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Pressured leaders stop at 15 stories

St. Pete Beach commissioners take a little off the top, a compromise that one calls heartbreaking.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published August 31, 2005

ST. PETE BEACH - In the latest iteration of public-driven compromises, St. Pete Beach commissioners concluded during a workshop last week that there would be no hotels built on the beach taller than 15 stories.

For the past few months, while working through regulations for a redevelopment plan to enhance large resorts, the commissioners have settled on hotels as tall as 20 stories, then 17 stories and now 15 stories. At each turn, they say they hear public complaints that tall buildings will obstruct views and that residents don't understand that height is necessary to attract hotel development instead of condominiums.

"I'd say the majority of people want us to stop at 50 feet," Commissioner Ed Ruttencutter said of the current limit, equivalent to about five stories. Ruttencutter offered a compromise two weeks ago that would have allowed buildings as high as 20 stories as long as they were used strictly as hotels, but he is backing off that proposal.

"I'll take any reduction I can get because it's an easier sell on the street," he said.

"How are people going to perceive what we're doing to them?" he asked during Thursday's workshop.

"We're not doing anything to them," countered Commissioner Deborah Martohue, who said the redevelopment plan is about enhancing the city's tourist economy, not harming residents. She rebutted Ruttencutter's statement about majority preference, saying that more than three quarters of the people who contact her approve of the city's plan.

"It's frustrating to me to put the town in a position of not being able to achieve the aesthetics we want just because we have a vocal minority," she said.

Martohue had offered her own compromise, that hotels be allowed to rise to 20 stories if the property on which they sit would be at least 250 feet wide. She said this would reduce the already small possible number of tall buildings in the resort district from nine to five, meaning the "concrete canyon" that opponents fear would not be possible.

"Once people understand how many projects we're talking about," she said, "they say, "Oh, four, five projects in a 1-mile span? That's a different story.' "

The commissioners have laid out arguments suggesting that taller buildings would be less obtrusive and more attractive. They tried to assure residents that 20 stories would be granted only in special circumstances that would require a developer to offer particular designs, landscaping and other concessions. Nonetheless, faced with opposition, including referendums and lawsuits, the commissioners found themselves backing off their own research and the conclusions of three years of public meetings.

"It's heartbreaking for all of us to make compromises for political reasons," said Commissioner Nancy Markoe. "The adversarial team has done a great job, running around saying, "Twenty stories, 20 stories.' "

The result of the workshop: Allow 15-story buildings of at least 200 hotel rooms if no condo units are in the building. Developers could have a mixture of hotel and condo units in a 10-story building but would still have to provide at least 200 hotel rooms. For condo buildings, the height limit would remain five stories. Regulations have to allow condos because that right exists now, so taking it away could harm a landowner's rights and be grounds for a lawsuit.

Despite their bitter arguments and difficult compromises, the commissioners still have only come to an internal consensus and not yet voted to pass any regulations.

The building height restrictions are part of a thick packet of new land development regulations that compose the city's comprehensive plan for development. With a legal challenge to the comprehensive plan, it could be weeks or months before a vote on the regulations.

[Last modified August 31, 2005, 01:21:25]