Planning and Zoning Meeting - Regular Meeting

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Today is March 5th, 2026. It is 6 p.m. This is the planning and zoning meeting of the city of Boca Raton. Will everyone please rise for the pledge of allegiance? Pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Thank you. Kathy, please call the role. Chair Sevel, here. Vice Chair Dorblazer here. Mr. Mitchell here. Miss McDermott here. Mr. Matthews here. Mr. Morabi here.

Mr. Morgan is absent. You have a quorum. Okay. Thank you. Uh, we don't have any minutes this evening, but we have a quazar judicial and related public hearing. I'd ask the city attorney to explain that procedure. Evening, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Chris Fernandez, senior assistant city attorney. The rules of the city council provide that each applicant requesting approval, relief, or other action from the planning and zoning board this evening shall disclose at the commencement of the public hearing any consideration or payment provided or committed directly or on its behalf for an agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested relief or action. A copy a copy of the [clears throat] quasi judicial rules governing tonight's public hearing are attached to the agenda and are available from the city clerk. Okay,

thank you. Would everyone who's going to speak this evening please rise and be sworn in? Do you swear or affirm that any testimony you may give during this public hearing will be truthful and accurate? Thanks. Thank you. With that, Kathy, please read the Miso Plaza 5A is the only item on the agenda. Please read that into the record.

Consideration of an individual development approval by the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency for the Meisner Plaza Hotel project on two parcels totaling approximately 1.65 65 acres generally located at 132 and 170 Northeast 2nd Street to authorize construction of a 12story 275,412 ft 219 room hotel which includes a combination of individual rooms and suites. 30,840 ft of retail high consisting of 12,000 square ft of restaurant use and 18,840 ft of retail. and internal structured parking totaling 131,134 square feet with a maximum height not to exceed 140 ft 0 in with architectural features with a maximum total height not to exceed 141 ft 6 in together with a technical deviation from paragraph 2B3 of the DDRI development order to reduce the required number of off- streetet parking spaces from 557 spaces to 328 28 spaces, a reduction of 229 spaces, and a transfer of 154,815 ft of office equivalent development based upon an equivalency factor for retail and office from downtown sub area D to downtown sub area B, resulting in approximately zero square ft of office equivalent development remaining in downtown sub area B and approximately 279,815 ft of office equivalent development remaining in downtown sub area D and including a conversion of uses within sub area B providing for repealer providing an effective date. Thank you. A few people just walked in. If any of you are going to speak, please stand up and be sworn in.

when the application was originally presented to the board uh back in September uh 2025, the city-owned parcel was included in the proposed development and now it's no longer part of this application. And as you can see, it's outlined in red on the aerial. This is the proposed uh site plan, and the applicant proposes to construct the hotel in two towers, and that totals approximately 275,412 ft. The hotel rooms are located above the two floors of retail and restaurant use. And within the larger tower, the east tower, 115 rooms are proposed. 1,400 ft of restaurant use is proposed on the 12th floor. The applicant proposes an expansive front setback or approximately 42 ft. And vehicular access uh to the property is through the alley along the southern boundary of the property. Vehicles access the alley via full access on northeast 1st Avenue and a right in right out access on northeast Meisner Boulevard. The alleyway is parallel to East Boerton Road and will be widened to 20 ft in width to accommodate the two-way traffic flow to serve the site. And since the previous submitt uh there is a reduction in daily trips from 1,47 daily trips to approximately 1,00 daily trips. This is the required open space uh plan for the project. Uh the required open space is 40% or 28,700 ft and 46% or 33,248 ft is provided as open space. Up to 35% of the total required open space may be covered and that does include arcades or

colonades and the project provides a total of 34% covered open space. This slide represents the modifications proposed to accommodate the widened alley adjacent to northeast Meisner Boulevard. So two parking spaces will be removed. one space to accommodate the alley widening itself and one space for a proposed landscape island uh that will be modified at the southwest corner of the lot. The two spaces will be relocated along northeast 2nd Avenue, I'm sorry, north northeast 2nd Street. An additional landscape island at the southwest corner uh will be provided and a reduction in the size of the existing southeast landscape island from approximately 15 ft to 11 ft to allow for the expanded alley width. Some of the existing uh FPL pads will be relocated and the modifications will allow both westbound and eastbound egress into the alley. This is the mobility plan for the project. Uh pedestrian pedestrian accessible routes are provided in red. Yellow depicts the east west dedicated 5- foot wide bicycle path. And the vehicular access is in green. It shows how the site is one of the most walkable projects in the downtown. And along Northeast Second Streetscape, a sidewalk, the sidewalk width ranges from approximately 15 ft to 19 ft and an 11'6 in sidewalk is provided along Northeast First Avenue. A covered walkway ranging from approximately 6 ft to about 8 ft in width is provided along the southern perimeter of the hotel. New medians um enhanced uh to an 8- foot wide raised crosswalk across from Meisner Park will also be provided.

