A Boca Raton property owner who had petitioned for permission to fill in a cove off the Intracoastal Waterway in order to build houses on the newly-created land was turned down by the city council this week, with the governing body rejecting a non-binding decision rendered in mediation.
A submerged area off the Intracoastal Waterway off NE 8th Avenue in Boca Raton, FL, June 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)
William Swaim, who has garnered significant notoriety for claiming ownership of submerged properties across Florida and claiming the right to be able to develop them, is seeking to set up containment booms and pump fill into the cove at the end of NE 8th Avenue, just west of the Intracoastal Waterway channel. His plan, after creating a new swath of dry land, would be to build residential properties on the approximately 4-acres that would make up the site. Last month, a special magistrate issued a non-binding recommendation that a code enforcement order preventing Swaim from filling in the cove placed an unreasonable burden on his property. The city council had 45 days to either accept or reject the decision.
On Tuesday, the cove was a lively location despite cloudy weather. A group of teens were fishing from a small aluminum boat, while a family slowly towed a tube behind a jet-ski in the shallow water. Birds and reptiles rested along the shore, which consists of a combination of rip-rap, sand and bulkheading.
A submerged area off the Intracoastal Waterway off NE 8th Avenue in Boca Raton, FL, June 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)
A submerged area off the Intracoastal Waterway off NE 8th Avenue in Boca Raton, FL, June 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)
A submerged area off the Intracoastal Waterway off NE 8th Avenue in Boca Raton, FL, June 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)…