It's now up to the Pinellas Park City Council to decide on zoning plans for nearly 400 townhomes.
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published October 11, 2004
PINELLAS PARK - This city came one step closer to losing a landmark and gaining about 400 families after two projects gained planning board approval.
Beazer Homes, a national homebuilder based in Atlanta, wants to put up more than 300 townhomes and a commercial development on the 29 acres that house Earl J. Small Growers.
The property, at 49th Street and 70th Avenue N, is down the road from ParkSide mall, which is undergoing its own transformation to the Shoppes at Park Place.
Small, the only farm-zoned property in Pinellas Park's redevelopment area, has been a city landmark for 57 years. It is internationally known for its plants and flowers.
All units in the new development would be two-story. About half will have garages. The development will have a pool and cabana area for the residents. Beazer officials said prices will likely be in the mid to high $100,000 range. Beazer caters to first-time buyers and folks who are moving one step up.
If the project and prices turn out as billed, it will add hundreds of homes in south Pinellas, an area that is generally considered built-out and increasingly hard to afford for first-time buyers.
The townhomes will be owned, not rented, but the zoning still has to change from farm to multifamily residential because the units are attached to each other.
If all goes well, the greenhouses will likely start coming down in March. Construction could begin in a year.
Gulf Coast Consulting, a Clearwater company, wants to build 96 townhomes and commercial development on about 11.16 acres of mostly opened land at 66th Street and 82nd Avenue N.
The zoning there needs to be changed from general commercial and preservation to multifamily, general commercial and preservation.
"We're looking to move forward as fast as we can," said Robert Pergolizzi, who represents Gulf Coast.
Although Planning and Zoning Commission members unanimously approved both changes Thursday, they caused a bit of angst.
Thirty-one neighbors of the Small property sent in a petition asking that officials make sure the structures are single-family residences. Beazer representatives said they are even though they are attached to each other.
Pinellas Park officials had also wanted Beazer to put up a gate across the entrance on 68th Avenue to prevent traffic from the new community clogging up roads in Breeze Acres, an adjacent subdivision.
Beazer had agreed, but the proposal was not a part of the plan before the board. Joe Aukstikalnis, the city's zoning coordinator, said making that "substantial" a change would delay matters so the entire package could be readvertised so folks would have a chance to comment on it. It was a substantial change, he said, because the gate essentially created a dead end road as it would be open only in emergencies.
Beazer decided not to gate the road and the matter moved forward.
Planning board chair Debra Anspaugh had a bit of sadness concerning the other property, where she had done work in the past. "This is really hard," Anspaugh said.
Both proposals were unanimously approved. With that behind them, both plans will move to the City Council for final approval.
Final approval for the Small property is scheduled Thursday. The council is also expected to give tentative approval to the Gulf Coast project that night, with final approval scheduled for Oct. 28. Both meetings will be at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers, City Hall, 5141 78th Ave. N. They are open to the public.
Timing on the Small project was fortuitous. Last week, the Pinellas County Commission eliminated "no fee zones," areas in which developers did not have to pay for the traffic they create.
The decision affects Pinellas Park's redevelopment area, which generally stretches along Park Boulevard from U.S. 19 to just west of 66th Street N and along 49th Street from 62nd Avenue to 86th Avenue. The Small property is within that, as is the mall.
Neither will be affected by the decision, Assistant City Manager Tom Shevlin said. The changes at the mall reduce the amount of traffic that was estimated when it was first built in the mid-1970s, so, on paper, there is no impact.
Ironically, there likely will be a traffic increase if the mall is a success because it will bring more shoppers than came before the changes.
Also, the proposed changes to both the mall and Small property were submitted before the county decision; thus, they qualify for the fee break, Shevlin said.
