Commissioner Arthur Czyszczon left right before the meeting started citing a “family emergency.”
TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — More drama at the Treasure Island commission meeting Tuesday night when commissioner Arthur Czyszczon left citing a family emergency right before the commission planned to vote on a controversial development proposal. If approved, it would’ve paved the way for redeveloping many of the beachfront resorts and make them larger with more rooms, like the Thunderbird Beach Resort, which has been closed since Hurricane Helene. The owners support planned development because it would make it easier to build back bigger. While the vote suddenly got postponed, much of the rest of the meeting was also contentious.
A debate over a non-binding voter referendum on maximum height and density got testy when Vice-Mayor Tammy Vasquez said it’s preempted by state law and the city needs to move fast to rebuild beachfront hotels still closed from hurricanes.
“We live in a beautiful place that has amazing beaches and a disgusting city,” she said.
But she also took aim at her social media critics when fellow commissioner Arden Dickey brought up an insult hurled at him online by Vasquez’s husband.
“The shot was that [I] should do [my] homework before [I] propose something like this, because [I] could have cost the city millions of dollars,” he said. “Just for the official record, I did do my homework and I didn’t appreciate the comment.”
“I have no more control over my husband than [a resident] has over his wife,” she fired back. “If I got upset every time a spouse of a board member said something disparaging, I’d be upset every day.”
Some residents pushed back, saying commissioners should always look for ways to gauge public support for changes to local development, but the referendum was not approved.
“It’s ridiculous that we have a vice-mayor that just called our town disgusting,” said West Evans. “You go down the beach, there’s plenty of small businesses open along this beach.”
It came just minutes after an issue that brought dozens of people packing into the meeting was postponed. A vote was set to add planned development to local zoning, which would make it easier for beachfront property owners to build higher. But Commissioner Arthur Czyszczon abruptly left after a city workshop and before the commission meeting was about to start, citing a “family emergency.”
In a text, he said everything was ok but that he had no more comments, citing privacy.
Supporters describe planned development, or PD, as a modern planning tool and opponents warn that it could pave the way for larger and denser projects than residents want.
PD is a zoning mechanism used by many municipalities that allows a property owner to propose a comprehensive development plan for a site rather than strictly following all the requirements of a conventional zoning district. That vote is now on the agenda for July’s meeting.