Boca Raton narrows code-amendment priorities; staff to push CAB ordinance and downtown streamlining while EV parking item is removed

At the May 29 workshop, Development Services Director Shadd updated the council on quarterly prioritization of council-sponsored code amendments and sought direction on which items to advance.

Shadd told the council the CAB (process improvement) ordinance is nearly drafted and ready to begin internal review and public hearings. He recommended removing electric-vehicle parking revisions from the prioritized list because recently enacted state legislation preempts local EV-parking rules.

Shadd said a proposed amendment to allow car washes in the RB-1 zoning district is essentially drafted but lost its sponsor when a council member left; the version under consideration would allow a car wash only as part of a larger development where more than 50% of building square footage is retail or restaurant, preventing stand-alone car washes. Shadd also said amendments to facilitate instructional schools and further downtown streamlining remain on the list but have varying levels of staff work completed; the land development code rewrite will delay some items.

Council members debated the prioritization approach, with several members saying staff should focus on items with the greatest citywide 'bang for the buck' while others cautioned that leaving amendments orphaned when sponsors leave the dais creates uncertainty. The council directed staff to proceed with finalizing the CAB ordinance and to pursue downtown streamlining (IDA process) and the Bridal/PMD work in parallel, while treating instructional schools and other items per staff capacity; members noted the CAB/streamlining effort may be completed with relatively low staff hours (Shadd estimated order-of-magnitude ~20 staff-hours for the downtown streamlining changes).

On timing, Shadd said the CAB ordinance could be ready for hearings by the end of the summer; other items would follow depending on staffing and whether a council member re-sponsors the car-wash amendment.