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Letter to the editor

Board favors plan to up hotel sizes

Pinellas commissioners see giving developers more leeway as a way to boost to tourism.

By MIKE DONILA, Times Staff Writer
Published August 22, 2007

Pinellas County commissioners are ready to let developers build bigger beachfront hotels, but they want to take one more look at the plan.

A new ordinance, they say, could help tourism by boosting overnight accommodations in a county that's lost roughly 5,000 of its 40,000 rental rooms in four years, many on the beach.

"What we're trying to become is what we were and that's the No. 1 tourist destination on the coast," Commissioner Calvin Harris said.

But the proposal has critics, many of whom turned out for Tuesday's commission meeting to say an increase in hotels will create more traffic, crime and "concrete canyons" that block out beachfront views.

"This is all really about how many rooms you can fit on a narrow piece of property," said St. Pete Beach resident Michael Max, 65. "Give them the density and they will build up to 20 stories."

But despite the protests, six of the seven commissioners approved of the plan, which will let developers build 50 to 150 percent more hotel rooms per acre, depending on the site's size. However, instead of passing the ordinance, the commissioners agreed to send it back to the Pinellas Planning Council for a final September review to make sure it can withstand any potential legal battles.

From there it will go back to the board for two more October public hearings when it is expected to pass.

The only dissenting commissioner, Karen Seel, said she was concerned that property values could increase under the "highest and best use" formula, which sets land value based upon what a piece of property could potentially become - its highest and best use - not what it currently is used for.

The 6-1 vote came after more than two hours of discussion, with 25 or so speakers sharply divided about whether the plan should go forward.

Some residents said the development would hurt the environment, while others argued that small businesses were closing because the tourists were disappearing.

Officials say the ordinance could make beachfront hotel development more appealing to developers. In the past, it has been more lucrative to build condominiums than hotels. For example, on Clearwater Beach, where existing regulations allow developers to build up to 50 hotel rooms or 30 condos per acre, one condo has the same market value as about six hotel rooms.

[Last modified August 22, 2007, 00:18:33]