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To the Editor:
Editor's Note: The following is a copy of a letter sent to Safety
Harbor Mayor Andy Steingold, Vice-Mayor Mary Lynda Williams and
commissioners Joseph Ayoub, Nadine Nickeson and Nina Bandoni
regarding a vote scheduled to be taken at the commission meeting
Monday, Nov. 17.
Dear Mayor Steingold, Vice-Mayor Williams and Commissioners,
We would like to express our concern for your upcoming vote on the
Olympia Group property.
First, a 21 year site plan approval is absurd. We are certain you
are intelligent enough to realize they threw a high number out
there to try to get anything more than ONE year.
At the planning and zoning meeting addressing this issue, three of
the members were absent and the other four did not seem to be
informed or know what to do, so they threw out 15 years. Matt
McLachlan our city planning director might as well work for Olympia
because he seems more concerned with helping the developers get
their projects through than the concerns of the citizens.
We as residents are at your mercy. If you choose a site plan
approval time of anything over one year, you are opening our
downtown (Which is our Neighborhood) to become a construction site
for that length of time. Olympia could start to develop the
property and then stop before completion, leaving a mess for us to
live with for what, 10 to 15 years? Or they could try for a high
amount and then sell the property adding value with the lengthy
approval time.
At the very least, any amount of time granted should not be
transferable if sold. Second is a great concern for the additional
story. We have a THREE-story maximum height in Safety Harbor for a
reason. We remember the sitting commission (including Nadine
Nickeson) who voted in favor of granting this gigantic variance.
Did any of you actually see the construction balloons that were
tethered there to show the height years ago? You and current
informed citizens should be able to see this again before making
any further decisions. The 65 feet that was granted originally is a
ridiculous amount for our town. Are you sure they can cram what
they are asking for now within that height? Are their measurement
points the same this time as last time?
All good questions to ask a company that brags to residents that
they will "own the town by buying a block per year." The residents
do not want this. You spent thousands of taxpayer dollars (almost
$20,000) for a visioning process to learn this directly from the
residents, and yet you continue to ignore the outcome of YOUR
EXPENSIVE STUDY.
Recently while gathering petition signatures for this project, we
found when speaking to the residents that most think the "corner"
project is done as it sits now. They are astonished to hear that
the bulk of the project is yet to come and cannot believe a
six-story building is going in. There will be many livid residents
when the ground breaks for the Tower building.
Do not sell out our future so Olympia can make a bigger profit.
Some past and current elected officials already gave them Iron Age
Street, against residents wishes, so they could maximize their
profit. And don't forget the tree canopy that we will lose at the
old Art House is irreplaceable. You should have to be present on
the site when the chainsaws are fired up, so you can witness
personally the weight of your decisions.
You were elected to represent the RESIDENTS of Safety Harbor, not
the developers. Please do not be arrogant enough to think you know
what is best for us. We are intelligent citizens who love our
community. Because of the decisions of our elected commissioners we
are witnessing the charm of our beloved community disappearing one
"project" at a time. One tree here and one tree there continues to
add up and the very reasons we chose to live here vanish before our
eyes. All we can do is plead and beg to no avail. Many people who
signed the petition expressed a "why bother" attitude saying the
city won't listen anyway. This is a very poor reflection on you.
Prove these people wrong and LISTEN to THEM. Please consider the
desire of the citizens in your vote and do not take it lightly
because we have to live with it forever.
Sincerely Yours,
Chip and Terrie Thomas
Safety Harbor
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