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The Environmental Development Commission approves the site plan for the new school, but not without reservations.
By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 7, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- The discussion was polite but pointed at Wednesday's meeting of the Environmental Development Commission. Members wondered why the School Board refuses time and again to meet city landscaping standards -- and why the EDC itself lets it happen.
The project before the EDC was the site plan for a new middle school.
"I think it's a shame there is not appropriate funding to landscape our schools," Commissioner Martha Kehm said during the school system's presentation of plans for the new Thurgood Marshall Middle School, which will be built on 22nd Avenue S on the site of the old Childs Park Elementary School.
Jim Miller, the school system's director of property management, had just finished telling the commission he understood city planners' concern that more grass and trees were not being included on the new school site.
"We have very limited staff to maintain school sites," Miller said. "If we put in landscaping, it will be an eyesore. We're not antitrees and antilandscaping."
As in the past, the EDC unanimously approved the school site plan and related street vacancies, overriding their staff's recommendation that additional grass areas be included in parking lots. The commission also rejected a recommendation that barriers be placed around an existing stand of trees to protect them during construction.
But it wasn't until school officials left the meeting that EDC members vented their feelings.
"I'm afraid this will come back and bite us. We give the school system variances that developers never get," said Commissioner Charles Canerday, who worried that other developers would want the same leniency from the city. "In fact they do have the staff. It takes nothing to maintain a grass island."
"I feel we should make them abide by it," agreed Kehm. "It's important to say to the community as a whole that they should abide by the rules. They are asking for too much."
She stressed that developers should be warned not to expect similar leniency.
Apparently other city officials feel the same way.
City Planner John Hixenbaugh said the city administration is trying to find a way to expedite street vacancies and site plan review for new schools "so they wouldn't have to come back here each time and we wouldn't have to have these painful discussions."
Meanwhile, plans for Thurgood Marshall Middle School are moving forward. The $19.5-million school will be located on a 21-acre site bounded by 19th and 22nd avenues S from 38th Street S to Clam Bayou Creek.
Miller said purchase of 77 house lots has been completed, with the exception of one vacant lot, which he expects to close shortly. The 154,000-square-foot, two-story school will house more than 1,000 students.
The proposed middle school is one of several schools under construction or soon to be built in south Pinellas as part of a federal court settlement to end busing for desegregation. As part of the settlement, the district agreed to build three new schools south of Central and renovate or rebuild several others so black students have a better chance of attending a school close to home.
Each month, the EDC meets to consider proposed development projects that require variances or site plan approval, or requests for alley or right-of-way easements. If the requests are not too far out of line with city codes, the EDC will recommend their approval to the City Council.
Among other items considered Wednesday were:
WAREHOUSE: A site plan was approved for a proposed 45,000-square-foot light manufacturing/wholesale building and day care center at 9900 18th St. N. The proposed building is located in Metropointe Commerce Park.
CARILLON EXTENSION: The commission granted a one-year extension of a proposed multiuse Carillon Park development to allow Echelon International to adapt its plans to the recent economic downturn.
The Environmental Development Commission is a citizens board that meets on the first Wednesday of each month to review large development projects. The board reviews and approves site plans and has the power to grant exceptions to city codes for elements of projects that do not conform. Decisions of the commission can be appealed within 10 days to the City Council. After approval, the petitioner has the city's permission to go forward, although further scrutiny may be required by other governing agencies.