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Boca Raton is NOT on our side

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Re: Boca Raton is NOT on our side

Boca Raton is NOT on our side

josulli8 said

I want to live there!

Although it looked like from the documents that they were going to shoot it down, the Planning and Zoning committee hashed it out for over two and a half hours and the basic consensus is: yes, certain aspects of this proposal aren't perfect but we really want and need this to happen, so fix it and me it so.

Sounds like a really nice place: study rooms, a convenience store, a dining facility?, a gym, billiards room, big pool, a shuttle to campus and maybe even a shuttle to Publix on the weekends (FAU's SGA is working on that apparently, as someone from SGA came and spoke for the project and said they would be willing to work with University Park about a shuttle to other places off-campus).

I hope you don't plan to bring your car, though. The P+Z Committee did recommend less parking, something like 300 spots for 600 residents. They want students biking or walking up/down 20th if they're not riding the shuttle and the developers agreed.

My bet is that you're going to see a lot more student-oriented development along 20th in the near future. Apparently student housing is a booming market and the city recognizes that FAU's growth is unstoppable. At one point it was mentioned that FAU could have as many as 3,000 more freshmen in the next few years than spots in dorms on campus, even with the second phase of the Innovation Village and Greek Village.

See how this is a game changer? Once Addison Park became successful, it kicked open the door to all this kind of development. This project - University Park - is being proposed by the same people behind Addison Park but it really won't be long before other developers get in on it too, like dominoes, and word will get out to prospective students as well that FAU now has this whole new student district to the east of campus and it's cool to go here now.

It's going to be exciting to watch, I think.



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Re: Boca Raton is NOT on our side

Say this does get approved, what is the time frame we're looking at? Is it 2-3 years from now or is it 10 years from now?

My two favorite teams are FAU, and who ever is beating FIU!
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Re: Boca Raton is NOT on our side

Jab979 said

Say this does get approved, what is the time frame we're looking at? Is it 2-3 years from now or is it 10 years from now?

The former. They've had more than enough time to get a site plan and everything together.

Maybe Fall 2013? No dates were thrown out specifically.
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Re: Boca Raton is NOT on our side

C'mon Boca, get your use restrictions in writing and get 'er done! The more students living on-campus and in Boca the better!
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Re: Boca Raton is NOT on our side

GeorgiaOwl said

C'mon Boca, get your use restrictions in writing and get 'er done! The more students living on-campus and in Boca the better!

Early on when they were reviewing the project, the City Council recognized that they didn't have many rules and regulations governing Student Housing and realized that they needed to get things in writing because the tap is now running and these projects are going to keep coming forward. They were concerned that:

- Student Housing would go up next to existing single and multi-family housing units, causing noise complaints and property devaluation;
- Students would rent a 4 bedroom and that, over time, friends/girlfriends/boyfriends would be living there and suddenly it becomes 7-10 people living in a 4 bedroom, exceeding the fire code;
- Student Housing would draw undesirables, like drug dealers and gangs, which would increase crime and vandalism;
- There would be an increased burden on the Boca PD as they are increasingly called to break up parties;

and so on.

Some of it's true yet if there are students in the area, whether they're in a dedicated student housing project or not, these problems will exist. As FAU grows, the students will find a way to move to the area. At least University Park is saying, hey, we're going to have people living on-site and if there's a problem, we should be able to self-regulate it. That's a model that should be replicated in all student housing, so if anything is going into writing by the City, it should be things like:

- Any student housing project shall be within two miles of the university;
- Any student housing project shall have staff on-site to mitigate complaints of noise and unwanted visitors to mitigate the burden on Boca PD;
- Any student housing project shall limit parking to one 1/2 or 2/3 of overall residents to encourage alternative transportation;
- Any student housing project shall include a monitored shelter for bicycles;
- Any student housing project shall include a Shuttle Stop shelter at the front of the neighborhood along a city road.
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Re: Boca Raton is NOT on our side

FYI, the project passed City Council tonight by a vote of 4-1. University park is officially a GO.

The single "no", by the way, came from City Councilman Anthony "I don't want to see campus bleeding over into our city" Mahjess who:

A) Came up with the most cockamamie excuses to be against it such as "we're losing prime industrial land", "we have students living across the street from me and they're just fine… I mean, yeah, I called the cops on them a couple times, but…" "this could open the door to rehab institutions who force their residents to take college classes so they can save on the cost", etc etc.

B) He's running for Mayor of Boca Raton. If you care about FAU, you won't vote for him (or let other people do it either)

And there's that. The Planning and Zoning Committee is going to be working with FAU, these developers and other people on a "20th Street study" to basically figure out how to best redevelop it into a walkable, college-centric developmental area they called "University Avenue" (twice)

This means that sometime in the next decade (I would think, if not sooner) FAU students will be able to "walk downtown" from campus and conceivably hit up restaurants, bars, novelty shops, etc. You guys have been to college towns. You know where this is going.
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Re: Boca Raton is NOT on our side

So where do they go from here? What will be built and when?


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