Spotlight On: Rebecca Shelton, Mayor, City of Boynton Beach
September 2025 — The city of Boynton Beach is looking toward the future as it continues to rebrand itself as a key destination in South Florida. Newly elected Mayor Rebecca Shelton is focused on guiding the development of a thriving downtown among other goals. “We need to rebrand the city to bring in new constituents that will be supporting the downtown, and this will go hand in hand with the development that we are starting to see in the area,” she told Invest:.
What are your immediate priorities as the new mayor of Boynton Beach?
One of the main priorities is to build a thriving downtown, a downtown that is pedestrian-friendly and walkable. There are new developments coming, in different stages, and many of them close to breaking ground. We need to rebrand the city to bring in new constituents that will be supporting the downtown, and this will go hand in hand with the development that we are starting to see in the area. Boynton has not seen much development opportunities over the years, as much of the development has happened in our neighboring cities, but now is definitely our time to usher in exciting new development in the city of Boynton. We expect to see major anchor projects that will spur economic development in Downtown Boynton.
What makes Boynton a great place to live, work and play?
We are centralized in Palm Beach County, and the county is one of the biggest counties east of the Mississippi River, so it covers a lot of ground. Our location allows residents and visitors to go anywhere in Palm Beach County within 20 minutes north or south. We are located in the eastern corridor in close proximity to the A1A highway. This is a great benefit as it allows us to retain our identity as a fishing and a family community. We are attracting the single-income-no-kids and dual-income-no-kids population segments who are settling in our downtown. This is really promising to revive our area, especially our downtown.
How is the city leveraging its public-private partnerships?
We have several public-private partnerships in the works. We have one partnership to help spur residential development in our Town Square area, which we expect to kick off momentum for our downtown. We also have two in the works slated for our Ocean Avenue corridor, where our city hall is located. This is the first of its kind in the city at this magnitude. We expect this to set a trend for successful development down the road.
How is the city balancing expected growth while maintaining its identity?
What the identity of the city is may depend on who you ask. We have our western and eastern corridors. Our western corridor primarily features our senior citizen population, as well as young families, and there is some revitalization that needs to happen there. It depends on the demographic that we aim to cater to. When thinking about our downtown efforts, this will provide opportunities for people to live in an exciting downtown and go to local events. However, we still need to remain cautious and attentive to the needs of our senior community, as we feature a large senior community. With the rebranding of the city, there are many administrative tasks that we need to do in order to make sure none of our citizens are excluded.
What new amenities or services are part of the rebranding effort?
A key project from the previous administration was our coastal cruisers. This is a program where residents can jump in our coastal cruisers, which take them to the beach, and not have to deal with parking. This is something we did not have previously. Before, the lack of parking made it difficult for residents and visitors to go to the beach. The coastal cruisers also take people to grocery stores, doctor appointments, or local events, for example. We are in need of improved parking structures downtown, such as a parking garage. With the new development, we are going to be able to have improved parking to support the local events.
A key win for the city is that our events participation is performing like never before. Every event is packed with attendees from all over the city. As a result, we need more parking to support our local events.
These are good problems to have as they reflect the growth happening locally. Even with the current challenges of the real estate market, there is still healthy demand for Boynton’s eastern corridor. We have a great opportunity to build the city out.
How is the city helping local business owners?
We are open for business and we are looking at all the opportunities that people want to provide. We have a lot of programs for new business owners. We have a robust grant program. With the proper education and as more people become aware of these resources, it will help more businesses become established in the city.
What other infrastructure improvements are in the pipeline for the city?
We are considering remodeling the city’s marina area. That will create more of an opportunity to make downtown a destination area. We are also revamping the city’s beautification efforts and community improvement standards, which I believe will help maintain the new infrastructure that is coming to the city. My priorities as mayor are code enforcement and community improvement. We have to create a vibrant and beautiful downtown for businesses to want to come and stay in Boynton. We also have a new amphitheater downtown which is starting to see a lot more utilization. We have an average of 51 events a year. This goes in hand with our rebranding efforts. We are fortunate to have new developments that are coming because it is up to us to rebrand the city of Boynton so that developers have the support they need to invest in our city.
We have a lot of people who have moved to the city since 2020, and these are the same people who want a vibrant downtown. We are engaging the new residents of the city, which in parts engages long-time residents as well. Both of these population segments are coming and participating in our events. We are now a city of approximately 80,000 residents when five to 10 years ago, we were at about 40,000 residents. Also, given that we are so close to other cities, such as Delray, we desperately need a hotel in the downtown area. I believe that this will really take off because people can stay in Boynton and visit nearby cities as well.
What have been some efforts to spur workforce housing?
We are well on our way as it relates to workforce housing in district 2. We have some beautiful projects that were recently completed. It is great to see that the corridor from downtown into district 2 and district 3 has been a focus of beautification.
What are the top priorities for the city moving forward?
I’m proud to work with the city commission as many of us are like minded and want to see the city move forward. I’m happy that we have a commission that is progressive enough and wants to see smart growth, but we can’t be stagnant because a few people do not want to see new development. In the coming three years, I would like to see most of our downtown development projects either completed or well on their way in the construction process. I would like to see a downtown that is more walkable. My vision is for the city to have a thriving, walkable downtown, where people can leave their homes and go down the street and have many great places to visit. I would also like to see the historic element of the city remain. This is a focus of future commission meetings to see how we can incorporate this factor into our future plans.
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