Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Beach development

By MIKE DONILA
Published December 20, 2006

Clearwater Beach's marina district is in line for a facelift, but some nearby residents aren't happy about it.

The city's Community Development Board on Tuesday signed off on a number of amendments to the area's zoning plans that would give builders more development incentives in exchange for creating a waterfront boardwalk.

The idea is to turn the 13-acre site into a boater-friendly destination and to attract more restaurants and businesses to the area.

But those plans could lead to the closing of Eastshore Drive to the public. Eastshore is a popular road in the district that many north Clearwater Beach residents use to avoid the busy roundabout.

"For many of us, Eastshore is a breath of fresh air after fighting the traffic to the beach," said Bette Failor, who lives on nearby Mandalay Avenue.

The board, in a 4-3 vote, signed off on the plans, but not before beach residents spent two hours trying to persuade them to do otherwise.

In the end, though, a majority of the board felt that the boardwalk would be a critical amenity to the area and that the city could use it to lure visitors. The board's recommendations will go before the City Council early next year.

"We can debate this for a long time and never have a perfect plan," board Chairman David Gildersleeve said.

The Marina Residential District is lined mostly with run-down mom-and-pop motels, a couple of seafood restaurants and an upscale condominium development.

It is bounded by Poinsettia Avenue on the west, Clearwater Harbor on the east, Causeway Boulevard to the south and the Belle Harbor condominium development to the north.

The City Council in August approved a six-month residential moratorium there on small development. At the time, council members said they wanted to find better ways to preserve waterfront access, encourage the building of more hotels and motels and spread out restaurant and retail development.

The district was established in 2001 when the city adopted Beach by Design, a land use plan created to help revitalize Clearwater Beach. This plan designated eight districts and set development rules for each.

Under the marina district's current development guidelines, projects larger than 21/2 acres that grant public access to the waterfront are given incentives, such as allowing for taller buildings. The district is zoned mostly for residential use, and restaurants are not allowed along the waterfront.

The recommended changes would let smaller projects - particularly hotel and motel developments - get similar benefits if they would help create a public boardwalk along the waterfront.

Residents on Tuesday said they were mostly afraid that the city's planning department had not completely thought through the project, and they felt that giving up Eastshore Drive for the boardwalk was asking too much.

Jerry Murphy, who lives on Mandalay Avenue, also felt that the city shouldn't let developers build taller projects because that could "deprive a whole neighborhood of a street" and because it isn't "architecturally pleasing."

City planners said if Eastshore Drive is vacated, the city would add a third lane to Poinsettia Avenue, which runs parallel, to help with traffic congestion. In addition, the city would try to connect Poinsettia to the Memorial Causeway so that residents could still avoid the roundabout.

[Last modified December 20, 2006, 06:36:56]