And the staircase, covered walkways, pedestrian ramp, and widened sidewalks along the frontage of the property provide a pedestrian-friendly environment that is consistent with the goals of the amended downtown plan. As previously mentioned, the applicant has requested a technical deviation from the DDRI development order paragraph 24B3 to reduce the number of required off street parking spaces from 557 to 328 parking spaces using the alternative required rates for the project. A total of 328 parking spaces will be provided and that represents a reduction of 229 parking spaces for the post hotel and the various uses. 10 replacement parking public parking spaces will be provided along northeast 2. The applicant's traffic engineer submitted a parking analysis that states the city's downtown parking code relies on outdated 40-year-old rates that overestimate the demand. The required parking for the proposed development is considerably higher and not in accordance with the current and future parking demand in the downtown area. Thus, alternative parking rates for the hotel and retail uses including restaurant and outdoor dining have been proposed. The transportation demand management or TDM uh development plan uh and implementation process include the following. uh they'll designate uh an individual to oversee and coordinate the TDM plan. The coordinator shall be the liaison between the hotel and the city and shall monitor the TDM plan activities for the hotel. The uh applicant through the declaration for the association of property owner shall assign the property management the responsibility for implementation, operation, coordination and management

of the plan. The hotel main lobby shall post TDM program information locations that are readily visible to hotel guests as well as employees. And this information includes bus and train schedules, South Florida commuter services, name and phone numbers of the project's TDM program coordinator, as well as information on local restaurants, shops that are all in within walking distance. Uh they also ensure the availability of meaningful incentives to the hotel employees and guests who make trips by modes of transportation other than single occupancy automobiles by providing transit, shuttle, carpool, walking and biking subsidies and which shall include at a minimum 50% transit pass subsidy for Tri Rail and Palm Tran and a 20% transit pass subsidy for Bright Line. Uh, the applicant also has voluntarily profered to the city an annual con contribution in an amount totaling $27,661 to be applied towards the city's downtown transit programs. The parking structure in includes 330 parking spaces on two below levels of parking. The application includes a replacement of 10 spaces that I mentioned before and those are proposed to be removed and approved as part of the project and therefore a total of 10 on street parking spaces along northeast 2nd street all of which will be public parking. This is the north or front elevation. The building would be 140 ft tall with a maximum total height including architectural features of 141 ft 6 in. The application was submitted as a downtown quality project pursuant to the DDRI development order section 25 which makes it subject to the interim design guidelines which allows for certain flexibility and greater height but

without any increase in overall building volume. This is the south elevation. the east and the internal west elevation. And with regard to the CAB recommendation, the project was reviewed on January 20th uh 2026 and the CFB uh board at the meeting voted unanimously to recommend approval. The vote was 70 and the proposed hotel and retail uses are consistent and compatible with adjacent land uses. The project complies with ordinance number 4035. Therefore, the development services department recommends approval of this application and the city's urban design consultant complete city's planning group also reviewed the project and found it consistent with ordinance 4035. And that concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to respond to any questions you may have.

Thank you, Susan. Questions for staff? Mr. Mitchell? None at this time. Miss McDerman. [clears throat] Mr. Blazer, no questions. Mr. Matthews, no questions. Mr. Morabi, no questions.

The chair has no questions. With that, I'll open up public Parks are a very important part of downtowns. Um, but nonetheless, we heard opposition with our request to purchase the city-owned law and improve it as a public park and maintain it in perpetuity as a public park. And by the way, the deed would have had that that requirement, that dedication that it be remained open to the public. But because of that opposition, we decided to not move forward to the community redevelopment agency, but rather amend our application to remove the request uh to purchase a city-owned lot and improve it as a park. We also the the park the city-owned lot itself was just going to be a park. There was no vertical development proposed.

