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'Big box' ordinance sent to commission
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET © St. Petersburg Times, published October 20, 2000 LECANTO -- A proposed county ordinance that would hold large retail stores to higher design standards is one step closer to approval, although the measure already faces a formal challenge from the Citrus County Builders Association. The county Planning and Development Review Board voted Thursday to pass the "big box" ordinance to the County Commission, which will hold two public hearings before taking a final vote on the measure. The ordinance would require stores larger than 25,000 square feet to include certain design features on the storefront and along the edge of the roof, as well as additional landscaping, to soften the boxy warehouse look of megastores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. "We're just trying to break up those vast parking areas, add greenspace and break up those long, plain building facades," said Chuck Dixon, director of the Community Development Division. As the ordinance is written, however, it conflicts with some building codes, builders association representative Gaston Hall said. For example, the suggested use of 3-foot overhanging eaves may not comply with hurricane design standards, Hall said. The county came up with language that addressed some of Hall's concerns, but the builders have a more fundamental objection: Hall said the ordinance does not belong in the land development code, as proposed. He said the measure should be considered as an amendment to the building code instead. Building Division director Dennis MacNeil disagrees. He said this measure is not a type of building code because it deals with the building's outward appearance, not the mechanics of construction. "The (proposed) design standards are intended to govern the aesthetic qualities of the finished project," MacNeil wrote in an Oct. 17 memo on the issue. "Building codes, on the other hand, are typically developed to provide for the health, safety, welfare or comfort of persons living in the built environment." Hall handed written notices to several county officials at Thursday's meeting asking for an appeal of MacNeil's decision, but it is unclear who will hear the appeal. Hall requested that the matter go before the Code Review and Appeals Board. But County Attorney Larry Haag said the dispute is a legal question that may need to be resolved by the courts. "I have a feeling this is all going to court anyway," Haag said. Whoever handles the appeal, it is still a separate issue that should not delay the big box ordinance from coming before the County Commission, Haag said. Patricia Cowen, president of the Citrus County Council, which represents nearly two dozen civic organizations and activist groups, said she was glad that the builders association's objections did not keep the ordinance from moving forward. "There is widespread support for this ordinance," she said. "If you stopped someone on the street and asked them if they would like for the large buildings to be more attractive, they would say yes -- unless you stopped a builder, I guess." In other planning board action, Ron Broadbent, president of the Sugarmill Woods Civic Association, raised concerns that a shopping center proposed for the west side of U.S. 19, directly across from the main Sugarmill Woods entrance at West Cypress Boulevard, would destroy wetlands and bring more traffic to the intersection. Neal Hiler, the engineer for the proposed Sugarmill Station shopping center, said developers would preserve a large wetland at the south end of the property, but would destroy one small wetland and another damaged wetland. Hiler also noted that the Department of Transportation plans to put a flashing yellow light at that intersection next year, and he said the developer would pay his share if a full traffic signal was needed.
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