../12-30-09/par files three site plans, Hunts ready to go
By Rick Catlin
Islander Reporter
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An ROR project at 303 Pine Ave. has been planned by Robert and Nicki Hunt for several years, but a final building permit has not yet been issued
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PAR projects are planned at, from left, 210 Pine Ave., 216 Pine Ave. and 308 Pine Ave.
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Pine Avenue Restoration LLC has completed mixed-use projects in Anna Maria at 315 Pine Ave. and 317 Pine Ave., right, while a similar complex, below, is under construction at 401 Pine Ave.
Islander Photos: Rick Catlin
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Pine Avenue Restoration LLC in November submitted three site plans to the Anna Maria building department for retail-office-residential construction on Pine Avenue.
PAR already has a completed ROR complexes at 315 Pine Ave. and 317 Pine Ave., and ROR projects are under way at 401 Pine Ave. and 503 Pine Ave.
PAR’s site plans call for an ROR building at 210 Pine Ave. that will be two upper-level residential units over two retail units. The project at 216 Pine Ave. also is planned for two residential units over two retail units, as is the plan at 308 Pine Ave.
Currently, only 210 Pine Ave. is a vacant lot. The remaining two lots have residential structures on them that will be torn down for the ROR construction.
PAR’s already approved project at 503 Pine Ave. — Cozy Corner — will preserve the current residence, which was built about 80 years ago, while erecting a maximum of six retail units and three residences around the house.
Mike Coleman of ../12-30-09/par said the name Cozy Corner has been associated with that address for a number of years. None of the other PAR projects are identified by a specific name, just the associated street address.
“Cozy Corner will preserve the old historic house at the site, while adding the retail units and three residences,” he said.
Coleman also said PAR has not been not trying to “beat the system” by submitting three site plans in November, just following the “laws and regulations currently in place” in Anna Maria.
City Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus said at the Dec. 3 commission meeting that he believes PAR submitted its site plans in anticipation of new site-plan review procedures — those that he proposed.
An effort by Stoltzfus at that meeting to put a moratorium on site-plan approvals was rejected by Commission Chairman John Quam and city attorney Jim Dye.
Coleman said the November filing of the three projects was the culmination of a long period of preparation. “These projects have been in the planning stages for months,” he said.
According to the plans, PAR owns the property at 216 Pine Ave. and 308 Pine Ave., while it has a three-year lease-option contract on the 210 Pine Ave. property.
That contract was signed April 2, while the property at 308 Pine Ave. was purchased in June 2008.
The Hunt project
PAR is not the only developer with ambitions for ROR projects on Pine Avenue.
In 2004, Robert and Nicki Hunt submitted plans for a three-story ROR complex at 303 Pine Ave. that was to be 50 percent residential and 50 percent retail.
According to building official Bob Welch, he still needs engineering and one inspection report from the Hunts to issue a building permit.
“I’m all ready to go,” said Welch.
The city commission originally denied the Hunts site-plan application based on what commissioners deemed ambiguous language in the ROR ordinance, despite an opinion by Jim Dye that the site plan met city code.
The Hunts successfully sued and the commission decision was overturned in 2005.
The Hunt property was the subject of controversy during the November city election, when Commissioner Christine Tollette, seeking re-election, and candidate David Gryboski were erroneously blamed for removing a large Poinciana tree on the Hunts’ property.
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