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12/06/1976 / City Coaai'lion M..cin. Dacember 6, 1976 The City Coami'lion of the City of Clearwater .et in Ipecial selsion at the City Hall, Monday, Deceaber 6, 1976 at 11:00 a.m., with the following member. pre.ent: Gabriel Cazares Karleen P. DeBlaker Karen Martin Darwin s. Prank Mayor-Commilsioner Commissioner Commissioner Commilllsioner Absent: Joseph Carwise Commissioner Also present were: Picot B. Ployd Marybeth Lavallee Warren Renando City Manager Assistant City Attorney Acting Planning Director The Mayor called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Dam Minotti, Chairman of the task Porce. The Plege of Allegiance vas led by the Mayor. The City Kanager presented a Waiver of Notice of Meeting to the Clerk for the record. Members of the Task Porce were introduced by Dam Minotti and Rose Phiefer introduced members of the Downtown Develop- ment Board. George Pillorse, of RTRL Associates, presented the Pre- liminary Development Plan & Space Use Program Report. He stated a aajor part of the plan is the downtown market analy.is and the projections for land use which was done by Gladstone Associates. ' Tom Wall of Gladstone Associates reported the market analysis was conducted to determine potential market support through 1985 for four principal land uses in the Downtown area. ie: housing. office space. retail area and transient accom- modatioDs. The designated uses for these areas should be eomplete~ by 1985. In the hOUSing category they deemed single family build- ings unsuitable for the Downtown area. but apartments of var- ious types are typically appropriate. Low .rise or garden apartments do not have auch demand. However; the oversupply should be used by 1977/78. The residential' market is suffer- ing fro_the overbuilding of the past few years and a falloff in deaand. ,High-rise, apartments ~all into two basic eategortes ,~-condo_iniums and federally-assisted projects. The high-rise cODdo.iuluRs vill. hopefully, be reduced by 1978. The feder- ally-a..lsted housing oriented to a retirement market demand appears strongest with a vaiting list. Thedevelopaeut of' federslly-assisted h.using. while predicated on do.and, 'is condltiouedlargely by the existence of spon.or organizations and' their capacity to undertake the projects. I ' . I " '. , " . '.} " ,,' ,. I' .; "'"/2:\, , :,::>;' <~}J~::I .,", 12-6';'76 Th..office .pac. ar.a i. al.o oY.rbuilt and occupancy 1.v.1. for buildinl' .urvlyad i. below the 95% rate g.n.r.l- ly .cc.pt.d ., n.c....ry for a profit.b1e operation. Occu- p.nt. of the Central Bu.ines. Di.trict', older buildings have relocated to the nev.r structure., cauliDg vid..pr.ad vacan- ci... The ablorptioD rate of the newly Ivai1able apace has b..n 110v due to generally weak .conomic condition. national- ly and in the Bay ar.a. Th. survey shove~ tenants had moved out to surburban office ar.... It is estim.ted th.t the present vacant space viII be ablorbed in 1980 or 81. The retail component is difficult to analyze. The re- tail area Downtown is the equival.nt of a large shopping cen- ter, but it should contract its space in order to have more viable stores and shops and to keep walking distances less than they are now. New retail activity should be promoted .nd existing stores replaced with new merchants offering ~if- ferent goods or services. Specialty shopping for limited income retirement customers is not now available. Increased tourist patronage should be promoted and they suggest a theme retail center which would typically combine food and beverage facilities with the specialty retail space. Such a project , could be a potential eastern anchor. ' The last area is transient accommodations. It is project- ed that it will be 1981 before any additional motels or hotels are required. The Sheraton-Sand Key is now serving as a ,con- vention facility to replace the old Fort Harrison Hotel, with a subsequent reduction in retail sales in. the Downtown area. Tourism should be promoted creating a demand for'new lodging accommodations. They do not feel a convention'center 1s need- ed at the present time as the business generated by conventious represents a very small portion of the trade. There has been no significant convention growth in the Clearwater area. The \..." Hayor expressed concern that there had been nO/~epth study made on a replacement for the Fort Harrison Hotel and the need for an adaquate facility for conventions. Hr. Wall re- ported that the merchants had been surveyed on the loss of' convention business and, as he recalled, there was no great impact and the year-round operation must be considered. If the facility were