Wisteria Island project on hold

Developers withdraw annexation request

BY MANDY BOLEN

Citizen Staff

Wisteria Island’s owners and business partners have withdrawn their request for the city to annex the 21-acre island in the Key West Harbor, which would have been the first step in building a resort and residential community there.

They still could proceed with the development under the current jurisdiction of unincorporated Monroe County; but under the city it would have been easier and allowed them to build 166 more units. The county’s current zoning and growth management laws would allow developers to build only two homes there. They could request a rezoning.

“Basically, we’re reassessing the situation,” part-owner Roger Bernstein said on Tuesday, adding that the development project is on hold for now. He also lamented the island having become an eyesore.

“The uninvited guests out there have really made a mess, and with the island sitting at the mouth of the harbor, there could certainly be a better introduction to Key West,” he said. “The city is only 2,100 feet away and the people using the island are not treating it nicely.”

The Bernstein family of Key West and Stock Island for 40 years have owned the neglected island inhabited by birds and vagrants. It was formed in the 1800s by dredged fill from the nearby shipping channel.

The family recently partnered with Ocean Properties, a development company headed by the Walsh family, which owns the Westin Resort and Marina in Key West. The Walshes also own the exclusive resort island of Sunset Key, adjacent to Wisteria.

The partnership, named Christmas Key Management Corp., in May asked the Key West City Commission to annex the island, making it a part of the city. Commissioners that month voted 5 to 2 in favor of the annexation, with Mark Rossi and Bill Verge opposing. The second and final vote, scheduled for this month, now will not be necessary.

Victory for some

At least one group was pleased with the developers’ withdrawal of the annexation request.

Bruce Ritson, along with other activists, has collected nearly 3,000 signatures on petitions opposing the annexation and supporting the creation of a park on the island.

“The people of Key West are fed up,” Ritson said. “They’re working two and three jobs and don’t have time to go to City Commission meetings, so they’re trying to trust the government they elected to represent them, but they’re fed up.”

Ritson viewed the withdrawn request as a victorious battle, not a successful war. He does not feel the developers will be able to petition Monroe County to amend its zoning laws to allow for more lodging units.

“They can’t win a fight with the county,” Ritson said. “There’s an alphabet soup of agencies regulating development in the county.”

The state Department of Community Affairs is chief among them. It has regulated growth in Monroe County since the 1970s because it felt politicians were letting developers run amok, without regard to the environment, water quality, affordable housing and hurricane evacuation.

But Ritson is not relaxing yet.

“You’ve got to watch these guys,” he said on Tuesday. “[Developer] Pritam Singh could buy the island tomorrow, so our next step is to get a referendum on the October ballot.”

Such a poll would ask Key West voters whether they supported the annexation and possible subsequent development of Wisteria, and possibly other offshore islands. Although it would give elected officials an idea of public opinion, it would not be binding, according to City Attorney Shawn Smith.

Verge, whose downtown district would include the island, said he continues to support the proposed referendum for the Oct. 2 ballot so commissioners would know the public’s sentiment.

mbolen@keysnews.com