Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
MAUREEN BYRNE AHERNThe Malo's Island Grill owner wants to sell the 1-acre site to a developer of townhouses.
SOUTH PASADENA - For years, the waterfront restaurant on Pasadena Avenue drew crowds for its hearty deli sandwiches and omelets. But since the Old World Cheese Shop closed its doors in 1992, other eateries there have struggled to survive.
The latest casualty is Malo's Island Grill, where owner Dionis Malo says he's not making enough money selling steak and seafood entrees. With more than 1,500 condominiums within walking distance of 3333 Pasadena Ave., the lack of business is frustrating. Malo says he does have some faithful patrons, but not enough.
"It's not worth my time," he said Friday.
So Malo is asking the city to change his property's land use and zoning designations from commercial to residential so a developer can build nine three-story townhomes on the one-acre site.
The plan doesn't sit well with some of those nearby condominium dwellers, who claim the proposed project would lower their property values.
"They're going to look out their windows and see nothing but the backs of townhomes," said Mary Weyn, who lives on the seventh floor of Bay Island's Ambassador building, an eight-story condominium next door to the restaurant. "They're very upset."
Ambassador residents have delivered 67 individual petitions to City Hall, urging commissioners to deny the project. The petition says the upscale townhomes would block their views, reduce their privacy, endanger their building's foundation and increase traffic at an already congested intersection.
"Bay Islanders will listen carefully to the votes of this committee, and will remember how that vote went come next election," the petition reads.
On Monday, dozens of residents packed a public hearing on the property's land use request. "Everyone in the audience was against it," said Mrs. Weyn, who says even though the proposed townhomes wouldn't affect her view, she's concerned for her neighbors.
So far, their pleas aren't making a difference.
The City Commission unanimously approved a request to change the property's land use from commercial to residential. A second vote will take place Jan. 13.
The city's Planning and Zoning Board will hold a public hearing on the zoning request on Jan. 6. Commissioners then will hear the board's recommendation and vote on the zoning change at their meeting Jan. 13.
City Attorney Linda Hallas says she understands residents' concerns, but even if the land use and zoning don't change, neighbors still could lose their views.
Whether the property is commercial or residential, the height limit for buildings is the same - 46 feet. Even if townhomes don't replace the 6,000-square-foot restaurant, a three-story office complex could, Hallas said.
Residents of the Ambassador, especially ones who live on the lower floors, want the building to remain a restaurant. But with land at a premium in built-out Pinellas County, that seems unlikely. Developers are willing to pay top dollar for a slice of land that has a view of the water. A lot more than what another restaurateur would likely pay.
After the Old World Cheese Shop closed, the place was vacant for a couple of years. Pepino's on the Water, with its white table cloths and black-tie staff, opened in 1995 and closed that same year.
The Black Angus Stockyard opened later in 1995. But the restaurant and two other Black Angus closed two years later when the owner was convicted of failing to pay sales taxes collected at the restaurants.