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Council approves zoning request; plans call for hotel
By BOB McCLURE
Article published on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 |
SEMINOLE – City councilors voted unanimously July 22 to pass an ordinance on first reading that opens the door for a possible new hotel and retail-office complex on Park Boulevard.
After more than an hour of discussion, councilors approved a future land use amendment and a zoning change that is the first step for Bethesda Developers of St. Petersburg, which hopes to build on the former Jesse’s Landing restaurant site at 10400 Park Blvd.
Developer Robert Berman hopes to build a smaller hotel, similar to a Holiday Inn Express, and a retail complex with restaurants that would support the hotel on the 8-acre site.
Councilors changed the designation of the site on the Future Land Use Map in the city’s Comprehensive Plan from residential low medium to commercial general and preservation. Zoning was switched from residential planned development-10 to commercial general and preservation.
Bill Oliver of Tindale-Oliver and Associates of Tampa conducted a traffic study on the proposed Heron Cay development and told councilors the study determined no adverse traffic impacts would occur on Park Boulevard due to the development.
Oliver’s study was based on a hypothetical 125-room hotel and 70,000 square feet of retail space. However, Park Boulevard is a county-controlled constrained roadway, which means if the Pinellas Planning Council imposes its concurrency regulations to the site, development could be limited to 50 percent of the current permitted city density limits.
With that in mind, city officials crafted an ordinance subject to a development agreement that addresses concurrency and requires no less than a 60-room hotel on the site.
Councilor Peter Hofstra said he had no problem with the ordinance provided the development agreement restricts the site to hotel and office space.
“I don’t think the site should allow any retail use,” Hofstra said. “My concern is the safety issue with the number of vehicles that will come to that site and want to exit going westbound.”
Plans call for the development to have an entrance off Park Boulevard that does not allow a direct westbound exit through the median. Motorists would be required to turn eastbound out of the parking lot and make a U-turn westbound at the first available opening in the median.
Todd Pressman, the agent for Bethesda Developers, said the project is only viable with a retail element.
“It would produce a higher generation of commercial dollars with retail connected and with synergy that exists with the hotel,” Pressman said. “Also, with a mixed-use project like this you’re keeping people off the streets and reducing trips.”
Councilman Dan Hester suggested terms of the development agreement could be based on the developer negotiating use of a private road that currently connects a nearby Home Depot store with Park Boulevard.
Hofstra agreed.
“I don’t think you should put me at risk to make Home Depot make this deal work,” said Berman. “They’re going to come back to me and we’re going to go round and round for another year and a half. You can be assured we’re already pressing for this access with Home Depot.”
Ultimately, councilors agreed.
“The way it’s sitting today, (the development site) is not doing anyone any good,” Hester said. “From an economics perspective, it has to work. If we have an opportunity to work with somebody that wants to bring in a hotel to our community, I’m sure Home Depot would be interested.”
City Manager Frank Edmunds noted that the traffic questions can be discussed in the future as part of the development agreement.
Current city code allows a hotel density of 40 units per acre and a commercial-office floor area ratio of 0.55. Under those guidelines, the development could be 60 hotel rooms and 123,144 square feet of office-retail space up to 100 hotel rooms and 99,186 square feet of retail-office space.
However, if imposed, county code on a constrained facility would allow 20 hotel units per acre and a commercial-office floor area ratio of 0.275. Under these guidelines, the development would be limited to 60 hotel rooms and 43,603 square feet of office space up to 100 hotel rooms and 19,646 square feet.
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Article published on Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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