With the passage of an amendment on how Anna Maria computes density in the retail-office-residential district, city commissioners may have settled a lawsuit filed in February 2010 by William and Barbara Nally of Spring Avenue.
At their Nov. 2 meeting, commissioners unanimously adopted the amendment that calculates density at six units per gross acre in the district. The amendment, however, allows ROR lots platted and accepted by the city to remain “buildable,” regardless of lot size or the plat date, city attorney Jim Dye said.
The Nallys had contended that the city’s method of computing density in the ROR lot by using the gross acreage of the district was inconsistent with the city’s comprehensive plan. The 2007 comp plan states density is calculated at a maximum of six lots per acre, and residential lots must be a minimum of 7,500 square feet for one residence.
During the lawsuit, the city countered that it had to calculate density on the gross acreage because many ROR lots were less than 7,500 square feet, but had been platted and accepted by the city before World War II. The city could not take away a property owner’s right to build on a platted lot, Dye had argued.
However, this exception to the comp plan’s density requirement was not explained in the comp plan.
With the city’s approval of several ROR projects in 2009 and 2010 that had lots less than 7,500 square feet, the Nallys filed their lawsuit claiming the density was inconsistent with the comp plan.
Mike Coleman of Pine Avenue Restoration LLC, the company that defended the suit along with the city, said this language was the result of a nine-hour mediation session. The Nallys agreed to drop their suit once the amendment is adopted, he said.
Commissioners also adopted a companion amendment that allows a property owner in the residential zone to use the right of way when calculating density. This amendment also “grandfathers” existing lots of record as buildable, said Dye.
The commission also passed an amendment to the building code that removed many outdated phrases, explained unclear procedures, added definitions and updated the city’s code to agree with the Florida Building Code.
Commission Chair Chuck Webb apologized for going through the 23-page amendment line-by-line. He explained that when he was an attorney for Charlotte County, the county got into legal difficulties because a previous commission had not taken the time to thoroughly review amendments to its building code. He said he did not want that to happen in Anna Maria.
City clerk Alice Baird reminded commissioners of a Nov. 10 work session, which will be after the Nov. 8 general election, but before any newly elected commissioners are sworn in on Nov. 17.
That meant outgoing Commissioner Gene Aubry, who did not seek re-election, has one final commission meeting to attend, Webb said.
Aubry laughed and said he might be on vacation by then.