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Letter to the editor

Dunedin's urban center gets a qualified approval

Commissioners want fancier architecture and worry about traffic.

By MEGAN SCOTT
Published June 4, 2005

DUNEDIN - City Commissioners have given preliminary approval to the first urban center to hit downtown.

But they expressed two major concerns about the $30-million project in a meeting Thursday night.

First, the renderings didn't look like 5th Avenue in Naples (as requested by Commissioner Deborah Kynes).

"If this is going to be a signature project, then you could really beef up this architecture," said Kynes. "You could do the awnings, the stucco, it could be a lot better than this rendering."

Second, commissioners worried about the impact on traffic.

Prime Dunedin, the developer, wants to convert the aging Bay Palms motel and Sun Blest Apartments at the corner of Main Street and Victoria Drive into an urban center.

The plan calls for four floors of upscale condos, ranging in price from the $600,000s to $1.3-million each, and more than 10,000 square feet of retail. The developers also want to restore a 1920s home on the site and use it as a recreation center.

The project would be 64 feet tall. The code allows for a maximum height of 50 feet, but the building was allowed to go taller because it is in a flood zone.

Stephanie Gaines, with Curtis Gaines Hall Jones Architects, told commissioners the developer hopes to attract primary homebuyers - not investors. It also wants to maintain the ambience of downtown, she said.

"It was very important from Day 1 that we be sensitive to the community," she said. "The site had the advantage of being waterfront and being on Main street. ... This property will provide a link from the active Main Street to the east and the waterfront to the west."

Bill Francisco said he and his wife would love to live in one of the condos - if they could afford it. He spoke in support of the project on Thursday.

He also likes the fact that the developer is local.

Richard Gehring is a former Dunedin city manager and principal of Prime Interests, located downtown. He partnered with Jim Egnew and Clearwater lawyer Bill Kimpton to form Prime Dunedin.

He envisions 46 condos units averaging 2,400 square feet, with views of St. Joseph's Sound and the Dunedin Municipal Marina. The retail portion would front Main Street.

Gehring showed some rough sketches to commissioners Thursday, but they were not impressed.

"I want to also emphasize I want something that's architecturally appealing," said Vice Mayor Julie Scales. "This is going to be a dramatic approach into Dunedin."

Commissioner Bob Hackworth said he supported the urban center but was concerned about traffic. He said Main Street is already over capacity, especially during rush hour.

"I think that it would be important to work on some voluntary mitigation of the traffic situation," said Hackworth. "I don't know what those are. That situation at that particular part of Alt. 19 is always at overcapacity."

Kimpton cautioned that the architectural details had not been developed. He promised that commissioners would be "overwhelmed" with the project once completed.

He said the project should not worsen traffic much. The total number of living units would be only eight more than currently exists. But that does not take into account traffic generated from the shops.

"As to the architecture, don't worry about it," Kimpton said. "We intend to set the bar on that. As to the traffic, I live on Clearwater Beach. If it's a place that has traffic, it's Clearwater Beach."

Gehring said the traffic problem is confined to the northbound lanes and is only bad during peak hours. One solution, he said, may be to create another left turn lane at Broadway and Main.

Traffic is one of the reasons Ray Vyvyan voted against the project at last month's Local Planning Agency meeting.

Vyvyan, a member of the board, also said he did not like the idea of luxury condos, especially when affordable housing is such a need.

Campbell responded that developers are paying $2-million an acre for waterfront and downtown property. That makes it very difficult to build affordable housing.

Vyvyan said Friday he is still against the project.

"I'll make one statement and leave it at that," he said. "I don't want Dunedin to become another Clearwater Beach."

[Last modified June 4, 2005, 06:14:28]