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Design rules get hearing
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- As many residents learned this spring that large affordable apartment complexes might rise near their homes, one of their many concerns became how the neighborhood would look. When Hernando County planners checked the rules, though, they found that no standards existed to guide the design of multifamily developments. So they wrote some. The proposed ordinance goes to the Planning and Zoning Commission next week for review. "This is to better define the product, to ensure to some level what you're getting," explained Jerry Greif, the county's chief planner. "We have done compatibility standards in residential, but we had not addressed multifamily." If ultimately approved, the regulation would cover standards such as numbers of parking spaces, minimum amounts of open space, placement of trash containers and on-site management requirements. The ordinance also would enact design rules for commercial construction. It comes on the heels of recent efforts to set standards for retail development over 25,000 square feet, and for commercial landscaping. Opposition could mount quickly. "I'm not opposed to constructive ideas," said Gary Schraut, a real estate broker who has worked with apartment builders. "I just hope it's not another effort to impede and stop growth under the disguise of saying they want to do "controlled growth.' It's such a sad and weak phrase at this point because it's overused." Rules that lead to a better end product are welcome, Schraut said. But not if they increase production costs needlessly, he added quickly. Planning board member Anna Liisa Covell said that the state building code should suffice, without the county imposing any additional architectural standards for developers to follow. "You're talking about a lot of money," Covell said of such requirements. "When you look at a builder and the money to spend, they're only chasing people away from Hernando County." It's already happening, she noted, citing a growing list of projects coming to the city of Brooksville to escape the county's increasingly tougher rules. But improved design standards appear to be what residents desire, commission Chairwoman Nancy Robinson said. "This came out of meetings with citizens, aesthetics," Robinson said, adding that a property maintenance ordinance will follow. "Minimum standards obviously create exactly that, the minimum. You want reasonable standards for the county, and the public should be a part of that." Commissioner Diane Rowden said the county needed to move in this direction and mentioned the idea of establishing an architectural review committee to approve projects before they move forward. "You don't want something that's just really ugly in somebody's neighborhood," Rowden said. "You want something that has some visual appeal to it." That might be the case, Commissioner Betty Whitehouse acknowledged. But the standards should come within a framework of an overarching vision that residents have for Hernando County, she said. Whitehouse said she would continue to press for a "visioning" workshop, so leaders could set goals based upon the county's strengths and weaknesses as identified in a recent economic development study conducted by the University of Florida. "That's a crucial step," Whitehouse said. "We've done the study. We need to incorporate the study. As ordinances come forward, I want to cross-reference them with the study . . . to see if we are addressing the issues." The Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to discuss the multifamily design standards at 1 p.m. Monday. -- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Hernando County government and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com.
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From today's Hernando Times Letters |
