Staff: 1,000 additional CIMD units would be manageable; traffic issues driven by background growth
March 23, 2026 | Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, Florida
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City staff presented a level-of-service analysis for authorizing up to 1,000 additional residential units in the CIMD zoning bank at the March 23 workshop.
Development Services Director Brandon Shadd told the council that sanitary sewer and potable water capacity are sufficient for the proposed additional units. Under the city's parks standard of 11 acres per 1,000 population, Boca Raton currently has nearly 1,600 acres of parks and a population of about 107,000 (roughly 14–15 acres per 1,000), so adding an estimated 2,300 people (1,000 units at 2.3 persons per unit) would keep parks above the LOS standard.
On public safety resources, staff estimated the additional residential demand would equal about 140 police calls per year (about 0.14 calls per dwelling unit annually), roughly equivalent to two additional officers at current service levels. For fire and EMS, staff estimated about 122 calls per year from the additional units based on multifamily call rates from 2025.
Shadd presented school district projections showing the extra units would generate approximately 27 elementary students, 13 middle-school students and 19 high-school students. He noted those projections were supplied by the Palm Beach County School District and did not account for future boundary changes or private-school enrollment.
On transportation, Shadd said the city's LOS standard (D) and background traffic growth—not the proposed units—drive projected link failures in 2036. He identified several corridors and intersections expected to fail under baseline conditions and outlined mitigation options including expanded shuttle service and Boca Connect, multi-modal network investments (sidewalks, trails), streetscape and signal upgrades, additional turn lanes, and targeted corridor improvements. Council members discussed directing development participation in mitigation funding as a policy option.
Staff framed the analysis as informational; no binding action was taken at the workshop. Council members thanked staff for the analysis; the matter remains available for policy direction in future meetings.
Development Services Director Brandon Shadd told the council that sanitary sewer and potable water capacity are sufficient for the proposed additional units. Under the city's parks standard of 11 acres per 1,000 population, Boca Raton currently has nearly 1,600 acres of parks and a population of about 107,000 (roughly 14–15 acres per 1,000), so adding an estimated 2,300 people (1,000 units at 2.3 persons per unit) would keep parks above the LOS standard.
On public safety resources, staff estimated the additional residential demand would equal about 140 police calls per year (about 0.14 calls per dwelling unit annually), roughly equivalent to two additional officers at current service levels. For fire and EMS, staff estimated about 122 calls per year from the additional units based on multifamily call rates from 2025.
Shadd presented school district projections showing the extra units would generate approximately 27 elementary students, 13 middle-school students and 19 high-school students. He noted those projections were supplied by the Palm Beach County School District and did not account for future boundary changes or private-school enrollment.
On transportation, Shadd said the city's LOS standard (D) and background traffic growth—not the proposed units—drive projected link failures in 2036. He identified several corridors and intersections expected to fail under baseline conditions and outlined mitigation options including expanded shuttle service and Boca Connect, multi-modal network investments (sidewalks, trails), streetscape and signal upgrades, additional turn lanes, and targeted corridor improvements. Council members discussed directing development participation in mitigation funding as a policy option.
Staff framed the analysis as informational; no binding action was taken at the workshop. Council members thanked staff for the analysis; the matter remains available for policy direction in future meetings.
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