Downtown's look examined

Dade City would follow design guidelines that aren't mandatory.

By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 24, 2007

DADE CITY - Seven years after the idea was shot down, Dade City is trying again to regulate the appearance of downtown.

Commissioners introduced ordinances Tuesday night that would establish design guidelines for buildings' exteriors and create a review board to implement the guidelines.

In 2000 commissioners explored a similar idea, but the idea was shelved after an outcry from city business owners who felt the rules were too strict. Then, the proposed guidelines were mandatory; this time the ordinance refers to them as "a design guide."

"It's meant to allow individual flexibility," said Karla Owens, city attorney.

Owens said she has informally run the guidelines by members of Downtown Dade City Main Street and the city's Chamber of Commerce for their opinions.

"The purpose was to bring something to you that we already had community consensus on," she said to commissioners.

The guidelines would apply to rezoning petitions, new building projects and the redevelopment of structures in the designated downtown area.

Before obtaining a building permit or starting construction, applicants would need a "certificate of appropriateness" from the review board. Only modifications to buildings' exteriors would need approval.

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In other news: Commissioners decided to narrow the 19 city manager applicants to five by the next commission meeting.

Commissioner Steve Van Gorden asked if only the 19 who applied could be considered. Commissioners decided that anyone could be included in the final five, including interim City Manager Jim Class.

Class said people in the community have asked him if he would consider applying for the position.

"My initial response has been 'no,'" Class said after the meeting.

But now, he said, he would consider the idea.

"I guess it's something I have to think about," he said.

The city also is working with the Dade City Garden Club to discover its options to the Florida Department of Transportation's decision to remove more than a dozen trees on Meridian Avenue, east of Seventh Street.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at 352 521-6518 or htravis@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 23, 2007, 22:23:44]