TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pinellas News

Dunedin Sends Developer Back to Drawing Board

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS

DUNEDIN DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Kevin Campbell, foreground, had his recommendation that the City Commission allow the Alinda Villas town house project to proceed even though the developer, Louis Leousis, background second from left, had not begun construction within a year of receiving preliminary site approval rejected Thursday night.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: November 2, 2007

DUNEDIN, Fla. - DUNEDIN, Fla. - What a difference a year makes, a local developer learned at Thursday night's City Commission meeting.

Louis Leousis received site plan approval a year ago to construct a 13-unit townhouse project, Alinda Villas, at 1341 Bayshore Blvd., near Wilson Street.

Thursday night, however, commissioners said that approval has lapsed. In addition, commissioners said they want the townhouse project to conform to design guidelines the city has adopted since the 2006 site plan approval.

The architect who designed Alinda Villas for Leousis said his plans would be within the city's guidelines.

After facing a skeptical reaction from commissioners, however, Leousis and the architect, Joseph Lacki, agreed to come back before the commission next month with renderings of the townhouse complex design that were in line with the city guidelines.

In demanding another look at the plans for Alinda Villas, the commission ignored a recommendation from Kevin Campbell, the community services director.

The downturn in the state's residential real estate market had forced Leousis to miss the one-year deadline to begin construction after the commission approved the original site plan, according to Campbell. He urged the commission to allow the project to move forward on the basis of the original site plan approval.

The project had already successfully gone through rezoning, a land-use amendment, site plan approval and townhouse plat approval, Campbell noted.

The 13 townhouses are to be arranged in two buildings on now-vacant property that at one time was occupied by an auto service station on the southeast corner of Bayshore Boulevard and Wilson Street.

Since the initial plan approval, Commissioner Deborah Kynes said, the city adopted a set of architectural guidelines. Leousis should have to comply with the new standards of compatibility because he had missed the one-year deadline, she said.

The renderings the developer initially submitted show buildings that do not reflect the design guidelines, Kynes said. He should now have to show the project is compatible with the architectural standards, she said.

The city development staff is trying to assist Leousis in fast-tracking the project through the process, Campbell said. The earlier renderings the developer submitted reflected a Mediterranean-revival design commissioners endorsed in granting the first site approval, he said.

In addition, Campbell noted, the design guidelines were not intended to be a rigid template with which the architecture of projects has to comply in order to gain city approval.

In response to a question from Commissioner Julie Ward Bujalski, Campbell said Leousis was informed the city had adopted the architectural standards but had not been given an actual copy of them until this week.

Bujalski said staff had led her to believe otherwise.

City Manager Robert DiSpirito said he, too, had thought Leousis had previously received the design guidelines. If he had thought otherwise he would not have let the matter come before the commission this week, DiSpirito said.

Leousis sought to assure commissioners the design of Alinda Villas would be in line with the design guidelines.

Kynes, however, said she wanted to see proof in the form of renderings.
Mayor Bob Hackworth suggested Leousis and Lacki take some time to study the guidelines and incorporate them into new renderings.

In response, Leousis said he had hoped to avoid further delay in the townhouse project.
Commissioners, however, said they probably would not let construction proceed until they see new drawings.

In the end, Leousis said he would bring renderings before the commission during its first meeting in December.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT