Sidewalk Lunacy

February 27, 2010

In November, I suggested the City of Anna Maria had mistakenly approved site plans in the Residential/Office/Retail (ROR), based on this language in our Comp Plan: “. . . the City’s traffic circulation system shall emphasize safety and aesthetics . . . , separate pedestrian and vehicular traffic . . . , minimize direct access onto major roads”, and accommodate “bicycle and pedestrian traffic needs.” I maintained requiring vehicles to drive across the sidewalk to park, and then back out, sometimes blindly, through pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular traffic to re-enter the roadway, did not meet the above standards, and was inherently unsafe.

My assertions were labeled “monkey wrench” issues. Opponents said we’ve never had a fatality on Pine Avenue, so there is no safety issue. Some said “changing the rules in the middle of the game” was a taking of developer property rights.

My contention was then, and is now; the rules are already in place. They’ve simply not been consistently applied.

From our Land Development Regulations (LDR): “All off-street parking areas, including all areas for maneuvering, shall be located solely on the subject property, shall not use public rights-of-way, . . . and shall be designed to provide safe and convenient circulation.” “Maneuver”, when describing a vehicle, means “steer”.

Restated, every developed lot shall have a driveway; vehicles must enter the subject property to park.

Those who cried “you can’t change the rules” have now proposed the biggest parking rule change in the history of Anna Maria. They’ve asked the City to cede the City-owned right-of-way for parking and allow property owners to determine where to position the sidewalk. Instead of lining Pine Avenue with trees, they wish to line it with cars. It screams “Commercial District!”

It’s a half-access solution. Vehicles will still back into bicycle and vehicle traffic. Property owners will still need driveways to accommodate loading zones. And our sidewalks will weave back and forth the length of Pine, sometimes in the city right-of-way, sometimes on private property, depending on whether or not the owner volunteers to move the sidewalk.

At issue: what do we want the Anna Maria of our future to look like? Do we change the LDR and the Comp Plan to accommodate the wishes of a few, thereby allowing larger buildings and greater commercial intensity in our ROR? Or do we clarify the existing language in the LDR, carrying out our Comp Plan’s goals which are: “to protect the single family residential character of the City within the Residential/Office/Retail Land Use Category, . . . preserve the unique, historic cottage type housing . . .” and “encourage property owners to build less than the maximum size buildings.”

If you care about the outcome of this discussion, you should go to City Hall Thursday, March 4, at 6:00 for the Joint Session of P&Z and the Commission and voice your opinion. Or email the City for city-wide distribution: amclerk@cityofannamaria.com

Thanks for listening.

Harry Stoltzfus

Anna Maria City Commissioner

Meandering Sidewalks

I guess the majority realized when the second parking second committee was formed by the Mayor which direction it was heading. Essentially there are 3 members of PAR on it - Mr Aubry who designed the original PAR buildings, Mr Aposporos
who has already confessed to working for PAR and Mr Coleman himself a principal in PAR.
The description of the meeting in this weeks’ Islander further points to the Mayors’ and PAR’s plan to railroad their way through this problem. Move the sidewalks. And now apparently the sidewalks are going to meander!. This is absolutely ludicrous. And it will not alleviate the safety issues. People will walk from A to B in the most direct line they can so they are not going to follow a sidewalk which meanders all over the place.
And this is only addressing pedestrians - what about vehicle and bicycle safety?
Has anyone seriously considered what the logistics let alone the cost of moving the City sidewalk would be. As I see it owners of property on Pine Avenue and I presume eventually Gulf Drive (if this goes ahead) are going to be asked to swap a portion of their land for sidewalk. Who is going to own the sidewalk? It will be a public sidewalk. What about public liability if it is privately owned? How are you going to insist that property owners on these streets sign over their land for sidewalks - who is going to bear the legal cost of that? Never mind the changes that will need to be made to the Comprehensive Plan to accommodate this. And the monetary cost of moving the sidewalk??? I presume that PAR are going to pick up the tab for all of this as they appear to be the only people who actually need the sidewalks moved because they don’t want to follow the codes already in place.
And the big question is WHY do we need to move the sidewalks?
Safety measures are clearly addressed in the Comprehensive Plan and the LDR‘s - problem is until Commissioner Stoltzfus came along nobody had followed these safety measures. Our Comprehensive Plan states clearly that the emphasis must be on safety and aesthetics. There is no way of addressing the aesthetics if the sidewalks are moved. The parking safety committee has admitted there is an safety issue so now really all that remains is to follow the Comprehensive Plan and LDR’s.
The result of following the codes that are already in place would be smaller developments on the ROR lots. I guess that is why nobody is talking about that but instead trying to find an alternative which incidentally looks like it is going to cost the taxpayers of this City a small fortune.
This is fast heading in the same direction as the hotel/motel issue - let's just hope the residents step up in the same way.