Proposed new hotel concerns residents

By MAUREEN BYRNE

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 5, 2000

CLEARWATER -- One of the reasons Bob Stauffer moved to Florida was for its beauty.

"Right now, all you see out of the back yard is blue sky," he said.

But he's concerned that view will change drastically if plans to build a three-story hotel behind his house are approved.

And he fears replacing the one-story Shoreline View Motel at 1941 Edgewater Drive with a larger hotel will trigger similar redevelopment in his neighborhood.

"I think it's terrible," he said. "It's a two-lane highway and it's already packed. To be putting this up in basically a residential community is just a bit too much."

The plans, however, comply with the city's zoning code for that area, said Cyndi Hardin, assistant planning director. The maximum height for a building in that zoning district is 30 feet to 50 feet, she said.

If the planning department approvesthe application for the 38-room Comfort Suites, the hotel would be 50 feet high at its tallest point, said city planner Ryan Givens.

"But nothing has been approved yet," he said.

City planners asked Automated Consulting Services, which submitted the application, to make some revisions, Givens said. For example, he said, the current design calls for an entryway to the hotel on Edgewater Drive. Yet the only access to the building can be from Sunnydale Drive, he said.

City engineers also asked for better drainage on the property, Givens said.

When the planning department received the application in July, it notified the owners of properties within 200 feet of the proposed site. Some of the surrounding residents, including Stauffer, met with Givens to voice their concerns.

They told him they were worriedthe mom-and-pop hotels on that stretch of Edgewater would eventually be replaced with taller buildings and change the look of the neighborhood. Larger hotelsalso would mean more noise and traffic, they said.

The city listened, Stauffer said, but he doesn't think the meeting made much of a difference.

Stauffer said when he bought his home on Sedeeva Street a year ago, he had no problem being next to a hotel. He said heisn't against redevelopment,but thatthe city needs to be sensitive to residents.

"This is right up against houses," he said of the proposed hotel.

Hardin said the city wants to please both residential and business property owners. "There are things we have asked for them to do to make the project fit in a little better," she said. "It is a balance."

If the city approves the application, she said, "any interested party can appeal the decision."

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