ST. PETE BEACH — After hours of deliberation, city commissioners approved a phased expansion of Tradewinds Resorts, its conditional-use permit and development agreement over two decades, in a 3-2 vote.
Mayor Adrian Petrila, an opponent of the project, said Tradewinds only agreed to one of the conditions requested by staff and just wants to have it their way.
“You’ve turned down every single thing that we’ve asked for as a commission. You haven’t agreed to a single one, not from the smallest, not to the biggest, so I’m not sure what I’m seeing here is a lot of cooperation,” he told Tradewinds officials.
However, Commissioner Karen Marriott said she disagreed with that characterization.
“I think they’ve clearly been incredibly willing to work with staff over a long period of time to negotiate a lot of these things, and the fact that we weren’t involved in every step of the negotiations that they’ve been doing with staff, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen,” she said.
At the request of commissioners, the developer agreed to scrap a rooftop dining permit and promised to study including both real and synthetic plants at a garage facility.
A move by Petrila to have the developer provide $120,000 a year to fund Freebee, or a similar transportation service, for the entire two decades of the project, rather than 10 years, failed.
A large group of residents opposed to resort expansion voiced fears that St. Pete Beach would look like another Clearwater or Fort Lauderdale and that the project would cause traffic congestion. The developer’s traffic expert asserted it would have no impact, while opponents said traffic was tested at the wrong time of day and week.
There was also disagreement over how or whether expansion of Tradewinds would affect turtle nesting and even what reptile group and expert was used to approve turtle lighting. However, Tradewinds officials agreed to provide educational materials to guests informing them about the availability of Freebee transportation, and how to be ecologically conscious during turtle nesting season.
Tradewinds officials also agreed to provide residents with a 20% discount on rooms, except during peak holidays.
An attempt by opponents on the commission to have a new sidewalk installed along the entire length of the property during the first phase of the project failed when they learned subsequent phases may require utility relocation. However, Tradewinds agreed to provide three beach access points and fund dune restoration as well as include a beach walk.
The first phase of the project involves construction of a 12-story guest tower containing 154 rooms, a six-story parking garage, and outdoor pool and guest amenities.
Phase 2 will see construction of an 11-story guest tower with 261 rooms — a 240-unit increase after demolition of 21 existing rooms — along with interior retail, restaurant and office space, a two-story meeting space, a one-story building containing frontage retail, and five- and seven-story parking garages, along with an outdoor pool and guest amenities. The rooftop dining was removed at the request of the commission.
Phase 3 will include construction of a 12-story guest tower containing 235 rooms, a one-story building for retail, a four-story parking garage, and outdoor pool and guest amenities that will increase the total site unit count to 1,596 rooms.
Phase 4, envisioned in about 20 years, will see construction of a two-story office and lobby building, and outdoor guest amenities.
At completion of build-out, the request above is expected to increase the transient population during peak season by 974 additional guests, city planner Brandon Berry told commissioners.
“The applicant is expanding pedestrian access along the property frontage by widening the sidewalk to 10 feet. They are also planting a significant number of canopy trees adjacent to the sidewalk, generally one per every 50-60 feet of frontage buffer. These canopy trees, and palms with substantive canopy, help to provide pedestrian comfort in navigating the boulevard, especially during the summer months,” he said.
As a condition, the developer agreed to pay for safety improvements recommended in the Gulf Boulevard Safety Study, Berry said. This is in addition to the estimated $2 million in resort hotel room impact fees, $145,906 or more in retail and restaurant space impact fees, and $34,520 in office impact fees, due at the time of the relevant phases, which will be shared by the county and the city. Of this amount, about $515,000 will be due prior to issuance of Phase I permits, prior to any relevant discounts from multimodal improvements or submission of an alternative traffic assessment.
Petrila and Commissioner Betty Rzewnicki voted against approval, with commissioners Richard Lorenzen, Nick Flitz and Marriott for the project.
Additional resorts in St. Pete Beach are planning to request conditional-use permits to expand their facilities. The Miramar Beach Resort and Postcard Inn are both planning expansion projects in the near future.
