Boca Raton council narrows code‑amendment priorities, moves to fast‑track downtown streamlining and Bridal transit edits

At a workshop meeting on May 29, 2024, Development Services Director Mr. Shadd updated the City Council on the roster of council‑sponsored code amendments and asked the council to confirm priorities.

Mr. Shadd told the council the CAB process improvement ordinance "is nearly drafted and then we'll need to undergo internal review, and then it will be put forward for public hearings." He said the proposed electric‑vehicle parking revisions would be removed from the local list because recent state legislation preempted that city action. The car‑wash amendment for the RB‑1 zoning district, he said, is "essentially drafted" but currently lacks a sponsor.

Council members debated whether code amendments put forward by members who leave the dais should be re‑sponsored by current members. Some councilors said items with an existing sponsor should continue through staff processing; others said the prioritization process helps staff allocate limited resources to high‑impact items. The mayor and multiple councilors supported focusing staff time on measures that yield the greatest public benefit per staff hour.

The council discussed several specific proposals: allowing additional height in R‑5 and REC districts tied to a request near the Tri‑Rail station; an amendment to the city's 10% affordable‑housing incentive to promote density at the transit site; an instructional‑schools amendment that might expand summer day‑camp uses where retail is permitted; and a Danberg PMD amendment at Clintmore Road and Congress Avenue. On the RB‑1 car‑wash item, Mr. Shadd said the draft would generally require that at least 50% of building square footage be retail or restaurant to avoid stand‑alone car‑wash uses.

Councilors asked for timing estimates. Mr. Shadd estimated the CAB ordinance "at least by the end of the summer, if not sooner," and said the downtown streamlining work could take on the order of tens of staff hours and, in his view, offered high impact for comparatively low staff time. He recommended moving some items in parallel while reserving staff capacity for the larger land‑development code rewrite.

The council gave staff direction to proceed with the prioritized list and to return with required drafts and public‑hearing dates. No formal votes were taken during the workshop; the matters are scheduled for subsequent hearings as drafted ordinances are completed.

What’s next: staff will complete internal review of the CAB ordinance and return the drafted amendments for public hearings; councilors signaled support for parallel drafting of downtown streamlining and the Bridal‑site amendments while the larger land‑development code rewrite continues.