Design rules draw critics

A design group is proposed to rule on redevelopment plans in Dade City's downtown.

By CHASE SQUIRES

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000

DADE CITY -- With proposed rules for downtown redevelopment before a city panel for the first time Tuesday, City Manager Doug Drymon vowed the public would have a voice in the final plan.

While Drymon said the plan is only a draft, members of the Redevelopment Advisory Committee said they've gotten an earful.

Drymon distributed a 10-page proposal he knows will be controversial to members of the City Commission last week, but members have not reviewed the suggested rules for redevelopment.

The advisory committee members immediately expressed some reservations.

In its current form, a draft Drymon said is far from complete, the guidelines call for creation of a five-member Design Review Committee with the power to approve or deny demolition, construction, paint colors, building height, landscaping and signs for any commercial building in the 60-block downtown. The rules would not apply to homes.

The committee's rulings would be binding, although a property owner could appeal to the Community Redevelopment Agency.

"Without some sort of teeth, there would be no way to enforce compliance," Drymon said.

The concept of a design committee and downtown property rules grew last summer when the Georgia owners of the landmark Pasco Twin Theatre demolished the building and sold the property, despite protests from dozens of residents.

Under the guidelines, the review committee could block demolition of what it rules is an historic building, an architectural landmark, "one of the last remaining examples of its kind in the local area" or a building that aids in the study of local design or contributes "significantly to the historic character of Dade City's downtown district."

Drymon said he understood both sides of the argument about the guidelines. Property owners want freedom to develop without restrictions, while others want to be protected from development on another property that might hurt them. He also told advisory committee members, and wrote in his proposal, that strict rules could result in legal action by unhappy property owners.

"I'm not trying to sugarcoat anything," he said.

Committee member Pete Odom said he has heard from landowners anxious over the proposal.

"There's going to be heat," he said. "If we cause the property owners a hardship with these guidelines, that expense is going to be passed on to the tenants. . . . Are some of these shop owners going to be able to afford their rents?"

Another member, Bob Case, questioned who would decide what "Old Dade City" should look like and said guidelines should be suggestions, not edicts.

Case said that if he came to town and someone tried to dictate his construction plans and pick his building's colors, "I would go to Zephyrhills."

"It's not going to raise the property value, it's going to be hard to get rid of a piece of property if it's got restrictions on it," Case said.

City Commissioner-elect Hutch Brock suggested a design review board on behalf of the Downtown Dade City Main Street group last summer, when he was president of the organization. He said Tuesday he has not decided how he will vote on design rules when he takes office next month.

"I'm not going to make up my mind until I hear what people are saying, what they want," he said.

Drymon said the city would hold and publicize a public hearing, two if needed, before the City Commission takes any action. The first meeting will likely be in May, he said.

"We don't want this to surprise anyone," he said.

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