Ocean Breeze/Boca Teeca Update

There has been a lot going on recently with the pending expiration on 4/12/15 of the development approvals from 12/11/07 on the Boca Teeca/Ocean Breeze golf course property.  A few months ago local development attorney Mitch Kirschner submitted yet another extension request on the development approvals and he appears to be getting a favorable greeting from the city leaders who appear to be bending the rules in order to approve this request for an 18 month extension.  On 4/9/15 there will be a 4th hearing at the P&Z board for considering this request which was not heard during the past 3 meetings due to "traffic issues". DUH - of course there are traffic issues as the 2-lane NW 2nd avenue area is already so congested that adding more traffic is a health and safety hazard for the residential community in this area.

Last week also marked the 5th anniversary of the foreclosure that was filed by Wells Fargo bank on the original developer, MCZ Centrum Flordia V Owner, LLC.  The bank had loaned $7 million for the purchase of the property (essentially a 100% loan/zero equity by the developer).  As the developer took a few year to negotiate "financial incentives" with nearby condo commandos the loan came due and there were extensions of the loan granted after the principals of MCZ Centrum personally guaranteed the loan.  The recent loan balance has grown to almost $14 million based upon foreclosure documents.

The environmental issues are still being managed after the FL Dept of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has required continued monitoring of the ground water in multiple areas near the current maintenance facility.  This area was approved for residential development in 2007 by the city of Boca Raton without requiring any environmental testing of the soil or groundwater.  Subsequently the EPA & FDEP tested the soil and the water on the area near the maintenance facility which resulted in a report that stated that the property was not suitable for residential nor industrial use due to the contaminants on the property.  The most recent report on the property was during the 4th quarter of 2014 and there was still arsenic levels in the ground water that was over 2000% of the allowed parts per billion (ppb) allowed by the EPA.  Arsenic is a hazardous chemical that has been determined to be a cause of cancer so the EPA closely regulates the allowed ppm for safety of the citizens.

Meanwhile, the receiver continues to operate the golf course with over 70,000 golfers using the only 27 hole championship level facility within the city limits of Boca Raton.  Considering the city paid over $7 million for 2.25 acres of land known as the Wildflower property for an undetermined use, may the city should consider buying the golf course of over 200 acres which is expected to be a much larger draw to the city than another restaurant/proposed for the 2.25 acre site.

Save Boca Raton Beaches - Sign the Petition

Are you aware that a beach in North Boca Raton purchased by city taxpayers may be considered for development of a private beach club?

Residents have filed a petition with the city in order to request residents to vote on whether they want to protect public beaches from being used for private development. If you want to help protect the Boca Raton beaches, then please send us an email at saveboca4u@gmail.com and we will email you the petitions.

Time is short as this residential effort only has until approx. 12/21/10 to obtain 1,000 signatures of registered voters within the city limits.

Thank You for Your Assistance,
Save Boca Raton Green Space
"A residential advocacy group"
------------------Background Info on This Issue---------------
Boca Raton Ocean Strand land needs to be preserved for recreation, residents say

The oceanfront land was purchased by the city in 1994 to save it from development but the land is still zoned for residential use

By Angel Streeter, Sun Sentinel - July 20, 2010Residents who live near the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District's 15-acre oceanfront property recently fought off a developer. Now they want it rezoned to keep builders away for good. The request comes after their protests thwarted the developer, who recently proposed building a beach club on a portion of the Ocean Strand property on State Road A1A. In May, the park district board said it had no plans to sell or lease the property after residents came out in droves to protest the proposal. And just Monday — after the City Council noted they had not received a response from the park board inquiring about its plans for the property — board Chairman Bob Rollins sent a letter to Mayor Susan Whelchel reiterating the park district's plans to use the land for a park.

"In evaluating the comments received from the public on this subject, there does not appear at the current time to be any public benefit to be enjoyed by the community other than use of this property for park purposes," he wrote in the letter. But that's not enough for some residents. They contend the best way to protect the land from future developers is to change its zoning from residential to recreation. "The land usage has to be changed," said Andrea Stekloff, who lives in the Boca Towers condominiums just north of the property. "We don't want to have to go through this again in another 10 years.

"Penn- Florida Companies expressed interest in building a beach club on part of Ocean Strand as part of its Via Mizner project, a redevelopment project planned at the northeast corner of Federal Highway and Camino Real in downtown Boca Raton. The mixed-use development, approved by the city Community Redevelopment Agency in 2006, would consist of a 118-room luxury hotel, office space, 192 condominiums and high-end retail stores and restaurants.

In April, Penn-Florida asked city officials to help it secure the beachfront part of the land from the park district. In a letter, the company called a beach club a necessary amenity to attract an exclusive international hotel that has expressed interest in Via Mizner. Since then, residents have been skittish, worrying that the developer would find some way to get ahold of the land, which the district purchased in 1994 for $11.9 million to save it from development. So residents asked the park district board on Monday to request a zoning change from the city. But the district's attorney suggested the board wait until it has developed a master plan, a sort of blueprint of how the land could be used. That process could take several months.

City Approves >1.3 million sq.ft. Adjacent to Residental Area at Spanish River Blvd.

On Oct. 26th the city approved a land use change on 79 acres of land adjacent to homes along NW 5th Ave. and North of Spanish River Blvd. This land is currently designated for Low Density Residential (RL) land use that would allow approx. 240 homes, but as a result of the city's action this land has been approved for over 1.3 million sq.ft. of development. This approval is the equivalent of approx. 7 Super Wal-Marts and would allow approx. 1,600 new housing units.



Does Boca Raton need another 1,600 housing units?

Does Boca Raton need the development of the equivalent of 7 Super Wal-Marts?



The property owner (Boca Raton Regional Hospital) has indicated that they have no specific plans for development, but their representative indicated at a public meeting that this land was for sale. They purchased this land in 2005 for $25 million and the value has declined to $5-6 million according to the PBC property appraisers office. It appears that this approval will significantly devalue the adjacent residential property and result in a significant increase in the value of the 79 acres. You do not need to be a real estate expert to understand that this land use change is very detrimental to the residential property values in the area.



This 79 acres is also designated as Environmentally sensitive and the FL Dept. of Community Affairs had objected to the land use change in their earlier review of this proposal and recommended the city retain the RL designation for this land unless they could provide the "data & analysis" to justify the change on this specific location. At the Oct. 26th meeting of the city council there was discussion on the amount of development that should be allowed and an elected official suggested caution in approving a reduction from over 2 million sq.ft. originally proposed since the city council DID NOT HAVE THE DATA TO SUPPORT A CHANGE. This statement is clearly shown on the video of this meeting on Oct. 26th and this data & analysis is what the State oversight dept. requested in their prior objection. According to this statement by an elected official it appears that at the time of the approval this recommendation by the FL DCA was not met by the city.



Is the development of approx. 1,600 residential units or a combination of over 1.3 million sq.ft. of commercial/retail buildings consistent with the environmentally sensitive nature of this property? Where is the responsible "green stewardship" that the city leaders are always talking about? These actions speak louder than words as this is very poor environmental leadership by the city and it is very detrimental to the residents in the Spanish River residential area.



Take action today to support your residential community - Email the FL Dept. of Community Affairs and request this Land Use change not be approved due to the inconsistency with the Environmentally Sensitive Land Use designation and the data and analysis has not been provided to support this land use change on the 79 acres (in DCA ORC Objection #3).



Email to: Bob Dennis - bob.dennis@dca.state.fl.us



Send your emails ASAP since the FL DCA will be issuing their final review of this proposal by Dec. 21st.

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