Report generates confusion
Weekley says Truman consultant pitched it wrong
By Alyson Matley
amatley@keynoter.com
It felt like déjà vu all over again this week, as yet another
consultant came into town to help Key West figure out what to do with 33
newly acquired acres of waterfront land.
Despite the fact that a lengthy series of public workshops in the
late 1990s determined exactly what residents wanted to do with the
Truman Waterfront, the Key West City Commission this year approved the
new consultant’s visit.
Now commissioners aren’t so sure they did the right thing.
The Urban Land Institute spent three days scrutinizing the 33-acre
parcel at the Truman Waterfront, and met with 28 people representing
local government, businesses and environmental organizations.
Truman Waterfront was acquired by the city last year as part of the
military’s move to distribute excess land to local entities.
Urban Land Institute representatives presented their findings
Wednesday — and some opening remarks have raised the hackles of many
people in the city.
“Their charge was to look at what was designated where,” said Key
West Mayor Jimmy Weekley, “and tell us the best way to get it done. Some
folks are taking some of the opening remarks and made it sound like this
will be some big condo development.”
According to Weekley, the opening comments by representatives of the
Land Institute said the most ideal use of the land would be to carve out
the green space the city desires, then sell off the rest to provide the
city funding for important projects like affordable housing.
“They just said if they had been brought in during the original
planning phase,” said Weekley, “they would have recommended we sell off
the 40 percent of the property not being used as green space.”
City Manager Julio Avael said the group recommended that high-end
luxury housing should be included on the site, but Weekley says the
current plans and agreements allow only affordable housing.
Discrepancies in interpretations will likely not be cleared up until the
Land Institute submits its written report later this month.
Weekley said city staff made it very clear to the institute what the
parameters are, and that the agreement that transferred the land from
U.S. Navy ownership to the city had very specific requirements.
“One of the issues early on [during the negotiations between the city
and the Navy] is that the Navy did not want to see a lot of housing on
that land,” said Weekley. “Our agreement limits the housing. Any changes
we make to the existing plans have to be approved by the Navy.”
The $20,000 study was funded by the Rodel Foundation, the city and
other sponsors, including the Key West Citizen. |
