Don’t allow duplex expansion
The city commission in Anna Maria is proposing to allow duplexes in our residential district to expand. I very strongly oppose this action. I do not oppose duplexes to be able to rebuild or do repairs to maintain their current size. The majority of our duplexes are two-bedroom, one or two bath, single-story structures occupied by small families with long term leases. For years, these units have been an important part of the fabric of our city and I want to see them remain so. In my opinion, expansion will have a negative impact on the character of our city and the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Investors will be able to expand these units, change them to short term rentals and sell them as condominiums with multiple ownerships. The end result is the investors will make money and the city will see an increase in intensity of use and the loss of an important part of our character. Yes I'm a Norman Rockwell/Andy Griffith kind of a guy, but heck, I grew up in Anna Maria. I still love our city today, but it used to be better. I'll never understand why people move here, love it and then want to change it like it was back home (the place they left to move here - why did they move?) Incrementalism is slow and only one way. Those who want to protect our quality of life, lose it one small piece at a time and never get it back. One of my customers today said, as we were looking at the back of his property in Holmes Beach with three new 37-foot duplexes, "This isn't the city we fell in love with." I urge our residents to pay attention to this issue and voice your opinion to the city commission and administration. Sometimes we forget; your government works for you, is accountable to you, and you are in charge.
Dale Woodland
Anna Maria
I support you Dale I really do. But you are a Commissioner and therefore you must be able to see what is going on. Two years was spent re-writing the Comprehensive Plan and to the best of my knowledge the City paid Tony Arrant $60,000 to carry this out.
ReplyDeleteNow under the guise, of re-writing the LDR's to comply with the new Comprehensive Plan it appears that a considerable amount of 'tweaking' is taking place. It cannot be going unnoticed that the 'tweaking' is to the benefit of anyone who wishes to develop in Anna Maria City. Take a look at who is writing these LDR's - Alan Garrett. Unless I am much mistaken Mr Garrett (who I must add I have a considerable amount of time for and believe is caught between and rock and a hard place) was employed by Mayor Barford. Mayor Barford is currently making it quite clear where she stands (I think most of us figured this out long ago) with regards development by proposing Mike Coleman to stand for P & Z.
I plan on posting under a new comment in the next few days an 'incident' which should leave absolutely no doubt about what is going on.
I can speak from first hand experience regarding the perils of duplex expansions. We live across the street from a pre-FEMA duplex, so part is elevated and part on the ground. It has a total of six bedrooms, four baths, a 40' x 12 foot elevated outdoor deck, and a pool. The week following Christmas, one renter piled in 22 people!! No exaggeration. It is continually rented to large groups who create more havoc than one street should bear. Now, imagine that quaint duplex down from your home; along comes Earl Entrepreneur, who purchases it and adds a second floor. You are in for some disruptions to your quiet island life you never dreamed possible, 24/7! Not a pleasant scenario, and one that can only be avoided by convincing our elected officials to hold the line and leave things the way they are.
ReplyDeleteDuke and Dale.
ReplyDeleteIf you remember, I tried for over 5 years to fight the expansion of the Sandbar and the commercial district only to be told "you should have known you were in a commercial district" I tried to get my house re-zoned to ROR but to no avail because the commissioners and the P & Z Board could not see he whole picture then.
Now they can see a little bit of what I was fighting for but it is now too late I am afraid.
Who is Alan Garrett working for?
I am constantly surprised when people say that our commercial area is the problem. How does one figure that? It is situated in a contained area comprising just a couple of streets and aside from restaurants of which we have very few it is made up of retail units with opening hours that do not disturb residents.
ReplyDeleteTake the residential area which makes up the rest of the City composing hundreds of streets and several thousand residences all of which could be rental properties and you have a far bigger potential problem.
I for one do not accept that we have no problem from rental properties as the Mayor suggested at a City Commission meeting. I think it far more likely that as residents we are reluctant to call the Sheriff at midnight and complain about noisy renters - I know I am. I think many of us are experiencing the noise first hand from some of these larger rental properties. Duke refers to one of the large Thrasher rental properties above and in our neighborhood we get a lot of noise from one of the large four bedroom rental houses' that sits on the old Marina site. I am told by a resident on Spring Avenue that the very first time the new residences were rented out on Pine Avenue people were partying until all hours and there was considerable noise. This is just the way it is when you get a large number of people renting a big property.
