Letters to the Editors

Pass-a-Grille is congested enough

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 17, 2000

I understand that the St. Pete Beach City Commission has approved the drafting of ordinances that provide for special exceptions to the provisions of the code of the City of St. Pete Beach. These ordinances would define and incorporate special exceptions that would ultimately permit commercial endeavors in areas zoned R-2 (one- and two-family residential), R-3 (multifamily residential), R-3A (multifamily residential) and ROR (residential-office-retail).

The area of R-2 zoning between 22nd and 32nd avenues of Pass-a-Grille falls into the category above. Pass-a-Grille is a peninsula with one main thoroughfare: Pass-a-Grille Way. Because the area is zoned R-2, one- and two-family dwellings are permitted on individual lots; therefore, the density in this community is greater than in single-family residential areas. Traffic is heavy because this one main route provides access to the commercially zoned tip of the peninsula as well as to the residential community of Vina del Mar. If business ventures other than the few already in existence are allowed in this section of Pass-a-Grille, traffic may reach a saturation point causing problems to everyone who lives on the peninsula to residents of Vina del Mar and/or businesses located in the commercial area.

Furthermore, a residential community is one in which people own homes, raise families, know their neighbors and share concerns. Businesses bring in transient outsiders who are not interested in the preservation or protection of the neighborhood, thereby disrupting and undermining neighborhood unity.

If the commission approves special exception ordinances for commercial endeavors on St. Pete Beach, the commission should limit those ordinances to areas that are not primarily residential. The community between 22nd and 32nd avenues should remain free of any further enterprise that would compromise the tranquility and harmony of the area.
-- Rita Gould, Pass-a-Grille

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