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Despite objections, condo project resumes
By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer INDIAN SHORES -- Construction will resume on the Palazzo Del Mare condominiums, a project the city approved without alerting neighbors as required by law. The Town Council decided Tuesday to allow the luxury condos, despite objections that the project doesn't fit in with the neighborhood. "I just hope this never happens to me, that I would never have a building built beside my house that would shade me for the whole winter," said Elizabeth McCord, who lives five or six houses north of the condominium site. The 71-foot building will include 12 condominiums that are billed as offering a unique view of both beach and bay because of their location along the Narrows. While most condominiums in Indian Shores are built five stories above a base-level parking garage, Palazzo Del Mare will have six stories over parking. The extra story is allowed because the developer promises to provide more landscaping and open space than typical projects. Neighbors complain that the developer is not doing enough to make the project qualify for the extra height. Still others said they had never heard of the town's "height incentive" policy and questioned its legitimacy. Similar proposals have been considered in St. Pete Beach and particularly Treasure Island, where residents are warring over proposals to allow developers to build higher in exchange for meeting certain requirements and building quality projects. In Indian Shores, the height incentive plan has been in place since at least 1994, said building official Malcolm Green, though only one other project, the Verandas, has taken advantage of it. Some neighbors of Palazzo Del Mare complained that developer Bob Lyons should have done more to work with them and ease their concerns. Evelyn Page, a real estate agent who handles sales of the units, said condos have upgraded Indian Shores. "Are these moms and pops that have been there for 60 years with trash and no upgrades to them, are they our standard?" Page said. Curtis "Wes" Westphal," whose family has owned the Sun & Fun Motel next to the condo site since the 1960s, complained that the building will shadow the motel deck and prevent guests from having sunshine in the winter. Although Westphal is a next-door neighbor, he learned of the project while visiting his motel from his home in Colorado. He noticed a sign on the property next door advertising the condos, which will replace three single-family homes. Instead of alerting Westphal and the other neighboring property to the proposed condos, the city alerted two of the homeowners who had sold their properties to the developer. The city approved the project, accepted about $50,000 in permit fees from the developer, then had to stop construction when Westphal alerted the city of its mistake. The city had to hold public hearings on the project again, and this time a handful of neighbors turned out to protest it. But Westphal didn't have much faith that the town would halt the project. "This is a runaway freight train," Westphal said. "What we're going to do tonight probably isn't going to amount to a hill of beans."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Letters |