Holmes Beach should be giving us the heads up that we are burying our heads in the sand if we cannot see where this is all heading. Their residents have fought for years against short term rentals and they seem to now be way ahead of us having passed something which will put an end to the short term rentals within 10 years (that was done so that property owners had a chance to recoup their money).
The quickest way to put a stop to development of the duplexes would be to end short term rentals -many of the challenges Anna Maria City is currently facing would stop immediately. There would be little or no incentive to expand duplexes if there was no rental potential, we would therefore not be looking at the larger bulk structures and the ensuing problems we currently experience and will surely experience more of in the future with large short term 'party' rentals.
Of course the problem with this 'solution' is that anybody who has bought a property here looking for rental investment is going to scream 'no way' and all the business owners are going to say the same as there is no doubt it would reduce the numbers of people coming in and out. Gosh wouldn't that be nice! But we can deal with this now or we can wait until later when the problem is way out of hand and try and deal with it then. The Administrators will not be able to please everyone on this one but if they don't take action then likely many years down the line we will look back and say that their inaction to protect the residents changed the face of the City.
I received this email from Henry Blackburn of North Shore Dr., and am sharing it with you. It succinctly and thoughtfully expresses our cause:
ReplyDeleteSince first coming to Anna Maria in 1930! (I lived in Bradenton as a child), I’ve admired this lovely island. Progress is not always born of Development but rather of increased Community. I fully support Dale Woodland’s ideas and sentiment against incrementalism. Let’s make it better, prettier, more natural, not bigger and more crowded and louder: a miniature version of what has happened to all of Florida since World War II. Henry Blackburn, 790 North Shore Dr.
Here's an email I just sent to the Commissioners:
ReplyDeleteTo: Commissioners Quam, Woodland, Webb, Mattick & Tollette
Cc: Bob Welch, Alan Garrett, Mayor Barford
From: Robin Wall, 112 Palmetto Ave.
Date: July 8, 2009
Subject: Existing Duplexes - No Expansion Please
Dear Commissioners,
I will not be able to attend the July 9th work session meeting. However, I would like to say that I hope you will not allow the existing two family dwellings (duplexes) to expand.
I would still prefer that all existing duplexes be made nonconforming uses and be allowed to remodel, reroof and be rebuilt to the same size in the event of destruction except demolition by permit. I think this would keep in check the intensity of use and would be more compatible with the single family residential homes.
However, if you do keep the existing duplexes as permitted uses, I urge you to prohibit their expansion. Mr. Garrett confirmed that it would be legal to allow the existing duplexes to be permitted uses and also to not allow them to expand.
Many existing duplexes are already 2 bedrooms per unit for a total of 4 bedrooms per duplex structure. If you allow them to expand, it is likely that at least 6 bedrooms per duplex will be built which provides for 12 persons. Such a duplex will be a more intense use than most nearby single family homes.
Some examples of existing duplexes that already have 4 bedrooms per structure are: 598 N. Shore, 600 N. Shore, 801 Fern, 712 Gladiolus, 706 Rose, 112 Magnolia, and 307 S. Bay Blvd.
I would rather live beside a 37 foot tall, single family dwelling with 4 bedrooms than a 27 foot tall, two family dwelling with 6 bedrooms. As the number of bedrooms and persons in a rental increases so does the noise, traffic and other impacts.
The Comp Plan policies stress over and over again ‘single family residential’. It does not seem like we are going in the right direction if the two family duplexes are expanded.
Please protect the quality of life of the residents.
Sincerely,
Robin Wall
This email to commissioners is from Ed Havlick:
ReplyDeletePlease distribute to all commissioners, the mayor and staff. Thank You!
I love Anna Maria.
I spent my professional career as a real estate developer and builder. I served as the president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago and also served as the development consultant for the American Farmland Trust, nationally.
It is difficult to understand how the leadership of our community could be considering a change in regulations that would weaken, what in my opinion, are an already loose set of regs, for duplex development. The character of of Anna Maria is (believe me) very unique, not only in Florida, but in the USA. As Dale Woodland has so accurately pointed out, "creep" is not reversible, and "creep" will destroy the unique character of Anna Maria.
