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Palma Ceia

Two-townhome plan shot down

A company converting the former Tropics restaurant to offices sought approval.

By JANET ZINK
Published January 28, 2005

Palma Ceia residents scored a victory Jan. 20 when the City Council denied a rezoning request at MacDill Avenue and Granada Street.

Landcraft Development wanted to put two townhouses on the land behind the former Tropics restaurant, which the company is turning into medical and professional offices.

"We are happy with City Council's decision," said Brent Baris, vice president of the Palma Ceia Neighborhood Association. He and five neighbors went to the council meeting to voice opposition to the project.

"We're largely a single-family-home neighborhood, and sticking two residences on one lot is out of the character of our neighborhood," he said.

Neighbors also worried that the project would increase parking on the streets. The townhouses would take up space needed by the offices for parking, Baris said.

The zoning on the land fronting MacDill allows several kinds of commercial uses, including offices, restaurants and general retail. The back piece, where Landcraft wanted to put the townhouses, is zoned residential.

The company wanted to rezone both parcels as a single category that would allow for a mix of commercial and residential development.

Landcraft offered to restrict the commercial portion to medical and professional office uses to offset the impact of the townhouses, said David Smith, a land planner representing Landcraft Development.

"It could have been a general retail operation that would have had higher traffic," he said.

Landcraft initially proposed putting four townhouses on the site but reduced the plans to two to address parking issues, Smith said.

Residents questioned why the city staff approved a plan that showed a commercial parking lot with spaces solely for compact cars. City codes allow only 65 percent of a lot be reserved for compact cars.

Smith said that because the rezoning was to be for both the commercial and residential portions of the parcel, the percentage included parking in the garages of the townhomes.

"The net result of the action by the council is that the zoning will just stay the same," Smith said. "We will not have the townhouses on the back, but there will continue to be the commercial component on the front of the property."

Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 09:34:05]