Pine Avenue Restoration Project Moves Forward With Second Site...
By mid July of this year, the Pine Avenue Restoration Project had secured a second site plan approval from the Anna Maria Planning and Zoning Board.
Second Site a Mirror Image of First
The design for the second building and grounds, located at the corner of Pine Avenue and Crescent Street, is a mirror image of the project just across Crescent that was approved several weeks earlier.
"This second site combines two lots into one parcel with upper residential and lower retail units," City Planner Alan Garrett told members of the Planning and Zoning Board. The on-going discussion the city is having about whether or not to allow two separate buildings side by side with no space between them – called zero lot line – was again raised.
"It’s common in planning to allow two buildings to be side by side, and it’s OK if they want to pull back from each other as long as they meet the fire code," Garrett said.
Side By Side Building Issue
The Planning and Zoning Board and the city of Anna Maria commission have spent hours discussing the side by side building issue and actually passed an ordinance allowing such structures with zero lot lines to be built. Some commissioners and some residents maintain that such a structure is a duplex – a use that is not allowed in the residential/office/retail (ROR) district along Pine Avenue.
Under this the new comprehensive city plan, duplexes are not allowed anywhere in the city. "In land planning, you always protect single family residences – always. It’s the most important rule to follow," Garrett said. The planner also said the proposed structure met the intent of the code and the comp plan. "We do not want to have a strip mall; we want more of a cottage effect," Garrett noted.
Pine Avenue Site Plan Approved But With Conditions
The second site plan submitted for the Pine Avenue Restoration project was approved with several stipulations, including the requirement that a six-foot fence be erected on the rear of the property, that there be a sign designating the loading area, that pedestrian access not be obstructed by landscape elements and that the term "crushed shell" be removed from the site plan all together.
There was further discussion about whether or not filter mix, a sand-like substance, met requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The final vote was 5-2 with Chair Doug Copeland and Jim Conoly casting the dissenting votes. Copeland said he voted no because he’s not certain that the side by side building is an allowed use under the present code.
As you can see, the Pine Avenue Restoration Project was moving along quite nicely. Barely a year from the time it was first presented to the Anna Maria city commission, the first two site plans have been approved and construction soon to be underway.
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