Florida’s Boca Raton council meeting erupts with anger over plan to bulldoze park honoring WWII veterans

Members of a Florida community were in an uproar as their city council seemed indifferent to even do the “bare minimum” as plans advanced to build over a park honoring WWII veterans.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Petitions and protests left residents of Boca Raton, Florida feeling ignored by their elected officials in recent weeks as there appeared to be no stopping a vote that would decide the fate of the local 17-acre Memorial Park. After the most recent meeting was packed with outspoken members of the community adorned in matching “Save Boca” t-shirts, two participants joined “Fox & Friends First” to further their cause.

“The voice of the people is stronger than ever and they are saying loud and clear: stop this project, the people do not want it,” Jon Pearlman had said during his time to address the council before explaining to Fox News host Carley Shimkus the generational legacy of the park.

Likewise, fellow resident Buffy Tucker had said, “… I’m the proud granddaughter [of a WWII veteran] … and I think he’s one of the greatest people from the greatest generation that ever lived. So, I think that’s worth fighting for and that’s what we’re doing.”

As it stands, a vote was expected for October regarding David Martin’s development firm, Terra and its plan to bulldoze the park in favor of a 1.5 million square foot Government Campus Redevelopment project.

Initially, it had been believed that the plan was strictly intended to revitalize city hall, but Pearlman explained that, after some digging, it was discovered it would include roughly 1,000 residences, a hotel, restaurants, shops and a new city hall.

“This is a loss of open space, an increase in density, and a major change to the face of Boca Raton,” said one protester at the August 26 meeting. “It should be decided by a referendum, and not by five people who live west of I-95.”

(Video Credit: WPEC)

“There is no opportunity for the people, it seems like, to have a voice in that, other than to speak at these meetings. We think this ought to be put up to the people for a vote,” expressed resident Robert Otto to WPEC, while Shannon Otto said, “They want to take the police station and they want to move that further west. With all the buildings they’re doing, now they’re gonna take the police and move that. That’s where crime happens. That makes no sense to me.”

Meanwhile, as some 2,000 signatures had reportedly been gathered, Mayor Scott Singer insisted that the voices of the people were being heard, “I understand some of you want us to say stop today … No decision has been made today.”

That sentiment failed to satisfy the outspoken protesters as, amid calls for a public vote, Tucker telling Shimkus, “I feel like, at bare minimum, they should have, even at that meeting, put the entire project on pause. They actually did not do that which was very surprising to me. I think the whole project needs to be scrapped and we need to start over on all of this.”

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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