There was no vertical development proposed, but we did provide underground parking underneath the park. Uh so those are the two biggest changes. We've removed the park in its entirety from our application, which also rem means we removed all the underground parking. I will go through each of those first two bullets in more detail. Uh because we removed the underground parking, we had to and we have not redesigned our building. Our building is exactly the same as it was before you when we came in September. Um but we did reduce the total unit count of the hotel from 242 to 2 has not been affected at all. This is a rendering of what it would have looked like that was before you last time with the park. And this is what it will look like as proposed today. Uh the city on lot I will note is non-conforming. Quite frankly, frankly, I don't find it aesthetically appealing, but this is what it looks like and this is how it will stay. As it relates to the parking under the city-owned lot, what's highlighted in red was what was proposed to be under the city lot for parking. Please note, a significant amount of those spaces were for the public. They were replacement spaces for those that we were removing from the city own lot and replacing them

underground. And this is what it looks like today. Okay. So, those are the changes from last time, but I do want to very briefly talk about our actual design for those of you that don't remember or were not on the board. The total property is 1.65 acres. It is a proposed hotel in two towers. Uh there is the east tower and the west tower totaling 219 units. The two towers are separated by what I find to be the most I think the entire project. By the way, I will say for the record and please don't tell my other clients, this to me is the most beautiful project I've ever had the opportunity to work on. And quite frankly, I think is a a gamecher for the city of Boca Raton. But what I love the most about it is the staircase in the middle that separates the two towers, which we'll talk about in more detail shortly. Uh there's just shy of 31,000 square ft of retail and restaurant. The vast majority of that is housed on the first two floors. Uh the first entire two floors of this development is open to the public, which is phenomenal. I do not believe we have anything like that in the city. Um each floor is 20 feet. So the first 40 feet of this development is completely open to the public. We also have a restaurant on the rooftop on the 12th floor of the east tower. Okay. So, we have designed this from the onset to be extremely pedestrianfriendly and have continued to keep that in mind as we've gone through the process uh with city staff which we started I want to say in June of 2023. Uh we have anywhere from a minimum of 15

to 19 ft of sidewalk along our north property line along Second Street. We have 12 feet along Northeast First, sorry, yes, first Avenue. That is a mistype. It should say First Avenue, not Street. I apologize. Uh we also are proposing a protected bike lane, which I believe will be the first in our city. All vehicular traffic is to the rear. Again, this is a pedestrian downtown. The only vehicular interruption that occurs on the north end is a um motor court which we'd like to enhance and utilize circuit and encourage the use of circuit and Uber and things of that nature. Uh so that is here on the north end of the development. There is also a 6-foot covered colonade on the south side that runs the length of our property and a 20ft pedestrian ramp going up to the second floor as well. This is the second floor. You could see that pedestrian 20ft pedestrian ramp highlighted in orange. Again, that 6-foot covered colonade with landscaping above is shown on that southern property line. Again, open space has not changed. We meet or exceed all setbacks. We are expanding the alley. So, today the alley is approximately not approximately, it is 10 ft wide. Uh 5t belong to us and five feet belong to our southern property neighbors. We are expanding it by additional 10 feet on our property. So, it will function as a two-way drive and it will be 20 ft in width. Um, our setbacks from our neighbors to

our south. Uh, it's important to note that this is our 6 to 8 foot covered colonade which is 20 ft tall with landscaping above. That is not part of our building. It is its own structure. From there you have a 20ft ramp. So you have 6 to 8 ft of a cover colonade and then a 20ft ramp and that's where your building is. So from property to property we are from building to building we're over 54 feet in separation. Okay. So we have one ask and it is regarding parking. Um, I've stood before you on many occasions, um, denoting how archaic our parking code is in downtown BOGO. It is almost 40 years old and when originally drafted, it was treated more as suburbia than a true urban center. So, this column here denotes the parking that would be required based on today's code, 557 spaces. This column here is what we are proposing as our as our alternative parking plan. The biggest reduction is with restaurants which is not surprising. That calculation or that formula that we are proposing was not created out of whole cloth. It applies to all properties that were annexed into the city from the county. Um, all of those properties have to apply the 2002 Palm Beach County ULDC, their regulations, and that is how that is applied. I will say for the record, 2002 ULDC code is also archaic, but still better than downtown BOGO. Um, this additional column is if we were to utilize the government center regulations that the planning and zoning

board just recently recommended approval on, we would actually have 68 more spaces than what the government center regulations would require. And then of course the last colum column is downtown West Palm. Again, I've said it, I'll say it again. I don't want to be downtown West Palm, but they are a true downtown and a true urban center and they treat cars um accordingly. Uh so obviously they're providing significantly less parking. Here are some renderings. This is from the northeast corner. This is on along northeast 2nd Street. This is the motor court. And you can see very clearly here the 40 ft of true public space of retail and restaurant. Uh here's our 15 to 19 ft u pedestrian path along with the 5-ft protected bike lane. And this is my favorite part of of the development. So the stairs here are typical stairs as it relates to depth and width and height. over here is really more of a gathering place. Like you go, you sit, your kids have ice cream, there's a quartet or whatever the case may be. But it is more of a welcoming, gathering public space than just get from the ground floor to the second floor. [clears throat] Here's some more of these stairs. The stairs have been specifically designed to perfectly be aligned with the plaza, the green space in Meisner Park. You could see that alignment here and more clarity. And that's all I have. I'm here to answer any questions as is my entire team.

