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Project gets mixed review

Commissioners like plans for Creekside Mixed Development, but neighbors and the mayor don't.

By EILEEN SCHULTE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 5, 2007

SAFETY HARBOR - A proposal for a new development where residents would both work and live got a mixed review at a City Commission meeting Monday night.

Commissioners love the idea, which they consider "green" because homeowners would not have to commute to their jobs.

But neighbors and the mayor hate it because of where it would be located: north of Mullet Creek.

They say the creek is a natural demarcation line between commercial and residential areas and that offices are not compatible with the neighborhoods.

Called Creekside Mixed Development, the 2.57-acre, six-parcel project would be built at Martin Luther King Jr. Street and Sixth Street N, west of Philippe Parkway.

The site, which forms the eastern edge of the Spring Park neighborhood, is now a small forest that includes 125 live oaks and is divided by Mullet Creek.

Builder John Mahan, who bought the land in 2003, and architect Ted Williamson plan to remove 26 trees and construct a two-story office building south of Mullet Creek and seven live/work units north of the waterway. Owners of the units would have their work space on the first floor and their living space on the second floor.

To achieve their vision, Mahan and Williamson asked the commission to amend the future land use designation from residential low to residential office limited, and to amend the zoning from single-family residential to general office.

That would raise the maximum building height from 25 feet to 35 feet.

In November, the planning and zoning board denied the request 5-1 because it thought zoning the land for general office use was too intense for the site and would open the door to incompatible uses, according to community development director Matt McLachlan.

That pleased neighbors.

"I think their idea of a live/work space is fantastic. I think it's viable for many communities," said Philip Quealy, who lives near the property. "But there is an awful lot of vacant commercial space in Safety Harbor. There are so many spaces in this community currently that could be utilized."

He added that once office spaces are built north of the creek, other developers will do the same.

Robin Fornino, who is running for a commission seat, said she is also opposed to the project because it would affect traffic and the environment.

"We don't have many creeks, and we don't have many waterways," she said. "We need to protect those first and foremost."

On first reading, commissioners approved the land use request and agreed to rezone two parcels, said McLachlan. But they denied the zoning change for the four parcels between Mullet Creek and Sixth Street N.

The applicants will probably try to get their project approved again as a Planned Development District or PDD. This designation would give city leaders more control over the development, so a gas station or a bank couldn't be built on the site.

Mayor Andy Steingold said he is willing to look at the PDD idea, but he still doesn't like the plan.

"I believe this type of development belongs south of the creek," he said.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or 727 445-4153.

[Last modified December 4, 2007, 22:42:57]