Correction, 10/26/21, 2:50 p.m.: A previous version of this post misspelled Levi Kidder’s name. The Gabber apologizes for the error.
Gulfport’s City Council meeting grew tense more than once on Tuesday, October 19 with a resident confronting officials about a lack of information regarding a city lawsuit, a dispute over parking lots and future building design standards in the city’s waterfront district.
Council also went on to approve several items, including the annual Boca Ciega Yacht Club (BCYC) Christmas Parade and a private program to help residents update their water lines.
Find the full agenda and meeting video here.
Parking Pains
A second reading allowing for stand-alone ground level parking lots was shakily approved 3-2, with Councilmembers April Thanos and Paul Ray dissenting.
“I don’t have a problem with this as it is, but we’ve had a couple of letters about this. I’d like to change this to make it conditional use,” Councilmember Thanos said. “It’d be something that they would have to jump through an extra hoop to do.”
Gulfport Mayor Sam Henderson pointed out that with the price of Gulfport property, it’s unlikely someone would purchase space solely to turn it into a parking lot, and if they did, it wouldn’t necessarily be a negative.
“Would we be offended by a parking lot of a single story?” Gulfport Mayor Sam Henderson asked. “When everyone’s been complaining about parking for years?”
“We need parking, we need parking, we need parking, and here is an out-of-the box solution to help with this problem and all of a sudden it seems like there is too much parking,” Councilmember Christine Brown said.
While parking has been an oft-discussed issue in the city, several noted that lots are not an aesthetically pleasing feature in the Waterfront District.
Zoom caller and longtime resident Levi Kidder added an emotional plea for the parking lot ordinance to not carry to passage, a speech that he previously sent to the City of Gulfport.
Kidder introduced himself to the council as a born and raised resident of Gulfport who had seen the city grow into the “interesting, diverse, incredibly walkable, friendly city that it is today.
“Now, seeing this proposal to allow for ground level parking in the waterfront redevelopment district, I’m extremely concerned. As citizens of Gulfport I believe it is our duty to make our city the best and most enjoyable place to live that we possibly can, and parking lots do not do that,” Kidder said. “Parking lots add dead zones, places that are only for cars.”
He went on, and was eventually cut off early twice, by the three-minute time limit, and the ordinance allowing parking lots became official.
The New Standard
With more people and business coming to Pinellas County, the City of Gulfport has long supported the creation of “design standards to guide future development within the Water Redevelopment District (WRD) zoning district while providing incentives to use these standards.”
The purpose of these standards would be to essentially “keep Gulfport, Gulfport,” despite development.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Fred Metcalf, Director of Community Development and Linda Fisher with Forward Pinellas gave a presentation regarding these standards that summed up what can and can’t be done in Gulfport’s WRD, as well as building options that will preserve the zone’s aesthetic.
Henderson made note that developers who abide by these guidelines face a much easier, faster route to buying and building in the city.
“I think this is a great step to doing something more incentive-based and also protecting us from being sued for infringing on people’s rights to profit from their property,” the mayor said.
One of the points discussed is permitted development uses in the area, which included art galleries, multiple family dwellings, restaurants with a prohibition on drive-throughs, theaters, banks and others.
Councilmember Michael Fridovich noted that he would like to remove churches and universities from the permitted list, which prompted Thanos to agree.
“I’ve got nothing against churches, but we can limit that to another part of the city,” Fridovich said.
The discussion to move forward with banning these establishments went on between council and Metcalf, with no real results.
“I’m not prepared to give consensus on this right now,” Henderson said, adding to Thanos: “It sounds like a conversation you and Mr. Metcalf should have at another time.”
“I’m just asking a question,” Thanos shot back.
Thanos also remarked on raised homes, something that is common in beachfront neighborhoods that are prone to flooding.
“People are going to be building more and more raised housing over time…I think we should add guidelines for that,” Thanos said. “Which isn’t part of today…but if we had a Mexico Beach event we’d be kind of screwed.”
“I think if we had a Mexico Beach event no matter what we’ve done…,” Henderson alluded, a reference to the devastation Category 5 Hurricane Michael caused to the Panhandle in 2018.
“I trust your recommendations; I know this is the word ya’ll live in,” Henderson said to Metcalf and Fisher at the tail end of the discussion.
The guidelines go on to state no building can be over 45 feet, multiple-family dwelling lots are required to be 13,100 square feet, with an additional 4,350 square feet for each dwelling unit and many more specifications.
Resident Karen Love also expressed positivity regarding the new standards.
“I’m so excited to see…,” Love said. “Whether you’re a buyer or seller, it’s the best of both worlds living in an old city.”
Council also discussed architectural methods that would work to preserve the WRD, such as greenspace, balconies and window requirements, among many others.
The long list of building requirements included one window every 20 feet per floor, per building, the acknowledgment of “human scale” – the proportional relationship of a particular structure or streetscape element to the human form and function and low-to-the-ground vegetation.
Council went back and forth between themselves, before settling on approval with further discussion before a final adoption of the standards at the Tuesday, November 2 council meeting.
What’s Next in Gulfport
On a lighter note, council approved temporary signage for Gulfport’s Art Jones Studio Tour event without issue.
The self-guided tour brings attendees throughout the city to see clusters of combined artists in various local studios on December 4 and 5. The temporary signs would work as guides and promotion for the artistic celebration.
The BCYC Christmas Parade was also confirmed, bringing celebrators to the edges of the bay to cheer for decorated vessels on December 11.
Effective immediately, the city authorized $200,000 in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for a private waterline and private lateral replacement assistance program.
In other words, Gulfport residents will be provided with 50% of the funds to replace their water and sewer lines up to $3,500. Interested residents can contact the city for more details.
Gulfport Multipurpose Senior Center Foundation donated a touch-free water fountain and a new exercise bike to the Senior Center, with council’s approval.
The fountain was priced at $1,653 and the recumbent exercise bike rang in at $2,700.
In closing statements, Brown suggested adding “twinkly” lights for the holidays in Trolley Market Square, much like the city provides in Clymer Park.
Henderson expressed interest in adding this, and concluded with a joke.
“Plus the illumination may keep people from hitting it,” Henderson said, which generated laughs around the room.
Overheard at the October 19 Gulfport City Council Meeting
“I’m here to give something to the City of Gulfport. Through an environmental program, volunteers collect plastic and send it to plastic collection. For four years we’ve been doing this. Six hundred pounds of plastic is turned into a four-foot bench, but we need more donation collections. This particular bench would be in Veteran’s Park.” – Gulfport Lions Club First Vice President Ron Coyne
“[In] my request for information using Sunshine Law, and legal avenues – documented and written – I’m being refused all sorts of information about these lawsuits…about Boca Ciega Yacht Club, about the finances involved with Boca Ciega Yacht Club, about the lease negotiations that are going on, about any insurance, any correspondence between the City of Gulfport insurance and the city…What I’m looking for is transparency within my city. There is no transparency when it comes to a lawsuit…who’s controlling what the City of Gulfport says in these lawsuits is what I would like to know.”–Gulfport resident Ray Rodriguez, who said that he has been denied public information on the city’s ongoing lawsuits.
“No one’s been denied – by myself, city staff, the city clerk, the city attorney – any information that’s been requested has been provided.” – Gulfport City Manager Jim O’Reilly
From the back row, Rodriguez responded with a single word: “Liar.”
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