Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Latest land development workshop calmer

Some exchanges were heated, but the main discussions of land development districts focused on specifics.

By JADE JACKSON LLOYD
Published May 4, 2005

ST. PETE BEACH - After 51/2 hours of discussion on four proposed districts Monday night, the city is ready for the next round in getting information out about new Land Development Regulations.

The workshop, which drew 18 residents to City Hall, was the final public discussion before a series of informational meetings this month.

The commission and staff discussed changes in the following districts: UV-UBI Urban Village-Upham Beach Infill, B/HC Boutique Hotel/Condo, AC Activity Center and HR High-end Residential. Audience members spoke during public comment after commission discussion of each district.

Commissioners focused on everything from how to "incentivize" boutique hotels instead of condos to how to keep certain districts from becoming concrete canyons.

For example, regarding proposed densities of 24 units per acre for residential and 30 per acre for transient accommodations in the UV-UBI district, Commissioner Ed Ruttencutter said if the plan passes as is, it would create one of the city's densest residential areas.

City Manager Mike Bonfield said higher densities are needed to encourage redevelopment in the area. Without incentives to redevelop, owners could continue to let their properties decline, he said.

"The longer redevelopment takes, the more uncomfortable those neighbors will be," he said.

"I guess I have a higher opinion of St. Pete Beach," Ruttencutter said. "Everyone up here seems to think we're so pathetic. . . . You're acting like people don't want to spend a dollar here."

The city manager and Commissioners Deborah Martohue and Nancy Markoe disagreed with that statement. Markoe said she thought his language was "inflammatory" and "unfair."

Martohue said she thinks it's not pathetic, but "a fabulous place to live."

"I just think some areas need more help than others," she said.

The talk ended with the commission suggesting Planning Director Karl Holley study the issue more.

In weeks of marathon meetings, hostilities between residents and the commission have emerged with residents hurling shouts and insults at commissioners and, on occasion, commissioners throwing them back. Some residents have called for the plan to go to referendum so they can vote on it.

Monday night, some of the tension seemed to die down, with some residents offering specific suggestions, from considering a boardwalk on the beach to focusing on the residents instead of tourists.

Still, there were flareups. One longtime resident characterized taller buildings going up in the city as "bull----," while Deborah Schechner, another resident, held up an American flag the entire time she was at the meeting to remind commissioners "we are Americans and this is a democracy."

When she spoke, she told commissioners to disregard developers' warnings not to micromanage redevelopment.

"We tell them what we want," she said. "They don't tell us. We don't hand out conditional use."

Holley left the meeting with homework. He and city staffers will continue researching:

Allowing 10-story buildings, plus one level of parking, in the AC district. Such buildings would be granted by conditional use only, to encourage commercial development at Dolphin Village.

How many units in UV-UBI are apartments and how many are condos and lot sizes there.

Providing beach access in the BH/C district.

Establishing minimum side setbacks, not based on percentage of lot widths.

Graphic representations of street layouts in AC district showing sidewalk and landscape layouts.

For information on the LDRs, free copies of the proposed changes are available at City Hall.

City staffers will be on hand to answer questions during five information workshops on changes to the Community Redevelopment Plan and land development regulations. The first will be 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in City Hall, 155 Corey Ave. The rest are set for:

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 9

6 to 8 p.m. May 11

2 to 4 p.m. May 12

9 a.m. to noon May 14

In addition, public information displays will be in City Hall during business hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the month.

[Last modified May 4, 2005, 00:57:19]