Town of North Redington Beach

5/10/2005

Comprehensive Plan

The state has approved the first change recommended by the town in its update of the 1989 Comprehensive Plan. Formal commission action is still needed, but the proposal to increase the number of tourist units in the beachfront tourist zone from 20 to 50 per acre has been okayed by the state’s Department of Community Affairs. At the same time, the number of residential units in that zone will be limited to 15 per acre. The proposal had been reviewed by county and regional as well as state planning officials, and all approved of it. Emergency management and transportation officials did as well.

The state did ask for slight language changes in the proposal. These will be recommended by the town’s Planning & Zoning Board and incorporated in the ordinance that makes the change official when it comes before the Commission at the regular June 9 meeting. Another public hearing will be conducted on the ordinance before that final vote is taken.

This plan amendment was part of a package that the comprehensive plan work group, P & Z Board and Commission put together to try to retain tourist uses and to assure new development meets higher aesthetic standards. Other ordinances established design standards to be used in reviewing all new development proposals in the tourist, commercial and multi-family zones. They also called for development agreements that will translate these standards into a contract between the town and developers. These measures were enacted earlier this year.

Coming up at the May 12 Commission meeting is another piece of the package. This defines tourist facilities and includes the concept of condo-hotels. It also implements the decision to reduce the number of residential units in the tourist zone to 15; and it increases setback requirements from 15 to 18 feet. A second public hearing will be held on this measure before the final vote.

After the plan change becomes official, the zoning laws will have to be amended to allow for the 50 units per acre.

With this major step behind them, the town’s plan work group and the county planning staff are concentrating on the plan elements that remain to be reviewed to complete the updating process. At a meeting on May 4, the group reached virtual agreement on a combined coastal management and conservation element. Key thrust in this element is to take all steps possible to protect the beach and other natural areas.

On June 8, the work group and planners will begin tackling what may be the most critical piece of the planning exercise: how to deal with the future of the Gulf Blvd corridor, defined in the town’s vision statement as the spine of the community. Many proposals are already on the table to beautify the roadway and make it safer. These will have to be consolidated into a master plan. Also on the agenda is the housing element. Planners are still aiming to complete the update before year’s end.

Crosswalks

Representatives of the beach communities will meet with officials from the Department of Transportation after the next meeting of the Big C on May 25 to discuss safety issues on Gulf Blvd. This has been a hot topic with the Big C for months, with action taken to encourage a standard 35 mph speed limit, and to improve crosswalk access and safety.

Mayor Bill Queen and town commissioners are hopeful that the meeting will lead to the addition of at least three crosswalks in North Redington Beach. There is only one in town now. At a workshop on May 6, the commission considered alternative locations, looking to place the walks where pedestrian traffic is heaviest, e.g. at beach access points or near restaurants and shops. Final decisions on number and location will depend on DOT response.

In the course of their discussion, however, the commissioners noted that the crosswalks alone would not help the safety situation. They would be the first step. But there would also have to be a major education project to let motorists know that they must stop for pedestrians, and to let pedestrians know that they can only cross where there is a walk.

There are ways to augment signs with illuminated strips that warn motorists a pedestrian is crossing. Getting walkers to cross only in these spaces might be a little more difficult. But motorists ignoring the requirement to stop and walkers crossing where there is no walkway are both violations, and strict enforcement would be expected to follow the education program. This assumes the town gets the crosswalks it wants.

Pinellas Planning Council

Vie Mayor Jerry Knight has been appointed by the County Commission to become a member of the Pinellas Planning Council. He will serve the unexpired term of former Indian Rocks Mayor Bob DiNicola. The mayor resigned his post earlier this year because he was moving out of the area. Knight will represent the beach communities from Redington Beach north.

The Pinellas Planning Council develops and maintains the county’s comprehensive plan. And makes recommendations to the County Commission on changes that are requested or are deemed needed to meet long range development goals.

Knight formerly served as the director of a regional planning group in Ohio and as a strategic planner in business.