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St. Pete Beach delays land changes
By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer ST. PETE BEACH -- Acquiescing to pleas from residents who said the city is moving too quickly, not to mention in the wrong order, city commissioners agreed Tuesday to delay approving new land development regulations for a couple of months. City officials pointed out that they have been revising their land development regulations, a set of city rules governing how properties can be used in St. Pete Beach, for more than a year. But residents filled City Commission chambers at a public hearing Tuesday, asking for more time to make sure the new rules are right for St. Pete Beach. "We're doing the whole thing backwards," resident Bill Allard told the commissioners. The city postponed its first vote on the new rules until Feb. 5, one week after the new city manager, Mike Bonfield, starts work in St. Pete Beach. The city also is encouraging residents to attend a Jan. 12 meeting of the city's Presidents' Council, a group of civic and property owners' association leaders, where city staff will present a detailed look at the proposed regulations. "We're actually happy to have a room full of people," Mayor Ward Friszolowski told the crowd of people who turned out Tuesday. "That doesn't happen that often." The regulations themselves are somewhat lackluster, compared to what was once considered. Though original plans called for increasing allowable heights on Corey Avenue to 100 feet, that idea has been thrown out, and the height limit along the downtown corridor will remain 50 feet. Commissioners also were considering a move to high-rise hotels along Gulf Boulevard, but that idea has been set aside for now. What is included is: a plan to reduce setback requirements along Blind Pass Road with the hope of turning it into an extension of the downtown Corey Avenue district; grandfathering guidelines that will affect the entire city but be particularly beneficial to Pass-a-Grille; and landscaping requirements for new construction. Many residents complained that the city was approving new land development regulations before considering a big-picture master plan. They also said commissioners should wait until the new city manager starts Jan. 28. "We ought to give our new manager the courtesy of looking at it, and then he has to accept responsibility for it," said Jack Ohlhaber, president of the Presidents' Council. Friszolowski said the commission agreed with the residents' insistence on a master plan. "We're all in favor of a master plan," Friszolowski said. "It's a matter of doing it the right way." Steve Gordon, president of the Brightwater Beach Association, said the city should make available color-coded maps that depict the difference between the new regulations and the existing ones. City commissioners directed staff to provide such maps at the Jan. 12 Presidents' Council meeting. "You guys were elected by us, the citizens, to do our will, not to dictate policy," Gordon said. Senior Planner Jerry Speece clarified that the current version of land development regulations being considered include no changes in height rules. "There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in this ordinance that raises the height of buildings," Speece said. Added Speece: "When we're done, we'll have one book, one document, we can show to anyone who wants to develop or build in St. Pete Beach."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