built it is quite possible there would be support for it. Mr. Wall stated consideration of a convention center is a complex question which needs evaluation. Mr. Pillorge s~~ted they had concluded that the program can be adequately accommodated within Downtown except, poo- I sibly, for the residential program. Two factors effect the residential market program: 1) The lack of available water- front-oriented sites for high-rise condominium development, and 2) The major land assembly effort required to assemble enough adaquately sized parcels to achieve the projected pro- gram. Bob Smith presented slides of the potential residential development areas. Eight such areas have been identified within Downtown Clearwater: 1) Oak Bluffs waterfront retire- ment high-rise which is currently being developed with 274 high-rise units. 2) North Oaceo1a waterfront view site, im- mediately east of the Sand Castle Motel has potential for waterfront view type residential development. 3) Calvary Baptist site. A church-sponsored elderly housing potontia1. ~'" , A po.sible develop.ent program might combine elderly ho~sing M.: '::",. .' ., :":;.."... , on, ,top of permanent classroom facilities located at the base \'~':<< : . of tbe building. 4) The Gray Moss aite. It may warrant ',1'8- :~,:,~f~.'[\\/',~.,:.,'..~~':,," 'place..nt of tbe building but tb,e property provides a potential '.' . .ite;for either apart..nt. or elderly houaing. 5) Garden,' }RS/',-::> ~'!":"" A,enue .it. b.tw.en Park and Pierce Streets.,. This is current- :jJr:,~;;.',:::\{,;:.::~ ,'>,' .,Jy. .' C?ltJ p.rk,1na'lot and adjac.nt to the, local 'bue, atati,on. ~,. 'i'J..>'-f.'.l;l,H'.'...:,( -'.r ,,' " " , ., _, I ~~i "~I;; 'if:.....;Jt:.~.: s.', /'~ I ,',...,. ".':~....~' ~: . .~" ....~.jl. ~ :.:.< ,. 1 " , . ;.~ .;.!r~:ll:>:.~': "~~"'.' . >. "'.' , 'i~i::"~\i::A\i,;;;:(/,: "', ",.I'h~-'>:. ""1'1" ,/:,., " ',' " .J.1~'t;~.t':;:}....;l~{.f,~/~.i ....~..!I,. i',.: ' .... . < J,',' ~.:. . :' " '. .1 It. potenti.l for eld.rly hou.ing i. provided by it. convon- ient location to the bus transit terminal and the r.tail core area. 6) Drew Street area between North Fort Harri.on and North Myrtle Avenue.. Garden apartment or eld.rly hou.ins potential. probably requiring public a.sembly of land. Thi. area repr..ent. a aajorredevelopment opportunity for Down- town in reBidential uaes. 1) Booth Avenue/Drev Str..t are.. Garden apartment or elderly houling potential. Thi. area could lerve to improve and extend an existing r.~idential neighborhood within Downtown. The area contain. .ature tre.s which provide a major. site amenity which .hould be pre.erved. 8) Prospect Avenue area between Park and Court Str.et.. Garden apartment or elderly bousing potential requiring as- sembling of land. Currently, the area conei.ts of old and obsolete structures predominantly used for auto service. However, the area appears to be quite viable economically. It is phYSically but not economically obsolete, and if tbe area were redeveloped with residential uses. elderly housing would be oriented to the eXisting Haven House facility within the area and the existing retail center (Winn-Dixie, etc.) could become a neighborhood retail and community center for' the residential development. These eight potential residen. tial development sites contain approximately 47 developable acres. There are three general areas existing for potential office development. 1) The County Court House area. The general clustering of lawyers. title companies, and other similar offices in the Court House.area reflect the demand generated by the Court House and its.various departments. 2) The North Fort Harrison/Osceola.Avenue area. Several development areas exist to the north of Cleveland Street in the Fort Harrison/Osceola Avenue corridor. Potential devel- opment parcels fronting on Osceola, and currently used for parking lots and drive-in banking facilities. provide excel- lent opportunities for waterfront views and are most approp- riate for prestigious Downtown office space facilities. 3) ~he eastern anchor area. Potential sites exist 1n the area near Cleveland Street East and East Avenue. Such devel- opment could serve to reinforce the proposed eastern retail anchor concept and might be part of a mixed-use development project. Their market analysis for Downtown retail trade does not envision any major expansion of retail space other than crea~ ting some specialty retail area to serve as an eastern anchor. The basic retail area would be a three-block section along Cleveland Street between Osceola and East Avenue. Re-tenanting and upgrading of existing retail space must be promoted to revitalize the Downtown core area and improvements should primarily be focused in this three-block area and, to a les- ser extent, in the Cleveland Plaza area. , " The three potential retail development areas are: 1) The retail core area with the eastern anchor specialty center. 