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Politics

Low point in St. Pete Beach? Heights

By CRISTINA SILVA
Published December 31, 2006

ST. PETE BEACH - For many who call this barrier island home, 2006 was an ugly year.

A battle over how tall buildings should be and whether elected officials could be trusted to make those decisions affected nearly every resident.

As the November Election Day approached, campaign signs urging voters to support or reject a city plan to allow for 15-story hotels sprouted like weeds on grassy street corners. City Commission meeting debates lasted for hours, and often got so out of hand that Mayor Ward Friszolowski had to call for order.

In the end, St. Pete Beach voters decided they should have control over the city's comprehensive land use plan, a blueprint that essentially details how a city can be developed. The vote made St. Pete Beach the first city in Florida to give such control to the people rather than elected officials.

But to some, the fight never should have taken place.

"Had the people listened or had the commission listened to the people a year ago, this whole vote thing would never have happened," said Commissioner Ed Ruttencutter. "We would have saved a lot of time and money."

It all began in 2002, when the city first started to create a development plan to boost tourism and revive the local economy.

Opposition to the plan grew slowly. Some residents said they were worried the city would become overcrowded with ugly, tall hotels and condominiums.

By the beginning of 2006, the city and a group of residents who had crafted several ballot measures challenging the plan were wrapped up in a series of lawsuits.

In November, voters chose to repeal the city's development plan and give themselves the final say over any major changes to the city's landscape, including building heights.

But that didn't end the battle.

A City Commission election, scheduled for March, is already starting to heat up. The city also plans to try to get a new development plan before voters during that same election.

Some residents fear they will see the same onslaught of political advertisements they saw in November.

"Unfortunately, I think this issue of development divided the community," said Keith Overton, vice president and general manager of TradeWinds Island Resorts and a St. Pete Beach resident. "There is going to have to be a healing process."

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 30, 2006, 22:11:34]