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Rules may define part-time lodgings

The proposed regulations would limit lengths of stay and impose licensing on condo-hotels in Treasure Island.

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published January 16, 2005

TREASURE ISLAND - Condo-hotels, those clusters of high-end temporary lodging under construction or in planning stages here, will get a formal definition if the City Commission approves.

Commissioners on Tuesday reviewed regulations by city staff members calling condo-hotels "a hybrid form of ownership" of traditional motel and hotel concepts.

In the past year, the city's Planning and Zoning Board has approved site plans for five condo-hotel developments totaling 265 units. Prior to 2004, the closest project was a single motel approved in the late 1990s, planner Lynn Rosetti said.

The proposed regulations tighten up the uses for hotels and motels, from "more or less transient residences" to "transient accommodations."

The action adds a section on condo-hotels to the city's land development regulations, emphasizing turnover and occupational licensing for each unit.

Legally, condo-hotels will still be considered hotels - and look like them. They will have a lobby and a front desk. Visitors will check in on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. But these developments will not resemble the Hotel Chelsea, where bohemian types from Bob Dylan to Dylan Thomas lived (and, in Thomas' case, died). Nor the Waldorf Astoria, which Cole Porter called home for many years.

Individuals who own units join an association, often a hotel chain, governing all of the units. Each unit must secure an occupational license. To keep cities informed, the state requires developers who want to convert a property to condo-hotel use to furnish a letter from municipalities stating knowledge of their project.

There is no minimum or maximum stay for renters, so long as owners turn over each unit at least six times a year. A manager may live there year round. Owners, however, are only permitted 90-day maximum stays in their units.

"We want to be sure that the owner isn't establishing residency there," Rosetti said. There are reasons for such vigilance. Allowable density for transient uses more than doubles that for residential uses in some zoning districts.

Also, planners considered the city's tourist shops, Rosetti said. "If we want those tourist-type businesses to survive, we feel that we need to support them."

Rosetti told commissioners that the regulations would not limit the size of kitchens, but that required floor area ratios might serve the same function. Developers usually want to maximize their number of units, she said.

The proposed condo-hotel regulations come up for a final reading and vote Jan. 25. If approved, they will become effective immediately.

The commission on Tuesday also approved a $5-million engineering and inspection contract for the Bascule Bridge to E.C. Driver. The city had already been using the Tampa company, but a federal grant required that officials launch a search and consider other applicants.

[Last modified January 16, 2005, 00:33:22]