Comprehensive Growth Amendments Fail to Protect Residents

The city of Boca Raton is currently proposing amendments to their State-mandated comprehensive growth management plan which does not protect the residential interests of our city based upon the following concerns:

1) Hotels will be allowed in all residential land use categories based upon the Land Use defintion in Section L.U.1.1.6.
*Hotels are NOT COMPATIBLE with residential areas so why is the city making this proposal?
*Is this an attempt to bailout developers with residential projects approved that now want to change their plans to hotels from condos or townhouses?
* World-Class cities, such a Palm Beach, do not allow hotels in residential areas, so if the city council wants to be considered a "world class" city, then they need to DELETE this provision in their proposed amendments.

2) Open Space - nearby cities have heard concerns from residents at past elections and have heeded voter concerns by including open space protections in their comp plan amendments, so why hasn't the city of Boca Raton considered these requests from their voters?

3) Environmental Stewardship - nearby cities have included provisions to require environmental testing of soil and groundwater prior to consdiering any development application, so why hasn't Boca Raton included this protection in their current comp plan amendments?
* How can city staff recommend a development for approval if they do not know if the land is safe for the deisred use by the developer?
* How can city council vote to approve a development without knowing if the land is safe for the requested use?
* If one of the primpary goal of local government is protection of public health & safety, then why are they ignoring this issue in their current comp plan amendments?

3) Ocean Strand - this land on North Ocean Blvd. was purchased over 10 years ago to protect it from development, yet the city never changed the land use to PR-Open Space & Rec. so why won't they correct this oversight in the current comp plan amendments?
* The Mayor has indicated that she is in favor of developing Ocean Strand in exchange for a larger development proposed for the area of Camiono Real and Fed. Hwy.
* If the current comp plan proposals are approved, then there is virtually nothing the public can do to stop the development of this land since there is no requirement of a referendum for such a development order--in fact, FL statutes do not allow referendums on development orders that impact less than 5 parcels of land....no accountability to residents!

What can resident do to express their concerns about their property values and quality of life?
1) Speak at the public meetings on Aug. 3rd at 6:30pm/P&Z meeting at city hall regarding these comp plan amendments.
2) Call & email city council members with your concerns about the impact of this proposal
3) Speak at the Aug. 9th & 10th meetings of the city council--2pm+ on 9th/workshop and 6pm on the 10th per approval by the council based upon city staff recommendation