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Officials change direction, kill tower proposal
By CHRISTINA HEADRICK © St. Petersburg Times, published March 3, 2001 CLEARWATER -- A tiny neighborhood that knows how to roar turned around a losing battle Thursday night, persuading the City Commission to kill a proposal to build an 84-foot-tall office building near their homes. In a flip-flop from a decision two weeks ago, the commission decided not to rezone an oak-tree covered piece of land bordering the neighborhood of Historic Bayview to allow an office tower there. Residents of Historic Bayview, an enclave of about 14 homes founded by pioneers on Tampa Bay, were not expecting victory Thursday, when the second of two commission votes on the matter was scheduled. So they savored the commission's rejection of the office-tower proposal by eating pancakes at the Village Inn on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard. "We're really happy," said Breck Parker, a retiree who has lived in Historic Bayview for 22 years. "It's almost like some cosmic hearing, because usually, the second hearing (on a zoning change) is really just a rubber stamp." This time, he said: "it's like the little guys kind of won one against the big-money interest. The office project just wasn't suitable to the neighborhood, and I think the right outcome was had." After the pancakes, Jack Alvord, president of the Historic Bayview Association, went home and typed a press release that came over the Times' fax machine at 2:09 a.m. "CITIZENS STOP THE DEVELOPERS AND THE BULLDOZERS AND SAVE OVER 123 TREES," reads the headline. Historic Bayview has fought attempts to extend commercial zoning into the small neighborhood for 22 years, Parker said. The latest battle was over the request to change the residential zoning on a 4.5-acre parcel of land south of Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and west of the Bayside Bridge to allow the office complex. The idea had been opposed by the neighborhood, environmentalists and American Indian groups at city meetings for the past two years. The outspoken opposition had persuaded the city's planning board to turn down a development proposal in 1999 after a five-hour hearing. To gain city approval for the project this time around, the would-be developer of the office complex, Jason Lesser of Castal Builders in Clearwater, had reduced the size of the proposed office complex to 78,000 square feet from about 101,000 square feet. He also had moved the proposed office building away from nearby homes and the oldest oak trees on the property. This time around, city planners supported his proposal. Lesser was planning to buy the parcel from a trust if the city approved his requests for a change in zoning. He could not be reached to comment Friday about his plans, in light of the commission's refusal. The commission voted two weeks ago to rezone the property and allow the office tower, after a lengthy hearing of complaints against the project. About 1,500 petitions against the project had been submitted to the city. Under city rules, such zoning changes require two affirmative votes, so the matter was put on Thursday's agenda for the second reading. Commissioner F. David Hemerick changed his vote Thursday to kill the proposal, joining Mayor Brian Aungst and Commissioner Ed Hart in voting against it. Aungst suggested that another kind of project -- maybe a residential development -- might be more in character with Historic Bayview. Hart said he thinks the land in question could be turned into a park. Hemerick said he made up his mind to switch his vote after looking at the whole situation. He declined to elaborate on any factors that influenced his decision. "It's a wise man that changes his mind," Hemerick said. "A fool never will."
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