The quest for luxury condos could dry up a watering hole - and the homey vibe of Apollo Beach.
By LETITIA STEIN
Published October 8, 2004
APOLLO BEACH - Anyone can watch the sun dissolve into a puddle of gold over Tampa Bay from the weathered bar stools at the tiki bar.
Dollar drafts flow through dusk. Drinks are stiff, and the music is live. The bartender knows regulars by name. Their dogs, too.
While the sunsets are unlimited, waterfront property in Apollo Beach is not.
Developers are asking county commissioners to rezone the premier waterfront site, currently home to an aging Ramada Inn and a restaurant with a tiki bar, to build six stories of condos, mostly selling in the low $800,000s, over two floors of parking.
More than 100 homeowners are fighting what would be the tallest building in Apollo Beach. Most object to the height or reduced access to the waterfront, not the winds of change that are sweeping this once-sleepy community.
For better or worse, development is barreling into Apollo Beach. What happens at the Ramada site may set the tone for future development.
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By 6 most nights, the best seats are taken at the tiki bar, run by the Dolphin Grill restaurant.
The mostly local crowd drifts in after work Wednesday through Sunday, when the bar is open. Some walk over with their dogs. Happy hour runs roughly from to 3 to 7 p.m. during the week and longer on the weekend. But bartender Gary Cornette doesn't watch the clock.
"Everybody knows everybody," said Cornette, 48. "Even the dogs get along."
Cornette has manned the small bar between the hotel pool and Tampa Bay since the tiki hut opened about 10 years ago. Before that, a local restaurant set up a portable bar at the hotel where vacancies often outnumber reservations.
Cornette pours drinks for a mix of professionals and blue-collar workers who have lived side by side in Apollo Beach for years. Live music plays on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday and Thursday are karaoke nights and draw crowds from Sun City Center.
Linda Ambriano has been warming a seat at the bar for seven years. While her Yorkie plays with other dogs, Ambriano mulls the ebb of the tide.
"This (atmosphere) is what brings a lot of people to Apollo Beach," said Ambriano, 50. "It's our place."
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There is no tiki hut in the developers' vision. Their designs call for a pool with cascading waterfalls and an expensive clubhouse with an upscale bar.
Kendar , the development company, wants to tear down the 1960s hotel and build expensive condos with spectacular sunset views.
Initially, plans called for a 70-foot building with 53 units. The developer raised the height request to 90 feet - eight stories including parking - after county staffers asked the developers to leave open a small parcel to the north to preserve a water view from the street.
Kendar offered to give the 60-foot set-aside to the county for a park. But the county already has a public park nearby and wasn't interested.
So an open space, currently hotel parking, will remain private property.
Kendar president Darrell Reha said a condo association - like the hotel - could decide whether the public uses the facilities.
He denied that the tall structure would block views.
"It's the same view they have now," Reha said. "We're not taking away any more of the sunset view than they had before."
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Homeowner association boards of Bay Vista and Andalucia, nearby subdivisions, have written the county supporting the condos, saying the project would enhance the neighborhood.
But other residents object. More than 100 people signed a petition opposing the height; it was submitted at a land use hearing in August. Organizer Barbara Compton, who lives in the Cobia Cay subdivision, collected the signatures in two days.
"This is not the way that the residents would like to see Apollo Beach developed," said Compton, who never has visited the tiki bar, but heard concerns about the building's height and the loss of public access. "We don't have to be like Clearwater and have high-rises."
Residents who think the Ramada is an eyesore would prefer to see an upscale restaurant in its place.
But in the three years that he has been trying to sell the property, owner Jack Howitt hasn't received calls from buyers interested in creating a public space. He and a business partner have managed the property from Rochester, N.Y., for 15 years.
"I don't think anything will have quite the openness that (the Ramada) has now, simply because of its particular format," said Howitt, whose sale to Kendar depends on zoning approvals. "I don't think that's in the offing."
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Waterfront property is drawing developers to Apollo Beach. In the last year, half a dozen major projects were proposed. On Tuesday, commissioners will vote on a request to rezone about 5 vacant acres across from the Ramada to allow 44 townhomes. With bulldozers clearing lots along both sides of Apollo Beach Boulevard for commercial and residential use, residents appreciate the immensity of the development coming. Planning maps show zoning approvals for nearly 15,000 residential units, many of which were granted years ago.
Barely 4,000 have been built to date.
Michael Peterson, a local land use attorney, worked for Apollo Beach's original developer during the 1980s. He said early plans for Apollo Beach featured eight-story buildings on the water. Now that demand is picking up, new residents to the area are surprised, he said.
For the past year, residents and county officials have been working on a plan to control growth in Apollo Beach. Similar initiatives are under way throughout the South Shore.
Residents want to preserve a small-town feel. They envision a mixed-use town center at U.S. 41 and Apollo Beach Boulevard. Many want a dog park, nicer sidewalks and landscaping at major intersections. They want to discourage development of over 50 feet in a community dominated by one- and two-story single-family homes.
Yet some fear that development will outpace their efforts to regulate growth in their community.
County commissioners are likely to vote on the Ramada site before residents present their community plan early next year.
A county land use officer has recommended approving the condos. Jorge Planas is an urban designer with Duany Plater-Zyberk, which the county hired as a consultant in Apollo Beach. He said the public deserved better use of the prominent site.
"It does nothing for the community," said Planas, who favored a plaza or space the public could use.
"It would be a shame to see a building go up that's just basically apartments over parking," he said. "It's a lost opportunity."
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Tiki bar patrons continue to watch the sunsets. And hope.
In recent years, they have watched luxury homes with waterfront views crop up around the Ramada at the end of Apollo Beach Boulevard. Most of the new residents don't come to the tiki bar, but regulars are quick to note that those who do are welcomed.
Jackie Hutchins has watched the sunset from the hotel for 18 years. She understands that change is coming to Apollo Beach.
Hutchins only asks to be included.
"I don't know why a place wouldn't put in their own little tiki bar," said Hutchins, 49. "They don't want dogs, fine. Keep all the riffraff out. They can make their own rules. "Just let us come."
Tuesday's hearing on the proposal to rezone the site of the Apollo Beach Ramada Inn from commercial to planned development has been postponed because the president of the development company cannot attend. Developers have requested a Dec. 14 hearing. Barbara Compton is organizing residents who oppose the height of the project. Her number is 785-3232.
