http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/16/Neigh ... _Tyr.shtmlBy PAUL SWIDER
Published April 16, 2006
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ST. PETERSBURG - In the face of strong opposition from neighbors, the Sembler Co. has significantly revised its proposal for developing 18 acres at Ninth Avenue N and 66th Street.
The new plan is for only 30,000 square feet of commercial property on 6 acres in four parcels the developer said would be banks, stores and restaurants. The remainder would be developed into about 135 townhomes with price tags around $400,000, said Sembler president Craig Sher.
"We want to do something very nice," he said.
Sher said the new plan is drastically different and that meetings with neighbors are going better.
"I think everybody gets what they wanted," Sher said. "Nobody ever really objected to residential."
Sembler wanted to build 88,000 square feet of commercial space, including a Publix, and 48 townhomes if it could get the land rezoned. Buying the land from the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg is contingent on rezoning.
Neighbors who said the center was not needed and would generate too much traffic in an already crowded area found some agreement from the city staff. Sembler pulled its first proposal and has now come back with something nearly the reverse.
Neighbors had said they would rather see the site developed as single-family homes, as is currently allowed. Sembler's application said that was not possible because the site could fit only 52 lots and the $16-million land cost would mean the homes would cost too much.
Neighbors also said they would go along with the city's future zoning plans, which would allow a few more single-family homes and some professional office space, but not quite what Sembler is proposing.
Sembler's new proposal is "closer to what the city's looking for," said Rick MacAulay, senior planner for the city.
The city had planned for 100 feet of depth of professional offices along 66th Street. Sembler's plan is for 275 feet that could include fast-food restaurants. The differences are significant for neighbors who are still resisting the plan.
"We are in favor of development that is either under the existing zoning or the city's proposed zoning," said Jed Healey, co-president of the Garden Manor Neighborhood Association, a neighborhood next to the project. "Sembler's plans do not conform with either."
The Sembler proposal does promise that 25 percent of the commercial space will be for offices. Further, the commercial area would not have driveways connecting to the residential area, the gates of which would prevent through traffic. There would be entrances to the commercial areas from Ninth and 13th avenues and from 66th Street.
Though the proposal is specific, the rezoning hinges on broader issues of need and impact, not design. Neighbors have emphasized that a rezoning is forever while a site plan can change. A development agreement would make some proposal aspects permanent, but neighbors fear abuses.
Sher said the company is trying to complement the area. Its supporting documentation also suggests that this development factors into larger plans it has for Tyrone Gardens and the Market Place center next to the mall. With so many residents so close to so much commercial activity, there is bound to be continued resistance.
"They're fine people," Sher said of the neighbors. "I understand what they're going through. This is the world of democracy."
The city staff will issue its recommendation of the new proposal April 25. The planning commission will consider the application May 2.
Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or
[email protected] or by participating in itsyourtimes.com.
[Last modified April 16, 2006, 08:45:47]
