lease deal which they say will fund the construction of a new city hall and other facilities, including a reconstruction of Memorial Park. Opponents have cast doubt on the financial outlook of the proposal and have expressed discomfort over the transfer of downtown land to a private developer for the next century. A referendum on that specific public-private partnership will appear on the municipal election ballot in March.

The ordinance set to be introduced next week also includes public notification requirements, including mailers to property owners within 500 feet of any proposed land that would be sold or leased, and a physical sign posted on the subject parcel. Some properties would be exempt from the requires, however, the memorandum stated.

“Recognizing that many land-related actions are routine and necessary for efficient municipal operations, the ordinance exempts certain limited transactions, including easements, rights-of-way, utility-related conveyances, minor administrative adjustments, leases or licenses for recreational or civic uses, and renewals or extensions of existing leases where the underlying public purpose continues to be served,” it said.

A copy of the proposed ordinance is embedded beneath this story.

Read the Ordinance: