County sidesteps apartment brouhaha

The commission essentially puts the decision on a large apartment complex - and potential lawsuits - in the hands of the Oldsmar council.

By ROBERT FARLEY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 24, 2001

The Pinellas County Commission on Tuesday approved a resolution effectively allowing a developer to build the controversial 270-unit Westminster apartment complex on Forest Lakes Boulevard in Oldsmar.

One county official described the resolution as a "life ring" thrown to the Oldsmar City Council to save both the county and city from a potentially expensive lawsuit from the developer, the Wilson Co. of Tampa.

Oldsmar Mayor Jerry Beverland called it a "fiasco" and an "abdication of responsibility" by the County Commission.

In May, the city approved the 270-unit plan, but the county planning commission recently determined Oldsmar officials violated county codes and should only have permitted 207 units on the 27-acre property.

City officials like Beverland, who believe the project has too many units, hoped the county would step in and enforce the lower density. Instead, the county approved the 270 units, provided the city enact an ordinance that would allow 35 percent more units for affordable housing projects.

The resolution provides a way to bless the project at the density that was already approved, and on which the Wilson Co. has relied and expended hundreds of thousands of dollars in planning costs, said Jim Bennett, assistant county attorney.

Other cities like Largo and Tarpon Springs, as well as Pinellas County, already have "density bonus" plans for affordable housing projects.

"We are throwing them a life ring and it is the (City Council's) decision to accept or reject it," Bennett said.

The County Commission also hopes the resolution will absolve the county from potential damages stemming from a lawsuit by the Wilson Co. should the project be delayed or killed.

The decision was a blow to the Oldsmar Community Alliance, a citizens group opposed to the Westminster plan.

"I am in total shock," said Teri Lague, a director with the alliance. "I expected the county would uphold its own law and back up the small city of Oldsmar, but they caved."

She noted that Wilson Co. attorney Tim Johnson even helped to draft the county resolution.

"I am totally and completely floored," Lague said.

Beverland called the decision, approved 5-1, a copout. Beverland had asked the commission to enforce its ordinance and let a judge make the ultimate decision on the density issue. Johnson said allowing a judge to decide the issue would unnecessarily delay and effectively kill the project.

Beverland said the county's resolution may appease the Wilson Co., but it won't likely silence the Oldsmar Community Alliance.

"I'll bet the citizens of Oldsmar are going to sue them (the commissioners) immediately, and I hope they do," Beverland said.

Beverland has called for a special meeting of the City Council at 5 p.m. Thursday to discuss the resolution and how the city should respond. If the board wishes, he said, it may be a closed-door executive session.

County Commissioner Kenneth Welch said he supported the resolution because Oldsmar officials seemed to be dancing around the reasons behind its opposition to the project.

"I didn't feel like I was getting the straight story," Welch said. "And I don't have patience for that. Obviously Oldsmar was trying to hide behind legalese."

Welch said his concern is that some City Council members oppose the plan because it calls for affordable housing.

That has been the Wilson Co.'s charge all along.

"It's clear that certain members of City Council have become opposed to it for political reasons," Johnson said. "They made promises to residents who don't want an affordable housing project next door to them because affordable housing brings people of color, people of different nationalities and origins and people with kids."

County Commission Chairman Calvin Harris said he, too, has become concerned about the motivation behind opposition to the project.

"When 50 people mention this project to you and everyone says "It's not about affordable housing,' well, pretty soon you start thinking, "Is this about affordable housing?' " Harris said.

Beverland said they are off the mark, that the fight is over too many units, 63 to be exact.

"If this was for 207 units, I wouldn't fight it," Beverland said.

- Times staff writer Robert Farley can be reached at (727) 445-4185 or farley@sptimes.com.

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