After a proposal for condos in the Sponge Docks area and during a debate over building heights, leaders ponder the identity of their city.
By ROBIN STEIN
Published November 18, 2005
TARPON SPRING - One thing the people of this city seem to agree on is that they do not want it to become "another Clearwater Beach."
The oft-repeated phrase has become something of a battle cry in recent weeks as residents, the city staff and elected leaders struggle to navigate the thin line between staying competitive and selling out.
On one hand, there is a general conviction that redevelopment and progress need not entail what City Commissioner Peter Dalacos has called "condominiumization": the replacement of older properties that give the community character with multifamily housing.
But if that is the destiny dictated by market forces, the people of Tarpon Springs want a piece of the action.
On Tuesday night, city commissioners decided essentially to hedge their bets.
Four of five commissioners voted to reject a moratorium that would have stalled any proposals for hotels at the Sponge Docks.
Mayor Beverley Billiris cast the sole ballot in favor of a measure she said would have allowed the city to "take a deep breath."
During the past few months, what began as a technical dispute over building-height restrictions has escalated into an existential struggle over the city's identity.
A presentation by Rodney S. Chatman of the city's planning and zoning department put the building-height issue into a broader context Tuesday night.
Chatman laid out a comparison of the development incentives and restrictions in Tarpon Springs and Pinellas County. The focus was unincorporated county land along the northern banks of the Anclote River.
Many of the tracts outside the city limits were zoned to permit much taller buildings than Tarpon Springs allows, Chatman said.
For example, the former Stauffer Chemical property is zoned for buildings up to 100 feet tall, he said. Because the property is a Superfund site, residential use is not a possibility, but 100-foot dry docks have been among the possibilities discussed by the Pinellas County Boating Access Task Force.
Choosing to be annexed into Tarpon Springs holds a certain appeal for developers, Chatman said, but the city must be careful not to make rules and processes so restrictive that developers choose to remain part of the county.
That would be the worst scenario, City Manager Ellen Posivach said. If developers are scared off by restrictions and a meddling review process, the city stands to lose impact fee revenue and forgo any semblance of control of what gets built.
"They are going to build there," Posivach said. "It's not going to be much longer that you are going to see nothing but green on that side of the river."
After the annexation presentation, the agenda turned to the moratorium.
The moratorium was proposed last month after the commission voted against a measure to repeal the current height allowance of 75 feet, which many believed was too lenient.
Although the height rules would theoretically apply to any new hotel in the Sponge Docks area, the debate has always centered on a single property: the prominent site where the former Pappas Riverside Restaurant sits.
The current rules were set in 2001 to make way for a previous development deal that, had it not fallen apart in 2002, would have included a 75-foot hotel.
The issue re-emerged earlier this fall after the landmark restaurant was closed and the property put up for sale.
In mid September, the owners signed a contract with St. Petersburg developer Grady Pridgen. News of Pridgen's plan to build a mixed-use project that included a hotel, condominiums and retail space sent a shock wave through the community.
The prospect of high-rise condominiums lining the historic docks generated proposals to scuttle the ordinance.
The vote does not put an end to the uncertainty. But it does send a signal that the commission does not want to scare off developers.
The impact of the commission's decision on the Pappas deal remains to be seen.
Mia Boutzoukas, one of the owners, said she is happy there will be no moratorium, but the delay will have consequences.
She still hopes that the deal with Pridgen can be salvaged, but the contract expired Tuesday, the day the sale had been scheduled to close. So the property is up for sale again, Boutzoukas said.
There has been a lot of activity in the two days since the moratorium was rejected.
"We've had a flood of people coming in, interested in the property," she said. "It's been unbelievable. It's just been meeting after meeting. It's like everyone was waiting just waiting for that decision."