There are many ways to provide a platform for new development and the enhancement of the unique character of Anna Maria. Tightening the existing regs, adding "Architectural Review", and thinking about "limiting size" (square footage), based on lot size would go a long way in maintaining the character of the city.
On the trip down the highway of life it always helps to have a map because there are so many roads. A " master plan" is a good map. But, in most cases, having a destination is a good idea. I could be wrong, but, I believe that most people in Anna Maria see the preservation of the unique character of the city as a good destination.
Ed Havlik
213 Coconut
Anna Maria, Fla.
This email comes from Terry Shaefer:
ReplyDeleteMayor Barford and City Commissioners,
I am writing to express my opposition to expansion of duplexes in our City. If allowed by you, would this not potentially result in significant risk of commercializing those dwellings and the respective streets? In my opinion, enlarging owner occupied or income property duplexes to significantly larger units, will attract a greater volume short-term tenants who do not share the same ambitions of preservation and protection of our City, that I believe most residents share. In addition, this could result in an increase of new non-resident owners of the duplexes with primary personal financial objectives as opposed to the long-term peace, tranquility and stability of our City, enjoyed by those of us who are fortunate to be residents.
I thank-you for your consideration and service to our community.
Sincerely,
Terry W. Schaefer
This is the text of a letter from Deborah Connors to the Commission:
ReplyDeleteI am writing in reference to a proposal I believe will be before you at tonight’s commission meeting pertaining to allowing the expansion of duplexes within Anna Maria City. I urge you to vote against this proposal.
I am in fact befuddled as to why this is something that is being considered given that just a mere few months ago the comprehensive plan was modified to eliminate the building of any new duplexes in our city. Why if we do not want any new duplexes would the commission be considering expanding the duplexes we already have? This doesn’t seem at all logical or in alignment with the direction of our comprehensive plan. I chose to move to Anna Maria because of the residential charm of the city particularly as compared to the character of Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach. I was under the impression retaining this residential character of Anna Maria was a priority for the residents and thus the city commission. I hope you will hold true to the desired direction of me and many other residents to keep our city focused on maintaining its residential character.
I can attest personally that allowing expansion of duplexes will be counter to this direction. I happen to live next to an expanded duplex. We are continually barraged with large party rentals week in and week out which is trying in and of itself however, the main problem lies within the size of the rental property. This particular duplex, since it has been expanded in the past, allows for large parties each side sleeping at least 8 people however, often times more; legal or not. We experience tremendous noise, trash, and disruptive behavior which are all difficult to deal with given the close density/proximity inherent in our little neighborhood much like the rest of the city. We have even experienced the addition of an RV to this property to handle overflow visitors and their motorbikes. We have had huge wedding parties rent apparently under the auspices of a couple of quiet occupants only to have more than 20 people stay there acting belligerently following their wedding festivities. Behavior so belligerent when they were requested to move their party inside my neighbor was assaulted with bear cans. All this goes on even though the property is owned by local residents; not absentee landlords living in some far off place. It’s really more than we should have to bear and definitely something I wouldn’t wish on other residents of Anna Maria.
Certainly, new and ongoing expansion will only exacerbate the issues we experience on our street throughout the city and further damage the peace and residential nature we expect to enjoy in Anna Maria. Please do not proceed with allowing the expansion of duplex properties within our beautiful city. Stop, we do not want nor need expansion. Please listen to the residents of our fair city.
In case you didn't catch it, here is a link to coverage of the duplex situation from this week's Islander. They did not print my Letter to the Editor; rather, a story quoting from my letter verbatim.
ReplyDeletehttp://islander.org/7-29-09/am_pz_duplexes.php
As you can see from the article, many are voicing their concerns. If you haven't yet had a chance to express your disgust at this outlandish notion, there's still time. To do so, send comments to amclerk@cityofannamaria.com. Request your email be copied to all commissioners and P&Z members.
The point is simple: Much time went into developing our codes. A helluva lot of work by a lot of very thoughtful and caring people--those elected and aided by many citizens on committees and in hearings--to protect what we've got. The code regulating non-conforming structures (basically preventing them from expanding) are in place for logical and sound reasons, all aimed at preserving our legacy. Four of the current five sitting commissioners ratified the city's Comprehensive Plan that stipulates these controls. The question du jour: Why do you now want to change them? It's certainly not to preserve the Anna Maria we know and love today, is it?