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What's Brewing

Battle hits new heights

By SUSAN THURSTON
Published July 22, 2005

It doesn't look like much from Bayshore Boulevard. Just a vacant lot, overgrown with weeds, with a big grand oak tree in front and a crumbling masonry wall.

But it's at the center of a fight that could dictate the fate of historic districts in Tampa. And the way things are headed, it doesn't look good.

A developer wants to build a condominium tower at Bayshore and DeSoto Avenue in Historic Hyde Park. Neighbors have been fighting it for years, saying the project is too big for the 1.1-acre site and doesn't fit with the historic district. The developer, Citivest Construction Corp., has vehemently disagreed.

The City Council and the Architectural Review Commission both rejected the proposal for 21 stories, which was cut from 31. Citivest appealed and took the dispute to court.

After two months of mediation, the city and the developer have reached an agreement that would allow a 19-story building, with twin elevator towers that add 27 feet.

To get the project rolling, however, the council must approve the deal. Expect a public hearing within a few weeks, along with a stampede of opposition. Neighbors and members of the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association consider the compromise a joke and want the council to give it the boot.

"Now 10 (stories) would be a mediation. That's in the middle," said Jeanne Holton Carufel, immediate past president of the association. "Nineteen is nothing."

Citivest attorney Scott McLaren said the July 7 agreement speaks for itself and declined to elaborate. He signed off on it, as did the city's historic preservation manager Del Acosta, City Attorney David Smith and land development manager Thom Snelling.

At issue is whether the project complies with the city's rules for a historic district. They say any new construction must be similar in height and width to buildings on adjacent sites.

Certainly, this is not.

On one side is a single-family house. On the other is the 10-story Bayshore Royal condo building. Behind it, a two-story apartment complex.

Michael Villa bought the 1897 house four years ago and spent about $500,000 restoring it, he said. A Tampa native, he had driven down Bayshore a "zillion times" and wanted to return it to its original glory.

Villa followed the city's architectural rules to a tee, ordering special siding and windows for the distinctive white house with large columns. When the ARC denied his request to expand the balcony by 1 foot, he didn't pout.

He felt strongly about protecting the historic district.

Villa knew a developer was eyeing the site next door but concluded a high-rise was out of the question, based on his reading of the historic district guidelines. He figured if the city dictated every doorknob on his house, it would definitely reject a new tower.

Even if the site's zoning allowed for 75 units.

A few months ago, Villa and two neighbors on DeSoto, Rosemary Henderson and George Deakin, hired local attorney Seth Nelson to fight the project. They sought a seat at the mediation table, but a judge refused. Now they are threatening a lawsuit against the city if the council approves the settlement agreement.

"We all put a lot of money into our homes," Villa said. "We won't take this lying down."

The neighbors want the city to approve a project that complies with the ARC guidelines, such as a single-family house (which previously occupied the site) or a few low-rise townhouses.

This entire issue would probably be moot were the property not in the historic district. The developer would be permitted to build up to 75 units, as is happening up and down along Bayshore.

But the site falls within Historic Hyde Park - a district city leaders and residents worked hard to create and maintain. If residents have to follow the rules, so should developers.

Like the Villa family and others in Hyde Park, Citivest bought the property knowing it's part of a historic district. It's special. It's more regulated. Some consider it a dream neighborhood. Others, a bureaucratic hassle.

Residents worry that allowing the high-rise - a so-called nonconforming structure - could jeopardize the historic district's designation. To qualify as a district, the area must have a certain percentage of historic structures.

"I feel that the administration needs a renewed commitment to the historic district," Holton Carufel said. "And not because we like it. We're trying to protect something here."

She suggested Citivest build a version of the tower on its other piece of land on Bayshore, at Bay to Bay Boulevard, outside the historic district. Citivest has not said what it plans for the site, which now serves as a public parking lot.

The developer seems pretty confident. Citivest planted a sign on the DeSoto site months ago stating: New condominium coming soon.

Not so fast. This battle isn't over.

THE LAST DROP: The slow summer social season heats up July 30 during Ken Walters' eighth annual Celebrate Sinatra party at the Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club. For the super-fashionistas, Georgette's at Old Hyde Park Village is offering gala goers a free glass of champagne - and a promise that you won't buy the same dress as someone else going to the party.

- Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3394 or thurston@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 21, 2005, 08:56:10]