BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners approved a request last week to remove one of the requirements for two paid parking lots owned by developer Shawn Kaleta.
Sam Negrin, manager of Beach to Bay Investments Inc., a Kaleta-owned entity, spoke to commissioners at a Sept. 5 meeting about a sidewalk installation stipulation at the 102 Third St. N. and 206 Bay Drive N. parking lots.
“I’d like to apologize for how this whole situation has gone down from the start,” Negrin said. “We took the lots back over and we’re back on track and I’ve been working daily with Darin (city building official Darin Cushing) to get the parking lots up to the standards that you’re requiring making sure we’re meeting all your regulations.”
He then addressed the sidewalk stipulation that had been put in place in March by the commission.
“Essentially what’s being requested is these two very small patches of sidewalk at the ends of the two properties, abutting up against Third Street North,” Negrin said. “From my talks with Darin and his talks with the police chief, it seems the general consensus is these sidewalks might not be the greatest set of ideas, for a couple of reasons.”
Negrin said that Kaleta plans to build homes on the lots and that permits will be submitted within a couple of months.
“The permit packages are being worked on at this point,” Negrin said. “Within several months they will no longer be operating as parking lots. The point of this is to walk through this with you and see if it’s something you want us to rush into place for our deadline next week. It’s something that we can do. We’re just questioning whether that’s something you’re looking to have done.”
“You’re saying you’re going to build in a couple months? December?,” Commissioner Ralph Cole asked Negrin.
“No it’s a much longer process,” Negrin said. “We’ve had these plans in the works, they’re now out of the design phase. And we’re working on the permit packets to submit to Darin. He should see the permit submissions within the next couple months.”
Once the plans are submitted and approved, the temporary use permits on those lots will end, according to the stipulations that were put in place for approval in March.
“They serve their purpose for just a short couple months,” Negrin said. “We could start laying the sidewalks tomorrow, that’s not really the issue. The issue is does the city really want to have them?”
“My only concern is we’re getting ready to redo our entire stormwater system and I’d hate to see spot sidewalks all over the city that we’re probably going to wind up ripping out because we’re going to put pipe,” Bradenton Beach Police Chief and Interim Public Works Director John Cosby said. “We have lengthy conversations about mid-block swales to divert the stormwater that is coming. So until we know where we’re actually going to put our stormwater system, that may change the thought that the sidewalk needs to be at the pavement or it needs to be put further back in the right of way. I think there needs to be a little more thought on this.”
City commissioners voted unanimously to remove the sidewalk stipulation for temporary use permits for paid parking at lots on 102 Third St. N. and 206 Bay Drive N.
