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City has complex task with beach's east side

By DIANE STEINLE Editor of Editorials
Published February 18, 2007

Clearwater City Council members have taken a lot of heat lately for their efforts to bring new vitality to the Intracoastal Waterway side of Clearwater Beach.

Some beach residents were incensed by the council's approval of new boat docks in a small inlet beside the Clearwater Beach Recreation Center.

Others were equally upset by the city's changes to a beach redevelopment plan that might one day lead to the closure of Eastshore Drive, which some north beach residents use to bypass the roundabout.

The City Council is struggling to balance the goals of redevelopment on the east side of the island with the needs of people who live and work there. It is a difficult balance to achieve.

New development always should be designed sensitively so neighbors are impacted as little as possible. However, the Intracoastal Waterway side of the island needs freshening as much or more so than the gulf side. City Council members recognize that the east side of the island can make a bigger contribution to the local tourist economy, so they are looking to ratchet up the energy level there and lure private projects that would be appealing to tourists.

Oh, and the council wants to get some goodies for the public in the process.

Two recent votes are a case in point.

Developer Mike Cheezem wanted to build docks on city-owned submerged land in an inlet near the recreation center to serve boat owners who are buying units in his Sandpearl Resort and Condominium project across the island on the gulf. He proposed building 33 private boat slips and 21 public slips.

Opponents argued that the location was not appropriate for boat docks and that marine life would be scared away by boat traffic. Yet aerial photographs show that there are boat docks all up and down the east side of the island, many of them there for years. It is clearly an area with a water orientation.

Some opponents seemed even more troubled that the docks would include public slips, mentioning that there might be inappropriate behavior on boats docked there and security risks to their properties. They wanted the council to reject the developer's offer, despite the great need for public boat slips in Pinellas.

The City Council approved the boat slips, calling the project a great deal for the public.

The City Council also faced controversy over its desire to change beach redevelopment plan provisions for the section of the island known as the Marina Residential District or the Eastshore area.

The Eastshore area is dotted by old mom-and-pop motels, aging cottages and a few restaurants. The redevelopment plan originally proposed mostly residential development there. However, because of the boom in condominium construction on the island, the need for housing is being met. City officials rethought the marina district and decided that it was better suited to medium-sized hotels, retail shops and restaurants that would draw tourists.

They also wanted to see a public boardwalk built along the length of the marina district, from the new Belle Harbor condos to the Clearwater Memorial Causeway, to give the public access to the Intracoastal waterfront. And they wanted it built on the developers' dime.

However, Eastshore Drive might have to be vacated to provide room for a boardwalk and waterfront buildings. Some north beach residents who use Eastshore to bypass the roundabout and Mandalay Avenue don't want to lose their shortcut, so they lobbied the City Council to turn down the changes.

Proponents of the changes urged the council to approve the proposal so the Eastshore area would have a chance to thrive.

The council approved the changes, which will give developers more height for their buildings if they build retail spaces or hotels instead of residences and build a boardwalk.

But council members came up with a caveat: They would consider vacating Eastshore Drive only for the right kind of project, and the developers would have to find and fund another bypass for drivers wanting to stay out of the roundabout.

Some residents are bitter about the council's two decisions and think their needs were ignored. Others say the council made the right decision for the future of Clearwater and its tourist economy.

With these decisions behind them, council members might want to go do something easy - like riding a bike with no hands while spinning plates on top of their heads.

Diane Steinle can be reached at steinle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 18, 2007, 07:34:29]