ANNA MARIA – Mayor Dan Murphy and the Anna Maria City Commission will discuss the possibility of ending the emergency building moratorium on Thursday, April 23.
According to the meeting agenda, the commission is also scheduled to discuss the pier restaurant lease proposals recently received from the Ugly Grouper ownership group and restaurateur Sean Murphy.
The commission will also discuss a funding request from the Center of Anna Maria and Murphy will provide the commission with a coronavirus update.
City Hall remains closed to the public and the media. Thursday’s telephonic meeting will begin at 6 p.m. To attend by phone, call 1-646-749-3112 and when prompted enter the access code: 564682437.
Moratorium discussion
The commission could also enact another short-term emergency building moratorium that would extend the existing moratorium, enacted on March 4, for an additional 60 days – an action that could be taken as an alternative to pursuing a previously-discussed six-month moratorium that could replace the current moratorium.
The emergency building moratorium was enacted before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic became a major concern and the commission’s decision was unrelated to the pandemic at the time.
During the commission’s April 9 meeting, Murphy said the emergency building moratorium and the subsequent six-month building moratorium may no longer be needed. He attributed this in part to the pandemic giving the building department time to begin its thorough review of the city’s building codes in anticipation of amending and updating those codes in the coming months.
Murphy also said the emergency and six-month moratoriums may not be needed if the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic result in fewer investors looking to purchase vacation rental homes.
The emergency moratorium was enacted in part to temporarily halt the construction of new single-family homes while the mayor and commission research the potential implementation of an impact fee program. If implemented, the impact fee program would result in builders paying impact fees upon the completion of their single-family residential construction projects.
The impact fees would be used to help pay for street and road projects, drainage and stormwater projects, recreational elements and sea-level rise projects necessitated in part by the increased number of large vacation rental homes that now populate the city.
During Thursday’s meeting, the mayor and commission will also discuss hardship appeals for builders and property owners if the building moratorium is continued. And Murphy will provide an update on the pursuit of an impact fees program.
