A proposed settlement over development regulations drew an attentive audience as the City Commission unanimously approved the Resolution and Ordinance at its first reading at its February 24 Commission meeting at City Hall. The meeting had an extremely cordial atmosphere with virtually all comments very positive. Once the final vote was taken, Mayor Marie Lowe said, “If there was any time for an exception to our ‘no applause “rule, this is it!” — and the room broke into wild applause. Final approval at theMarch 9meeting of the Resolution and Ordinance hopefully will end the court battles from 2004-2014 that have cost the city and its resident and business taxpayers more than, $2.439 million in legal fees.
As noted in the February 6Tampa Bay Times, the proposed settlement calls for remedial changes to the City’s comprehensive plan including completion of infrastructure studies that will determine the amount of redevelopment. Among major issues addressed:
Reduce the height for hotel development from 146 to 116 feet; set new limits for front, side and rear setbacks; restrict development next to existing residential areas; and require a series of infrastructure studies to be completed before major redevelopment can occur. Both sides approved one change related to future easements for public access to the beach for new projects.
City Manager Wayne Saunders told Paradise News, “Although we have another public hearing to go through, I am optimistic that a resolution is in sight.Everyone worked very hard to have open and honest discussions on the issues and cooperated in finding compromises that would address the issues while retaining the integrity of the plan and allow the City to move forward.
After the proposed settlement was announced February 5, Mayor Lowe told the Tampa Bay Times she was “cautiously optimistic” that a solution had been found. She added, “The agreement gives the hoteliers much of what they wanted in the comprehensive plan. Height and density provisions have more than doubled.”
Tim Bogott, TradeWinds Island Resorts CEO, told Paradise News, “TradeWinds is supportive of the compromise plan because it at least moves the City in the right direction. We hope that it will stimulate new hotel development and tax revenues for the City. However, the reduction in height and setbacks from the original plan may not have the desired result since it will not allow the full density needed to stimulate hotel development versus residential condominiums, which may now be more economically viable.”
Attorney Ken Weiss, who with Tim Weber represented the key litigation clients, said, “Many people may ask why the settlement took 10 years? The simple answer is that before the current Mayor and commission were elected, former commissioners refused even to discuss settlement. Not only that, but after rejecting our settlement offers in secret shade meetings, the former commissioners actually told the residents that they weren’t interested in settlement. More importantly, former commissioners were found by the courts to have submitted deceptive and misleading ballot language to the voters and to have violated the Sunshine Law in their effort to thwart any resolution to the City’s comprehensive plan litigation.
That being said, the settlement agreement provides a solid foundation upon which the City can begin redevelopment. The citizens involved in this and other litigation were simply advocating responsible growth. Under the proposed settlement agreement, I believe the City recognizes, and the agreement requires, that redevelopment proceeds responsibly and lawfully.
Maximum height has been reduced more than 20%. Equally important, the City has agreed to study the costs of redevelopment and to reevaluate the impact fees to be assessed to developers so that residents don’t pay for the costs of redevelopment.
The settlement is a compromise that was the result of many days of meetings involving City officials, along with Tim Weber’s and my clients, and was negotiated in public. Everyone involved recognizes that the terms may not be acceptable to all concerned. Neither our clients, nor the City nor the hotels achieved every objective. In our opinion, the agreement provides a vehicle to insure that the City complies with its side of the bargain. For the first time in 10 years, and after many requests by our clients, the Mayor and commissioners agreed, finally, to sit down with the residents to arrive at this compromise. If citizens want to know why it took 10 years, perhaps they should talk to their former elected officials. The lesson is this: be sure to remember who those officials were and who supported them, because it could happen again.”
First result of the proposed settlement came shortly after the agreement was announced. The Postcard Inn on Gulf Boulevard in SPB was sold to a new owner. Mayor Lowe told the Tampa Bay Times, “I am quite thrilled they have invested in the Postcard Inn. The attorney for the new owner told me they want to be good neighbors, good stewards of the beaches and work with the City on redevelopment.” She hopes this is the first of many redevelopment projects that will occur as a result of the proposed settlement.