Thank you. Thanks. Questions for staff? Mr. Mitchell? Could you go back to the slide with a parking illustration? Sure. Or the parking numbers, I should say. Yeah.

So, this being a hotel, are they still required to have in the 557 column for let's say the bar 55 spaces? Whether we're looking at for loading and unloading. Sometimes it's this is why I don't like having so many slides. So, we have a loading zone here. We are also planning on using the motor court if necessary for loading. All trash pickup is going to occur within the valet area, not inside the alley, within the valet area, and it's going to be timed accordingly. Um, so that it's not visible for the masses when they're entering and exiting the hotel.

Got it. And and it will not be between 7 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. or I believe there was a prohibition of that on the condition and we're totally fine with that.

Okay. the utility alleyway and there's going to be a lot of times that at least one of those um lanes are going to be blocked. So, we have some deep concerns about making it two-way. Uh and we would like the you know you all to consider um working with the developer to change it to one way. I you know in our last conversations they're kind of agnostic on that. It was really more the city wanted the two-way. Um but we think it's very dangerous and uh we'd like you to reconsider that. Um and we I guess uh the traffic study says that there's you know the exclusive access is going to be for valet and for people entering the garage cars significantly more than goes down that alleyway at the current time. And um when you got to figure 1100 cars at some point people are just going to be blocked or hitting somebody headon because they're on the wrong side of the road. Um so those are basically um the two issues. Um and the request that we're making of the of this board is to place additional conditions or recommend that additional conditions to protect the integrity of tower 155 to be put into the IDA and to consider the reconfiguration um using city the city property. I I think there's a willingness on the part of the developer and I don't know how many feet we would end up having to have that conversation um that they would willing to expand it but they just want a little bit more room so that we don't have issues in the future. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Um just as a point uh Chris Chris is our attorney. Um, how would those kind of conditions be like to to the one about checking the structural integrity of the building? How is that how do we how do we document that or do we here? We'd work on drafting the condition specific [clears throat] language with staff after the meeting. I guess suppose you're you're making a recommendation here. You could as [clears throat] long as you stated it clearly enough as part of the motion um generally describe the conditions and we can work out the specific language before it goes to CRA. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Who's next in the cards?

Sandy Silver, then Bob Simkins, then Dan Orin.

My name is Sandy Silver. I live at Tower 155, Boca Raton, Florida. Uh thank you for the opportunity to uh participate in the discussion regarding the development that is under discussion right now. Since I live at tower 155 East Boca Raton Road, I am obviously concerned over the impact to the traffic and safety of our neighborhood and specifically to our condo building. Currently, the city plans to pass a modification to allow the alleyway to be widened in order to allow the traffic flow required to enter the hotel that we just discussed in the planned parking garage, the twole parking garage. This alleyway will also be used to service the hotel and the restaurants, the planned retail establishments, and as importantly, the service requirements of our building as well. As you are aware, because East Boca Raton Road is only 18 feet wide with two-sided parking, it necessitates the use of the current alleyway for moving vans, furniture deliveries, and any extended service that is required. Today, for example, uh I had two televisions delivered and it took three and a half hours for the installation. They couldn't park on East Boca Raton Road. They had to park in the alleyway. Um, obviously [clears throat] with the increase in the development activity that's currently under consideration, I reviewed the packet of the upcoming PNZ planning meeting agenda relating to the traffic study that was conducted for the project. And given the above, and I emailed Susan, I was concerned over the

impact this project will have on the traffic and the safety of the area, especially considering the current construction of Alto, which includes a 550 uh parking garage, not 500 ft, by the way, from the garage currently planned for the Meisner Hotel. Having read the traffic study, I review and I reviewed [clears throat] the diagrams and I noticed that none of the diagrams used to illustrate the flow of traffic shows East Boca Raton Road. It depicts the alley and then East Palmetto Park Road. It totally ignores East Boca Raton Road. And given the influence that the Alto project and the requisite 550 parking garage will have, [clears throat] excuse me, on the flow of the traffic on First Avenue and Second Street, I would think that that would be an issue that would be addressed considering the city's willingness to allow the developer to expand the alleyway in a two-way street.

Sir, your time's up. Please wrap it up. I will. I'm not a traffic engineer, so I may have misunderstood the information provided, but please understand I really enjoy living in downtown Bokeh and having the convenience of having the goods and services within walking distance of my home. And thank you for listening. Thank you. Next, Mr. Simpkins. Bob Simpkins,

please state your name and address. You have three minutes.

Yes. Uh Bob Simpkins, Tower 155. Every day we read or hear downtown residents scream, "No more highrises, no more overdevelopment, no more traffic congestion, don't turn a lovely bokeh into a Miami or a Fort Lauderdale." Do the counselors, the mayor, or these representatives listen to their residents? No, I don't think you do. Did any downtown residents really want a high-rise office block right in the heart of their downtown? I'm referring to the Alletto abomination. Did the counselors, the mayor, or these representatives listen to their downtown residents? No, I don't think he did. Does any down resident really want a 12story monstrosity hotel towering above Meisner Park? No, I'm sure they don't. None of them. But are you listening to your downtown residents? I guess we'll find out soon enough. Three weeks ago, all Mel candidates and most council member elect uh member hopefuls were invited to Tower 155 to discuss the UNC upcoming local elections and to express their immediate concerns. We, the residents of Tower 155, find ourselves in the eye of the storm with regard to unwanted developments north and south of us. The everinccreasing homeless problems, not to mention the outrageous race car culture that blightes our downtown area. I hope someone is listening. With regard to the Mesner Hotel development, we walked all the candidates into the 10-ft alleyway that abuts our home. The developer intends to widen this alleyway to 20 foot and call it a two-way downtown road without any sidewalks. He then intends to build a 12story hotel

140 ft tall 20t away from tower 155 without the slightest regard for their neighbors outlook or property values. How neighborly is that? How immoral is that? We also showed the candidates the 1,700, yes, 1,700 support posts temporarily supporting our structurally deficient garage ramp. Three levels up and two levels down. God only knows what effect this intended development will have on our property. But again, is anyone listening or taking notes of our dilemma? Andy Thompson denied any knowledge of this very meeting taking place today. He said he was unaware of any vote taking place before the upcoming elections. However, here we are few minutes away from such a vote. Who instigated this vote today? It's obviously designed to push this unwanted project through before the new administration takes office. Don't you find that sinister? Aren't you ashamed to be putting greedy developers before your residents wishes?

Sorry, your time's up. We all encourage new reasonable develop I'm going to finish. Okay. We all encourage new reasonable developments that enhance our surroundings and give our residents what they want and what they need. Meisner Plaza, the present site for this proposed hotel, is not the most cubrious shopping area, but does provide essential services. It's unckempt and shabby and well in need of redevelopment. Sir, the alleyway is full of overflowing garbage attracting all manner of rodents. The power lines and development telephone lines will look out. I'm going to finish. You're done. I'm going to finish. Your time was up 40 seconds ago. There's other people that need to speak. You have plenty of time to hear what

No, you don't. I'm going to have you I'll ask the policeman to have you. Well, you're making your point then, aren't you? You're not listening. You never listen.

[applause] Okay, there there will be no clapping and yelling and booing or anything like that. Who's next, please?

Uh my name is Dan Orin. I live at 155 East Boca Raton Road. I just have two uh three short points to make. First, to thank all of you for your service. When I think about the work that takes to go through these detailed plans week after week, month after month, year after year, it's something that I know takes incredible dedication and seriousness. And I I first of all, I want to thank all of you um and the staff for preparing it for for giving careful thought for what will be lifechanging um decisions, whatever decision you make. The first point I want to make as as we all know from the news right now in Bokeh there is a major issue a concern and there are a thousand different opinions with regard to using government land for private purposes. Essentially if this alley is expanded at the end on city land that is using government land for private purposes. So you are setting a precedent here and so I encourage you to think very carefully about that decision. The other point, the last point that I wish to make is the planning and zoning the city. There is an implied contract with the public. And I know everyone feels there's a sense of of responsibility to land owners, but you also have an implied contract with the public to represent the needs of the public. And when you push buildings close together, that is in is is in essence poisoning the neighborhood, poisoning the atmosphere, whether it's risking buildings becoming another surfside, which I'm sure nobody in the area wants because of or whether it's simply because of buildings being crowded together. And that will have an impact on how Bokeh is received. I'm encouraged to hear the developer is open

to expanding the space between the buildings and I hope that you can make sure as uh in your position that that happens. Thank you. Thank you, Carol Levy. I'm going to pass. Thank you. Okay, the uh next two speakers I believe came in late and may need to be sworn in. Jeffrey Weinstein and Shelley Nesbet, if you'll please stand. Miss, do you swear or confirm the testimony you may give during this public hearing will be truthful and accurate? I do. Thank you. Please state your name and address for the record.

Jeffrey Weinstein, 155 East Boca Raton Road, unit 511. Um the only way this project can be approved is by um the develop or seeking and obtaining numerous requests for waiverss, zoning variances, technical deviations and a transfer of development rights from one sub area to the other. This is not an ofight development. This is a development that they're asking you to be complicit in it in its development. First, the developer is improperly trying to meet open space requirements by installing stairs leading to a plaza for high-end boutiques. Instead of providing genuine ground level open space accessible and visible to the public under the city's own definition of open space, stairs leading to a second floor retail terrace and the terrace itself should not count as required open space. And yet no one has mentioned any of that. That's just something that you're going to go along with. How are senior citizens going to walk up this open space staircase? The developer is asking to transfer 154,815 square ft of office equivalent development from downtown sub area D to downtown sub area B, thereby squashing

everything into the area from North Second Street to uh the alleyway to Bocarid East Bocarone Road which currently is develop is being developed by the Alto project which you approved today. I have heard nothing about a traffic study. All of the traffic that will be going down the alleyway and East Boaton Road and Second Street are all going to dump into Meisner Boulevard and into East uh Palmetto uh road. If you go there now, you will see that we have gridlock without these two projected developments and nobody is taking account of that. Fundamentally, the developer is asking for a sweetheart deal from the government of Bocarone. the bar the the government represents the people not just a developer.

Thank you. Shelley Nesbet.

Hello. Good evening. Thank you. Um I own a property at 250 Northeast Meisner. It's probably the closest single family home to the new development. Uh my opinion is actually quite contrary to what I'm hearing here from my neighbors and I just wanted to express my thoughts as a property owner in the community and why I think this project is actually so important. When I personally bought that property close to 10 years ago, one of the biggest benefits for living on Meisner Boulevard was the walkability and the amenities to all the different things that we have available in Bokeh. If you take a close look at the real estate values on East Boca Raton Road all the way to six from Meisner Boulevard all the way to Fifth, that quadrant of single family homes has appreciated the most than any other single family homes in that particular area because of the walkability to our amenities. I believe if we zoom out and we look at this project as an iconic project for the city of Bokeh and for the amenities it will provide the residents of Bokeh where we can continue to walk to everything and reduce traffic. I think that there's a huge advantage for us to seriously consider why this project is fantastic. Clearly, there's reasons that people at 155 do not want to have this project built because of the obstruction of views and the additional uh pedestrian traffic that might interfere with their their day-to-day living. But this is beyond just tower 155. The single family residents that are in that community will benefit greatly for all the things that this project will provide. Not to mention the fact that there will be a hotel. I know for myself personally that if my children want to come and visit, my friends want to come and visit, it

would be fantastic to have a to have a hotel in in walking distance. The hotels are not always available and they're very expensive. So having more inventory of hotel space will be great. So I think it's important to kind of look at this not just from a um perspective of obstruction, traffic, concentration, density, but to the value that it does bring the residents to have all that extra amenities and accessibility to things that we want. And that's why we move there. Whoever lives in that area move because of the walkability. And I think it's really important and the and the effort that I know that they've put in to make this pedestrian friendly and to make it as attractive as it is, I think it will become an iconic project. So, thank you.

Thank you. I believe someone just filled out a card, but I don't have it yet. So, ma'am, if you'd like to come forward,

please state your name and address for the record. You have three minutes. Sure. Gina Waldhorn and I live at 1020 Southwest 2nd Street in Boertown, Florida. And ma'am, were you sworn in? I have not been. Okay. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you may give during this public hearing will be truthful and accurate? I do.

