Watermark developers say they will scale parts of
project down
If you go: The proposed
Watermark development in the Key West Bight goes before the Key West
Planning Board at 6 p.m. Thursday at Old City Hall, 510 Greene St.
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff
KEY WEST — Developers of a
controversial Key West Bight condominium complex have scaled back the
project by lowering the roof line of two of the buildings and removing a
penthouse.
Some opponents of the
project say the concessions are not enough and the project is still out
of scale and out of character with the rest of the neighborhood. The
roof lines, and some of the buildings, still exceed city Historical
Architectural Review Commission guidelines, local attorney Bob Goldman
said Thursday.
The Caroline Street Partners
are offering an alternative to the current plan for the Watermark
condominium complex, which will be housed at the site of old Jabour's
Trailer Court & Campground. The group may still implement the current
plan, which calls for 26 $1 million-plus condos housed in four
buildings.
"We think it's important to
be a good neighbor and we have and continue to make every effort to be
just that," said Everett Atwell, a developer of the project.
This latest compromise plan
comes in response to a recent Key West Citizen editorial, which called
for the developers to listen to Key West staff planners who wanted to
see the parking levels removed on the two Watermark buildings that front
Lazy Way, Atwell said. The Caroline Street Partners listened and will
discuss revising Watermark's plans to not only remove those two parking
levels, but to also remove an additional penthouse unit, Atwell said.
The proposed modifications would eliminate another 2,800 square feet of
livable space at a cost to Caroline Street Partners of $3.5 million
dollars, the developers said.
These potential changes
would bring the average height of Watermark down to 33.6 feet and reduce
the number of units to 25, Atwell said. The alternative plan calls for
the penthouse to be removed from the top and the under-condo parking to
be removed along Lazy Way and William Street. This would drop the peak
of the building from 40 to 28 feet. Underneath parking would also be
removed from another building that would drop the peak of the roof from
40 to 36 1/2 feet, City Planner Ty Symroski said.
Opponents of the project
said reducing the average height is unimportant if other buildings on
the property still exceed height regulations. Buildings in the historic
district cannot be taller than 35 feet, with another 5 extra feet if the
roofs are pitched, according to the city code. Two of the buildings will
still have a peak of 40 feet with sloped roofs, records show.
"With this line of thinking,
you could build a 60 foot building and make the other three buildings 10
feet and have the average height of the buildings below 33 feet. It's
brilliant," said Goldman, a bight neighborhood resident and a lawyer
hired by a group of residents fighting the project. "I'm old fashioned
when it comes to city regulations and HARC guidelines. I just want them
to comply with what is written."
Neighbors and developers
have battled for months about the scale and height of the development
and the pitch of the roofs. HARC and planning board meetings have been
standing room only events. Opponents have filed lawsuits to stop the
development.
During the process, the
developers reduced the number of units, most recently from 33 to 26
units. The project initially started with 81 much smaller units. The
city's Historical Architectural Review Board has approved the design for
the project.
The developers will go back
before the city Planning Board at 6 p.m. Thursday at Old City Hall, 510
Greene St. The board makes recommendations to the City Commission. The
group went before the board last month, and the board was split 2-2 on
the project.
tohara@keysnews.com
Tell
your public officials opinions on Watermark
It's important that the
people who care about the future of Key West and how it looks and feels
show their presence or express their opinions to their representatives.
The case in point is the Watermark Project (at the site of Jabour's
Trailer Park), now before the planning commission. [The Historic
Architecture Review Commission], which has the responsibility to protect
the historic district from just this kind of development, has accepted
the project as is. As is — being out of character with the historic
bight, out of compliance with city law and being over the existing
code's height restrictions, which added together make the project an
eyesore for the area.
It seems hard to find any
reason the developers should be allowed to do anything that's not in
compliance with every code and built "in character," much less being
given a "bye" on multiple violations. They, of course, have a right to
develop the property, but they must be required to do so in such a way
as to not have such an adverse impact on the local community. The
Planning Board meeting in regards to this will be held Thursday at 6
p.m. at Old City Hall. Everyone's presence there would be wonderful, but
contacting commissioners and planners in advance would be very helpful
too.
Please, don't let one more
chunk of the wonderful Key West feeling go without an effort to stop it.
Dee Bower
Key
West - Feb 28
Watermark doesn't fit
with Old Town neighborhood
As a full time resident of
Key West,
I urge that the proposed Watermark plan be rejected that is scheduled
for review at the upcoming Planning Board Meeting on March 3, 2005.
This is an important vote
and direction for our community. The proposed luxury condos should be
rejected based on current regulations over height limitations and not in
compliance with City law. Having lived on Peacon Lane which is very near
the proposed site, the buildings will become a terrible eyesore for the
preservation of this part of the community.
This is an important and
historic decision that cannot be treated lightly.
Warren Benjamin
Key West - Feb 27
Keep
supporting boards to make Watermark fit
Dear fellow citizens of
Key West,
Thank you for your continued
support of our local volunteer boards (HARC and Planning) in their
requiring the Jabours Trailer Court/Caroline Street Partners project be
redesigned to comply with the laws of the city of Key West.
The project continues to be,
despite concessions, massively out of compliance with the city's rules
for new development projects. It is too dense (too many enclosed square
feet) and too tall to fit into a neighborhood of Key West. We can see
all over the island how "too big and too tall" is sneaking in and
dwarfing neighborhoods. How did it happen?
I don't know; buildings were
suddenly framed up and filled out. But I know I have felt smaller and
smaller and increasingly helpless about inappropriate change overtaking
my town.
I hope that by informing my
community in advance (this development site is currently white gravel)
of the danger this proposed new development threatens to us, we will
give our support to the city boards who have to give their approval for
the project to be built.
The "final" Planning Board
consideration of this proposal and the citizens' response to it will be
Thursday at 6 p.m. at Old City Hall on Greene Street.
We must show our support for
the rules that exist to keep this project from coming into existence.
Come to this meeting so that the number of citizens who are committed to
stopping these buildings construction IN ADVANCE as opposed to
complaining and feeling helpless after the fact is a visible and
supportive reality to the Planning Board members! They do care. They are
us. This town is ours. We must help them to stop the steamroller of
greed from squashing us smaller and smaller.
If you absolutely can't go
to the meeting please write the Planning Board (605 Simonton St.); or
fax ((305)293-8300), being sure to include a signature. These letters
will be read aloud at the meeting.
Thank you for taking time
out of your daily life to make a difference for everyone.
Sheila Rowan
Friends & Neighbors of
Key West Bight
Key West
- Feb 25 |
