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History will have to wait for buildings

A flaw in an ordinance designating two building facades as landmarks prompts the city to start all over.

By JANET ZINK
Published March 17, 2006

TAMPA - The City Council on Thursday opted for a do-over of the historic landmark designation of two downtown buildings.

Meanwhile, developers who say they will scale back plans to build 975 condominiums downtown if the designation sticks are discussing ways to please preservationists while still going ahead with their project.

Last week, the City Council voted to designate as historic landmarks the facades of the Newberry and Woolworth buildings on N Franklin Street, despite objections from the owners of the buildings. The council also ignored a request for compromise from Mayor Pam Iorio, who is eager to seeN Franklin transform into a bustling residential neighborhood. She suggested that the city use zoning documents and monitoring by the city staff to protect the buildings.

But Thursday council members learned the legal description in the ordinance they approved encompassed more property than they had thought.

"The ordinance they adopted is out there. It's valid, it's applicable," but it does not properly identify the land in question, said City Attorney David Smith. "The best way to fix it is to start the process all over again."

That means sending the designation request back to the Historic Preservation Commission for approval, then the City Council, then the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission, then back to the City Council for two public hearings, a process that can take months, Smith said.

Redoing the designation will also address complaints from the developers and preservationists who say the City Council didn't hear all the arguments they have to make their cases, Smith said.

Jeanette Jason, a member of the team that had planned to develop the block, said simply changing the legal description of the designated buildings won't convince her to proceed with her plans to rebuild the block.

Preservationists aren't likely to back down either.

"We always support designation," said Beth Johnson, an attorney for Tampa Preservation Inc. "We're going to stand by that and go to the mat with it."

[Last modified March 17, 2006, 01:54:15]