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Key West too generous
with building rights
A little
neighborhood campground on the Key West waterfront is about to be
bulldozed and replaced by 32 two-bedroom, three-bath condominiums for
tourists.
The plan
approved by the Key West City Commission Tuesday is a drastically
scaled-down version of an earlier proposal to put 101 vacation rentals
on the site of the Jabour's Trailer Court and Campground.
But it carries
a new caveat that is troubling and sets a bad precedent — transferring
the supposed rights to build 48 two-bedroom condos in other parts of the
city.
The Jabour
family has been battling against the city for years to win the right to
redevelop the old campground. Now the family and the city are trying to
settle the issue of how much can be built there before it is sold to
Caroline Street Partners.
Represented by
attorney Jim Hendrick, a wizard when it comes to land-use issues,
Caroline Street Partners initially wanted to cram 101 units and two
restaurants on the property. Hendrick, who was county attorney for years
— and remains the county's attorney on land-use issues — convinced city
commissioners that the state recognizes 101 sewer hookups on the
property, therefore 101 units must be allowed to exist there.
Tuesday night,
City Planner Ty Symroski said the city only awarded licenses for 74
hookups and perhaps the owners should cough up additional licensing
fees. That idea didn't catch on.
Last year,
commissioners approved a plan for the Jabour's site, minus one of the
two proposed restaurants. Residents in the area were furious over the
number of units approved and the state Department of Community Affairs
challenged the agreement, sending the plan through more negotiations.
With Tuesday's
approval of building 32 condos and allowing developers the right to
build condos of the same size elsewhere in the city, the commission has
been successful in taming a beast of a project at the city's historic
seaport. There is no way that area could have maintained its quaint
character with 101 condos towering over it, surrounded by rental cars
and bursting with tourists.
It's still
disturbing that condos with two bedrooms and a living room that no doubt
will be used as a third bedroom by some will be built smack in the
middle of Old Town, but we can argue that it beats the 101-room
alternative.
A small
victory. But at what price?
Now hanging
out there is the potential for Caroline Street Partners to build 48
two-bedroom, three bath short-term rentals somewhere in Key West, or
sell the rights to build those units to someone else.
Where? It's
too scary to try to guess and the developers haven't told us yet.
The city
commission approved this despite warnings from residents and contentions
from Symroski that the city was giving away the right to build too many
units.
The city
allows this transfer of development rights, and it has been done time
and time again. Hotel rooms and other short-term rentals removed from
one spot are used as a credit to build at another spot. In most cases,
those transfers can be used to build a unit that has one bedroom, plus
another room, not an entire condo with two bedrooms and a living room.
Why create an
exception for this project at a time when the last thing Key West needs
is more rooms, condos or time shares for tourists? There's little room
to build anything. If there were, we hope we'd see some affordable
housing going up.
The Department
of Community Affairs once again will review the plan for the Jabour
family's property. The agency should pay careful attention to the
transfer of development rights to other areas and the impact it could
have on the tiny island city.
If we have to
have condos at the historic seaport, then let's keep the number as low
as possible. And then let's call it a deal and forget about building
other short-term rentals in Key West.
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