Thank you. Uh, thank you for your time, for your service. Um, I came today because I grew up in Old Floresta. I live close to the proposed development today. I ride my bike around the area, go to Second Street Bagels. I've been going forever. Um, I think there's not a lot of I wouldn't say like, you know, there's not a lot of people who look like me at these meetings anymore because they're 6:00 and we got kids, but I just wanted to come with the voice of the kind of 30s, 40s. We have young kids. We use that space. This does not look like a property that continues to build the kind of middle class affordable bokeh that I grew up in and that we're looking for. It feels like it serves a lot of out oftowners and you know I'm I'm open to it. I'm hope they work with the people here. But you look at renders like that and the renders are full of Lamborghinis and Porsches and they're talking about people sitting out with quartets. That's not our downtown bokeh. Um, and it's not the bokeh I think why the one bokeh. There's like, you know, just a lot of feedback here. And whatever gets proposed and whatever gets passed, I do hope to see affordable shopping and just more realistic, you know, property for people who have grown up here and are just a bit frustrated with the constant massive building and the premium, you know, only serving a premium upper class. And so I just hope you take that into consideration and um thank you for your time and your service.

Thank you. Who's next? That's all the cards I have. Does anybody else want to speak on this item? If not, I'll ask Miss Zacharitas to respond to some of the comments. [clears throat]

Thank you. Okay. I took notes. I will try to answer all questions. If I miss anything, please let me know. I'm trying to get to Okay, so these are very similar objections and conversations that were had when Tower 155 was built. I want to remind this board that almost 40 years ago, the residents of the city of Bokeh voted and by a landslide voted for a downtown. It has taken a very long time, but baby steps, we are making our way to creating an actual true downtown. But again, this was voted on years ago. If it wasn't for that vote, Tower 155 would never be a possibility. I want to remind the board that Tower 155 is the tallest building in our downtown.

It's irrelevant. So, when tower 155 was built, um these are their setbacks. By code, you have to have 26 ft. If you are an IDG project, which this was, you do not need any setback on the north side, their side setback, and they took advantage of that. They have 1.48 ft on their No, you're you're sir. Do not interrupt or I'll have you removed.

Go on. So this is the current condition as it exists today. It is a 10-ft alley. You could see their setback. I don't even think it's 1.48 ft, but that is what the plans say. There is a truck sitting there that tower 155 tends to use the alley as their loading and unloading zone. That is not the purpose of the alley and I will get into more detail on that. I've already referenced the setbacks. Um, these are the views from Tower 155. We paid much attention very early on in the process to design a building that would maximize the views that Tower 155 currently enjoys. Tower 155's highest point, which is approximately 160 ft, is along Meisner Boulevard and then step staggers down as it heads west. So we designed a building to opposite that to maximize their views and you can see that here. We also did not maximize our development. So ordinance 4035 gives you the jar of peanut butter in which you can develop. Ordinance 4035 requires a 6-foot front setback, street setback, zero side, and zero rear. You take that jar of peanut butter and you can do IDG, which allows for a taller building, 12 stories at 140 ft, but requires significantly more setbacks along that street facade, 26 ft to be exact. So, this is the volume mass that we were allowed to build under the IDG. This bottom left is what we've proposed. This bottom right shows in pink all the square footage that we unilaterally left

on the table. Leasable square footage that we left on the table. It is over 200,000 square ft. We did that to be good neighbors to maximize views from for tower 155. Tower 155. This is how they were built. again almost 160 ft. This is what we are proposing and this is what we can do by right. So I heard a gentleman wrong falsely say that we are asking for significant relief. That is not an accurate statement. We have one ask and it is for a reduction in parking. It's for a reduction in parking because our parking code is over 40 almost 40 years old and archaic. However, Tower 155 had many ask, including amending the code to reduce the acreage requirement for IDG projects.

They would have been entitled to build nine stories 100 ft. Period. Full stop. The applicant at the time amended the code to reduce the acreage requirement to allow this building, Tower 155, to be an IDG building. And they maximized development. They are at 160 ft. They also asked for a reduction in parking similar to what we are requesting. Ironically, they're complaining about the width of the alley. They noted that the East Boca Raton Road is 18 ft in width and we're proposing 20 feet in width. East Boca Raton is functioning perfectly fine and we are I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, I can't I can't present this way. Officer, could you have a little discussion with that gentleman that keeps interrupting?

