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Consultants say untieing bureaucratic red tape to speed the approval process would help development in the county.
By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 11, 2002
Few developers enjoy explaining detailed plans to elected officials who lack their expertise. They may shudder when facing ornery neighborhood groups complaining about their plans.
Hoping to make Pinellas County more attractive for redevelopment, local public officials will gather at a special summit Thursday and Friday to try to figure out a countywide strategy to streamline existing land development codes and speed up Pinellas' bureaucratic process.
But their potential tinkering could end up limiting -- and in some cases eliminating -- the public's role in deciding future plans that shape neighborhoods.
A set of suggestions drafted by consultants and reviewed by the Pinellas Planning Council call for an overhaul of codes. Among proposed changes:
Whenever possible, make site plan review and approval a staff decision, instead of making a developer go before an elected body.
Allow "nondetrimental" variances and hardship requests to be approved without public hearing.
Re-evaluate notification requirements for public meetings.
"The point of all this," said David Healey, executive director of the PPC, "is: Let's agree on the game plan up front and be proactive about preparing a plan that is very public, has citizen input, and we can reach agreement on the principals. And let's not subject every detail to an extended public debate."
Added Richard Gehring, a consultant hired to help organize this week's Redevelopment Opportunities Summit for the Pinellas Community: "It's a very complex process.
Gehring's Dunedin-based Prime Interest firm was among the consulting groups hired this year to draft a study examining development issues affecting the 24 municipalities and county government in Pinellas County.
That study will be used as a reference guide at the summit and many of the suggestions could spark intense debate at the two-day conference.
In the notification category, consultants hinted at scrapping a requirement to post legal advertisements in newspapers because they can add 14 to 30 days to the process. They inferred that reducing perimeter requirements that require notifying surrounding homeowners by mail lengthens the process, too.
The study concludes that the public should have input when governing officials decide broad policies on redevelopment, but not when developers present detailed plans. Their comments about site plans may color proceedings with "irrelevant and self-serving commentary," the consultants warned.
Pinellas County Commissioner Karen Seel, who also helped organize the summit, said many of the suggestions are already in place. Pinellas hardly requires public hearings for variances and site plans rarely go before the commission. But she said the suggestions are just that.
"This is not a guide book," she said. "Those were observations and recommendations. I do think there is a need to do some streamlining. But we never intended to limit the public's involvement."
Redevelopment Opportunities Summit for the Pinellas Community
Where: Harborview Center, 300 Cleveland St., Clearwater
When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday; 8 a.m. to noon Friday
For information: Call Pinellas County Economic Development, 453-7200, or register online at www.siliconbay.org.