Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Dunedin condo plan gets thumbs-down

The complex would be a poor fit for the area, city commissioners say. The developer plans to appeal.

By VANESSA DE LA TORRE
Published August 29, 2006

DUNEDIN - City commissioners shot down a downtown condo project Thursday night. The discussion took only three hours and 45 minutes and involved dueling attorneys, vocal neighbors, appeals to emotion and a PowerPoint presentation.

The proposed project, called Dunedin Marina View, was supposed to be built at 715 Edgewater Drive. From the road, easy to miss.

On the property right now is a two-story, four-unit apartment building with a front lawn. It sits between an assisted living facility that looks like a house and a law office that also looks like a house. Across the two-lane street is Edgewater Park.

According to the final site plan submitted to the city, the apartment building would be demolished. In its place a five-story, 12-unit luxury condo complex would be built. The ground floor would be parking, with the remaining four floors as living space.

"The development itself technically complies with our codes," Dunedin community services director Kevin Campbell told commissioners.

But there were other issues.

Last month, the Local Planning Agency voted to recommend denial of the final site plan. Members thought the preliminary site plan is different from what is being presented now.

And then there was the real crux: compatibility with the neighborhood, the park, the marina. Would the 60-foot building blend in?

Thursday night, land use attorney Ed Armstrong argued that this question of compatibility shouldn't even be asked at this point. Armstrong represents the project's applicant and owner, Kelly Prior.

The project was considered compatible when city commissioners approved the preliminary site plan, Armstrong said.

Now they want to change their mind, but Armstrong contended they can't because the word "compatibility" isn't in the final site plan section of the city code.

Other counterarguments: It's common to make changes between preliminary and final site plan approval, and the changes in this case are minor. Balconies are smaller, air-conditioning units are larger. There is 850 more square feet per floor.

And the developer's team pointed to nearby projects as compatible with the Marina View.

The unfinished Dunedin Grand condo complex is a little ways to the south. It faces St. Joseph Sound and is six stories tall. Even closer is Stirling Place, an upscale condo and retail development that will be 60 feet tall and is planned for the southwest corner of Main Street and Broadway.

"We are merely following in the footsteps of recently approved projects," said private planning consultant Cynthia Tarapani, who represents the developer.

But Stirling Place experienced a serious hurdle before it was approved. City commissioners said the proposed development looked boxy and huge compared with the small shops and restaurants downtown. They demanded changes before approving the final site plan in May.

During that time, City Attorney John Hubbard wrote a memo that would become the basis of the Marina View debate. Dated May 3 and spanning six pages, it had his interpretation on "The Law of Compatibility" and how it fit into the city code.

The city gave a PowerPoint presentation Thursday on how the Marina View complex would not be compatible with the neighborhood.

Several residents also spoke against the project. One man called it a "five-story carbuncle." Listen to citizens, not just developers, someone else said. Don't kill the golden calf that is downtown Dunedin. Think of the children playing across the street at Edgewater Park.

Robert Ray, a 49-year-old architect whose Scotland Street home backs up to the Marina View property even brought a large drawing pad of personal sketches, one that showed the proposed five-story condo complex with two smaller buildings looking miniscule on either side.

"It's too tall, too massive in scale, pressed up to the property lines," Ray said.

The City Commission was also presented with a petition signed by 456 residents who oppose large projects that "will detract from the quaint, small-town atmosphere that Dunedin has fostered over the years."

Prior, the developer, said he certainly wouldn't have bought the property if he had known there would be serious questions like this.

"We're at final site plan," said Armstrong, his attorney. If there were concerns about scale and size and the surrounding neighborhood, the time to object was during the preliminary site plan review.

"You don't get the ability to review compatibility over and over and over again. You don't. You get once," he told city commissioners.

They disagreed.

"I feel bad. I do," said Vice Mayor Dave Eggers.

The applicant made a big commitment to Dunedin, he said. Prior has spent many months and dollars on Marina View, and elected leaders may have awkwardly handled the project in the past.

But here's his decision now: "I think it will have to be scaled back, stepped back, given elbow room to adjoining properties," Eggers said.

City Commissioner Julie Ward Bujalksi told Armstrong, "I think we all have, no offense, shot down your argument on the compatibility issue."

At 10:45 p.m., the five city commissioners voted unanimously to deny the final site plan. Some residents cheered. Minutes later, outside City Hall, a small group of people could be heard telling Prior, So sorry, so sorry.

The condo plan is not dead, Armstrong said.

"We realized we had a difficult case politically, but felt very comfortable with our position legally," he said Friday, arguing again that the city's code is vague when it comes to compatibility. "We're hoping to persuade them to follow the law."

The attorney plans to file an appeal in Circuit Court.

Vanessa de la Torre can be reached at 727 445-4167 or vdelatorre@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 28, 2006, 22:46:29]