They can't stand prostitutes. Prostitutes. Can you escort him out? Prostitutes. Yeah. Good. Let's go dance. Jesus. So you're so

sorry. Okay. So there was some conversation about the width of the alley. Um again it is 10 ft today. It used to actually be 13 feet, but Tower 155, the applicant at the time, actually went in for an abandonment of three feet of that alley. So, it used to be 13 ft. They removed 3 ft of that alley. We're giving 10 ft to that alley, and that alley will now be wider than East Boer Ron Road. Um, it's very important to note how Tower 155 can and cannot use the alley. In accordance with their approvals, the gate, the northern gate exiting the garage was only allowed to be open, only allowed to be open when the city of Boca Raton had a special event on East Boca Raton Road, closing East Boca Raton Road. Then and only then can they open that northern gate. Nonetheless, last night we saw multiple cars with a gate open going in and out of the alley. They reference a loading zone. They have their own loading zone, but they use the alley as their own personal loading and unloading. They have a loading zone. There is not supposed to be a car there. That is where their moving trucks are supposed to be. That is where UPS and and Amazon and the like are supposed to pull over to to deliver their packages or move their furniture. This is where that is supposed to occur. The fact that they choose not to use their building as it was approved to be used is not the

fault of of of us. It's also really important to know that these are their condominium docs. These are the HOA docs that every single owner at tower 155 had to execute. It specifies without any arbit like it's it's clear as day. This is an urban area. There will be demolition. There will be construction. There will be views obstructed. This is the reality. And they all signed this.

Could you read that portion that's highlighted in your record? Because the condominium is located in an urban area, demolition or construction of buildings and other structures within the immediate area or within the view lines of any particular unit or of any part of the condominium. The views may block, obstruct, shadow or otherwise affect views which may currently be visible from the unit or from the condominium. It then goes on to say related to views or the disruption, noise, commotion and other unpleasant effects of nearby development or construction. So they were very much put on notice. I the tower 155 is literally the tallest building in our downtown and they are complaining about a building that is 20 ft less in height that has been very thoughtfully planned and carefully planned to provide the least amount of impacts as humanly possible to to 155. We are over 54 feet away from their building. We could be 11. I think that is extremely important. Um, what have I forgotten? Oh, conditions of approval, uh, that Ellen noted, we can work through that between planning and zoning and CRA. As I stand here right now, the only two conditions that they've proposed that we're willing to agree with, and again, we will continue to work on them, is doing a survey of Tower 155 and the surrounding property. that is in the best interest of my client to make sure, as Ellen noted, they are already in litigation. So, we certainly don't want to be blamed for damage that already exists. So, it is in our best interest to to prepare that survey. Um, and also vibration. We will

be doing vibration testing um throughout the process. That too we will agree to. Um, I think that might be it. Oh, why now? We've been working on this project, as Miss Lester and Mr. Shad can note, since I believe June of 2023. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Miss Leser, Mr. Chad, do you have any anything to say?

I don't have anything to add. I mean, certainly happy to answer questions. Okay. Thank you. Okay. With that, I will look for a motion and a second to approve subject to a survey being done of the tower 155 and a vibration test. I make a motion that we approve the IDA as proposed. I will second that. Okay. Any discussion? I'm sorry to be clear. That is that with the with the two added conditions or without? With the two added conditions. Yeah. Correct. That's my That was He said as proposed. So I was just I think you saying how I proposed it. Correct. Okay. Yeah. Excuse me. Any other discussion, Mr. Mitchell?

I'll let others go first.

Sure. I mean, I I supported the project when it came around the first time. I'm disappointed that uh the city owned parcel is not going to be part of it and turned into a park. I thought that was going to be a much better use of that property than what it is now and it's now going to be stuck probably into perpetuity as a small non-conforming parking area because it's not big enough to do anything else with. So, I'm a little disappointed that that's coming out of it. Um [clears throat] I definitely hear everybody at 155 and a lot of the the complaints, but I also don't necessarily agree with a lot of those complaints. Um because a lot of these things that I'm hearing from everybody at Tower 155 are the same complaints that all the surrounding residents had when their project came in and they're very clearly happy in the residents that they have and everybody around them, you know, didn't love to see that building go up and yet it's there today. So

that's my two cents. Anyone else? This Rob? Yeah. I also would like to acknowledge the uh the complaints of of the neighbors. Um, you know, our our role is not necessarily to address all of all of the concerns. So, I just want to be clear about that. But if you do happen to have concerns that have not been addressed, I encourage you to uh speak with um the applicant and I'm sure that you can find resolution. [laughter] Okay, Mr. Mitchell, I concur with my colleagues in their statements. Yeah, I do as well. Okay. Anything else? Not. Kathy, please call the role.

Mitchell, yes. McDermad, yes. Matthews, yes. Morabi, yes. Sevel, yes. Dormlazer, yes. Motion passes, six votes to zero. Okay. Thank you everyone for attending. Okay. Do we have any public requests about any other topic? Last call for public requests. Seeing none. Okay. With that, we are adjourned. It's 7:11.

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