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Tampa to look before a leap on Bayshore

The city would prefer to hold off on development until a plan for the Bayshore Boulevard corridor is final.

By ALDO NAHED
Published July 21, 2006

TAMPA - City leaders want to come up with a clear vision for how the Bayshore Boulevard corridor should look. In the meantime, the Tampa City Council asked the city attorney to look into a temporary halt to developments until a plan for the area is final.

"They asked me to evaluate if an abatement, a hold on applications, would be appropriate," said City Attorney David Smith. "It's different from a moratorium because some applications would be acceptable, others would not, depending on the nature of the changes that are being considered."

Smith said he needs to find out if an abatement would be constitutional in protecting property rights. He told the council he'll have an answer within three weeks. "I don't know whether aesthetic and compatibility concerns are sufficient reasons to allow an abatement," he said.

City Council member John Dingfelder, whose district includes the area, wants to create an overlay district that would require any construction along Bayshore to include green space, public parking and greater setbacks from the street.

"We will grandfather in any project that has been approved," Dingfelder said. "What we are trying to do is not to approve any more projects based on height and setback."

At least one attorney, John Grandoff, who represents Citivest Construction Corp. in a lawsuit against the city for rejecting a high-rise near Bayshore, said he's opposed to any restrictions on developments.

"You are taking away property rights," said Grandoff, whose client was denied a request to raise tower from the zoned 120 to 195 feet.

The challenge is twofold, said council member Rose Ferlita.

"We want to protect the corridor that we have on the Bayshore," she said, "without ignoring the property rights of existing property owner."

In October city staff is set to let council members know how the overlay district is going to be structured. The process takes six to nine months to complete.

"As a longtime council member and a former urban planner, I feel Bayshore Boulevard is Tampa's signature residential street," said council member Linda Saul-Sena. "We must carefully protect it."

Aldo Nahed can be reached at anahed@sptimes.com or 813 310-0998.

[Last modified July 21, 2006, 06:52:08]