SEMINOLE \u2014 A group of concerned residents filled the Seminole Lake Country Club clubhouse Jan. 10 for a Saturday evening meeting with the developers who are proposing to redevelop the Winn-Dixie property on Park Boulevard.<\/p>\n
The informal session came after representatives of LIV Development in November received consensus from the Seminole City Council to begin negotiating a development agreement between the city and the Alabama-based firm, in partnership with the longtime property owners, to build a residential apartment complex on the 7.18-acre site at 8740 Park Blvd.<\/p>\n
During that workshop, LIV officials explained how their proposal includes demolishing the existing 55,000-square-foot Winn-Dixie grocery store and building a 208-unit Class A apartment community called Livano Park and Park, as the complex would sit on the southeast corner of Park Boulevard and Park Street.<\/p>\n
While the property is zoned Commercial General, which means multifamily housing is an applicable use, the developers did request some variances for the development related to parking and the building height.<\/p>\n
According to the city code, in the CG district the maximum height allowed is 50 feet measured from sidewalk to rooftop. The LIV project includes a five-story building facing Park Boulevard and a four-story one facing Park Street. LIV has proposed raising the limit to 65 feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we had made that choice is that we wanted to be cognizant of the neighbors behind,\u201d Jonathan Knudsen, LIV\u2019s director of development, said on Nov. 10. \u201cWe wanted to have some consideration for the view, especially as they\u2019re driving by and leaving their neighborhood as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the Jan. 10 meeting with a roomful of those neighbors who came armed with questions, opinions and concerns, Knudsen and other LIV officials, as well as property owner, Jay Miller, attempted to allay the anxieties and fears of the residents from a coalition of neighboring HOAs off nearby Burning Tree Drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grocery store is probably not viable for the long term,\u201d Miller, who said his family originally acquired the property in the early 1990s. He told the group Winn-Dixie \u201cis not a strong retailer,\u201d as the company has filed for bankruptcy and has been closing stores throughout the south for the past year.<\/p>\n
Miller also noted there are many other grocery shopping options in the area including Publix, Fresh Market, Walmart Neighborhood Grocery and Sprouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, this is not a viable grocery store location for much longer, and we think a multifamily residential unit would be a much better use for this property,\u201d he said. \u201cIf not, we\u2019ll look to other big-box retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said that many retailers are struggling right now, meaning the property could remain vacant when the Winn-Dixie eventually closes, which he labeled \u201cnot good\u201d for the community. And he said his family has \u201creceived interest from a large health club\u201d whose \u201cgoal is to have 10,000-15,000 members\u201d after opening.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, think about how much traffic that could bring to this location,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Indeed, traffic was the main point of contention for most of those who spoke during the hourlong meeting, with many citing the fact that intersection is already one of the busiest in the city.<\/p>\n
But Knudsen and the LIV team countered the concerns by noting traffic studies have shown multifamily developments generate much less traffic than commercial enterprises, because most of the trips in and out are in the morning, not during peak daytime hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudies have shown there to be 2,500 less trips for our use than retail development,\u201d Knudsen said while noting should a Walmart develop on the site, \u201cthat would generate three times the traffic of the Winn-Dixie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regarding the parking concerns that were raised by those who feel the complex won\u2019t have enough spots, including Seminole Vice Mayor Chris Burke, the developers reiterated what they said during the November workshop \u2014 driving habits have changed to where many people don\u2019t own cars, and more than half of Livano Park and Park\u2019s 208 units are slated to be one-bedroom, reducing the number of vehicles on the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re proposing 323 spaces, which is a 1.55 ratio,\u201d Knudsen said of the number of parking spaces per unit. \u201cMost municipalities require 1.5. And we\u2019re going to 1.55.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knudsen also said the building would be wood framed with cement board siding sporting a \u201ccoastal Mediterranean look and a luxury feel,\u201d and it would be set back more than 100 feet than required by code.<\/p>\n
He also said the two existing ponds on the property \u201cwill remain in their exact form,\u201d and they plan to \u201cgo above and beyond\u201d with the buffer zone by using \u201cadditional plants and an elevated landscape package.\u201d<\/p>\n
The responses were as polished as you would expect from representatives of a firm that has developed more than 80 multifamily residential communities nationwide since 2006, according to the LIV website, including several in the Tampa Bay area like the new Rowan Pointe luxury apartment complex in Pinellas Park.<\/p>\n
But residents rebuffed the answers with stories, stats and facts of their own; near the end of the session, one even questioned why they were all there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to come into our community, you should play by the rules,\u201d one resident said, meaning if LIV wasn\u2019t seeking the variances, they could build the new complex without any problems.<\/p>\n
The comment received a round of applause, and when a woman subsequently asked if the project would still be financially viable for the developers without the fifth floor, Knudsen acknowledged, \u201cat this point, probably not. But look at the alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterward, former Seminole City Council member and longtime area resident Roger Edelman shared his thoughts about the meeting and the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate (the developers) coming and giving their thoughts on it,\u201d Edelman said. \u201cBut I still oppose it, mostly for the traffic reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edelman, who served on the council from 2014 until 2023 and is a former president of the Seminole Chamber of Commerce, came to the meeting with a binder full of information, including his own traffic study.<\/p>\n
\u201cI dispute their number of people entering and exiting,\u201d he said of his work, which was done over two days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat intersection is already the second or third busiest for traffic in the city,\u201d he said, citing a busy Wawa and a car wash on the corner where the Winn Dixie is located. \u201cThe ingress and egress are already bad on the property, and the county wants to close one (exit), so I don\u2019t know what would be better here. I really don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked for his thoughts on the opposition to the proposal, Jay Miller said he understood the residents\u2019 concerns while making assurances his family has the best interest of the site, and the community, in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people have legitimate concerns, as all our neighbors do,\u201d Miller told Tampa Bay Newspapers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think people necessarily understand the dynamics and the resistance to hearing the facts from the professionals. So, it\u2019s always challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Miller said he believes he and his family understand what use would best suit the property his father and uncle originally developed should the Winn-Dixie shutter as expected once its lease expires within the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey haven\u2019t notified us they\u2019re not staying,\u201d he said of the struggling grocer. \u201cSo, we want to consider other options. Because this is our hometown and our neighborhood, and we want to do what\u2019s best for the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before exiting Miller said, \u201cPeople are always afraid of change. But change, most of the time, is good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEMINOLE \u2014 A group of concerned residents filled the Seminole Lake Country Club clubhouse Jan. 10 for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[2152,596,3883,13467,59274,202,204,203,199,201,200,5290],"class_list":["post-117749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-development","tag-pinellas-county","tag-seminole","tag-seminole-city-council","tag-seminole-lake-country-club","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-winn-dixie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}