Once the agreement is finally approved with the required second reading at the March 9 Commission meeting (one day earlier due to City election), it must be submitted to the state for review. At that point, hoteliers and affected residents have 15 days to comment and/or seek further changes. Once the amended comprehensive plan is in place, the City hopes it will no longer have to warn developers that the plan is under any legal challenge.
Resolution & Ordinance for SPB Development Settlement
Summary of Resolution No 2015-02
This Resolution authorizes the Mayor to execute a “compliance agreement” between the above named petitioners, who have challenged the City’s adoption of Ordinance 2013-13 and the associated comprehensive plan. Florida statutes provides for negotiation of settlements in cases filed in the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings. The case has been abated for several months while the parties negotiated a settlement. These negotiation meetings were all noticed and open to the public.
On February 10, 2015, the city commission authorized the city attorney and city manager to seek finalization of a settlement between the parties. On February 11, 2015, a settlement was reached and the petitioners have signed the attached compliance agreement. Compliance agreement incorporates two exhibits:
1) the amended petition filed against the city and containing petitioners’ allegations that the city’s comprehensive plan is not in compliance with state law, and
2) a list of “Remedial Actions” that, if accomplished, will resolve the petitioners’ allegations.
Remedial Actions has two sets of commitments:
1) studies that must be completed by the city, and
2) comprehensive plan amendments (“remedial amendments”) that the city must adopt. The companion Ordinance No. 2015-05 adopts those remedial plan amendments. Once the remedial plan amendments are adopted and the appeal period passes, the petitioners will dismiss their case against the city, at which time the city will have an effective comprehensive plan governing development in the city.
Summary of Ordinance No 2015-05
This Ordinance provides for the approval of remedial plan amendments to Part I, Citizen Input on Community Redevelopment and Part II, Future Land Use Element of the City of St. Pete Beach Comprehensive Plan as specified by the Compliance Agreement referenced in Resolution 2015-02 resolving Division of Administrative Hearings Case No. 13- 003401-GM.
Remedial plan amendments formulated through the settlement negotiations relate to following areas:
1) Clarifying and strengthening current policy provisions related to the City’s capital improvements and concurrency management program requirements to ensure adequate public infrastructure and facilities are, or will be, sufficiently in place to accommodate existing and anticipated growth and redevelopment during the planning period in accordance with the City’s adopted level of service standards including solid waste and stormwater.
2) Providing for public review and design consideration of development projects in the Community Redevelopment District that exceed 30 temporary lodging units per acre or 50 feet in building height through the conditional use permitting process with quasi-judicial hearings before the Planning Board and City Commission. Also, setting forth the standards of review by which the potential impacts are to be evaluated.
3) Removing requirement that new construction exceed 67% of the combined aggregate floor area of new and existing principal buildings and accessory structures that constitute the entire unified development scheme on the buildable site from the definition of Scenario 2, Large-scale Development.
4) Adding setback standards for new buildings or building additions to the Large Resort District plan designation and amending building height limitations.
5) Establishing “edge” condition policies for the Large Resort District and adjoining residential properties outside the district relative to building height, setbacks, and buffering.
6) Adding side yard landscape buffer requirement for temporary lodging use buildings over 50’ in height with additional requirements when adjoining an existing residential use outside the Large Resort district.
7) Eliminating provision for affordable housing density bonus of five temporary lodging units per acre in the Large Resort District.
8) Eliminating references to Community Improvement Fund and other incentive programs that have not yet been implemented.
9) Eliminating references to a beach boardwalk or trail and instead requiring an easement for unimproved public access landward of the mean high water line prior to any building permit being issued for a large scale development or redevelopment projects in the Large Resort District. The City may require the same in the Boutique Hotel/Condo District. 10)Other clarifying or support language to existing policies necessary to resolve Plaintiff’s issues and concerns.
City Website Link to Full Language of Resolution & Ordinance: http://stpetebeach.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=3&event_id=343
Story by STEVE TRAIMAN
Aerial Photo by Spencer Lucas
[Editor’s Note: Special thanks for their insightful comments to SPB Mayor Maria Lowe, City Manager Wayne Saunders and City Attorney Andrew Dickman; TradeWinds Island Resorts CEO Tim Bogott; and Attorney Ken Weiss.]
[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. He can be reached via his NEW email at traimancreativecopy@gmail.com.]