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Madeira Beach ponders future
By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA © St. Petersburg Times, published April 25, 2001 MADEIRA BEACH -- Nearly 100 residents, business owners and city officials worked and argued and laughed Saturday about rival proposals for Madeira Beach's future development. The result of the two-day "Madeira Tomorrow" visioning workshop was a priority list of projects, concerns and opportunities to shape the look, feel and character of the beach community for the next 20 years. "There seems to be a lot of interest in developing a master plan for the Madeira Way section of town," said City Manager Mike Bonfield, mentioning one of the ideas that attracted uniform support. "There is such an opportunity here. Real estate is available where we might be able to do some things." The participants spent most of the day Saturday divided into five groups of about 20 each. Each group's suggestions were divided into categories such as natural resources, Gulf Boulevard, John's Pass, Madeira Way/150th Avenue and neighborhoods. At the end of the day, the participants met as a single group to vote on one another's proposals. "A lot of things have been put up here, and you can't do all of them," said Dr. James Moore, an architect and community designer who oversaw the city's visioning process and who will summarize the ideas in a report. Three priorities were at the top of almost every group's list: updating and enforcing the city's codes, reducing pollution in Boca Ciega Bay and enhancing the overall aesthetics of the Gulf Boulevard corridor. Another popular suggestion was the creation of a master plan for the city's core along Madeira Way and 150th Avenue. Some participants suggested turning Madeira Way into a pedestrian mall. Participants also recommended city involvement in the state Department of Transportation's redesign of John's Pass Bridge, public docking facilities in John's Pass and undergrounding utilities throughout the city. "It's important to remember everything costs money," Moore said at the end of the session. "Obviously, the climate and physical appearance and character of Madeira Beach (are) important to you. You have a lot of opportunities for economic diversity." He also pointed to weaknesses identified by the participants: traffic, a "spotty" infrastructure and city code enforcement. "The city has a little communications problem. This is a two-way street," Moore said. He said "no clear consensus" presents the city with many opportunities for developing beautification projects, setting capital project priorities, developing a master plan for the city and controlling traffic. "You don't want to have an island filling only with million-dollar houses," said Moore, warning of rising property costs and unmanaged growth. Resident Sandy DeCarlo said: "This was very enlightening. There are so many different priorities, but I just hope there will be action in general. They were all great ideas, and it was very hard to pick." The final decisions will belong to the City Commission; but before that can happen, the city must determine costs and feasibility. Discussion of the visioning meeting is on the agenda for the commission's May 15 meeting. Moore is expected to present his interim report at that time.
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