2) The proposed farmers' market. - Creation of a farmers' market area on the existing Bilgore citrus fruit vending area. This area has good visibility and accessibility and a farmers' market might make creative reuse of existing warehouse space. 3) Cleveland Pla~a Shopping Center. Upgrading of this cen- ter would serve as a Downtown subcenter area a8 well as a neighborhood convenience retail center. Three potential opportunity areas for transient accom- modation development are: 1) The Sand Castle Inn expansion. Projected demand could be accommodated by.expanding the;GX- , isting inn. This is the only waterfront-oriented site avail- able within'Dovntown. 2). Myrtle/Court/Chestnut area. - J :.',. ." v' . ", ':' .:~ '. " '.\ \~! . l l ~ .}:,": , .,3.,. .12-6-76 : t' ~ ., Tha inter.action of the propo.ed redi,ilnation of Stata Road 60 and Altarnate 19 provida. a potential motel devalop.ent araa which ha, load traffic expoeure. 3) The ea.tarn anchor area would be convenient to Downtown bUlinea. activitie. and help reinforce the ealtern anchor concept. The e.ti.atad .arket demand for additional hotel/motel acco..odationl through 1985 i. modest and total. approximately 150 addition- al rooll.. In summary, the Preliminary Development Plan outline. a revitalization program and the'e.eential element. of the Pre- liminary Development Plan include redesignatlon of State Road 60 and Alternate 19, improvements to the lIajor'retai1 core area, enhancement of the waterfront area as a public open space and recreation resource, focusing future Downtown office space development in three areas of the Downtown core (the North Fort Harrison/Osceola corridor, the County Court House area, and the eastern anchor area), providing future Downtown residential development areas within the Downtown core, addi- ' ,'. tional street landscaping, and a Downtown signing program.' The Preliminary Land Use Plan proposes a concentration ' of intense office and retail land use activltiesvithin the pedestrian-oriented Downtown core area. The proposed vehicular circulation plan is desi8~ed to improve Downtown traffic flow. East-West through traffic is already beginning to bypass the core area aa a result of the completion of Pierce Boulevard, which has made Court~CheDtnut the moat convenient and direct route to and from the Beach. Redesignation of State Road 60 remains a critical and neces- sary step so that necessary street modifications within the retail core area can be made. The plan recommends that two one-way streets be created to facilitate eafe and efficient traffic flow, with East Avenue northbound between Cleveland and Drew Streets, and, Cleveland Street to be one-way eastbound between Memorial Causeway and Osceola. The Preliminary Urban Design Plan for the retail core area depicts.a number of recommended improvements, including creation of a unique specialty retail center as an eastern anchor to the retail core area and would be comprisod of specialty food and entertainment oriented business on the south side of Cleveland and a specialty goods center (such as an international bazaar) on the north side of Cleveland. The specialty food and entertainment oriented cente~ is envi- sioned as a series of small shops and stores clustered around a central landscaped core with outdoor cafes, flower stands, shade, trellises, ethnic restaurant, dinner theatre, etc. " ,-. Creation of a three-block-long street mall along Cleve- land Street from Oaceola to East Avenue is recommended, cre~' ating a pleasant pedestrian and shopping environment while retaining two-way vehicular access. , Several areas along Cleveland Street are void and should be fi11ed,with appropri- ate retail uses to provide continuous retail frontage along the street mall. Improvements to store fronts and signing will create a more harmonious design character. The possible creation of a rooftop retail area for Maas Brothers on top of tbeir lower wing, which might include a garden shop or an outdoor cafe overlooking Clearwater Harbor. This proposal would be a segment of a bluff-top walkway connecting the ne~ library to City Hall. This walkway network will utilize the existing auto ramp on the north side and a proposed second level'wa1kvay'over Cleveland Street on tbe,south side from th~ rooftop retail level Oto the top of the bluff behind Calvary '.apti8t Church. t.'. . , .\ 'I: '- , 11 ;. .~ '"." .. ..... .. ..... " , 12~6~76 ' .. ~ :~.., ':.' ~. \.