Dear Neighbors,
Below you will find updates on the two major development sites in our neighborhood. At the end of each summary, there is a link to a survey for you to share your feedback with the board. We strongly encourage everyone to participate - the board can only advocate for you if you share your opinion!
Both of these sites are applying for a re-zoning to a Commercial Planned Development (CPD). The minimum land requirement for a CPD is 5 acres.
If you have questions about either of these projects, please reach out to [email protected].
CAREFREE SITE: 1.8 acres
- Update: The Developer submitted new plans to the city in December. The plans will be reviewed by City Staff at the January Plans & Plats Review Committee.
- As a reminder, the Plans and Plats meetings are open to the public but not open to public comment.
- The meeting is this Thursday, January 9th at 1pm. You may find the agenda with the Zoom link HERE.
- We have been told they are the same plans the developer's team presented to the neighborhood during the June 4th meeting. The plans may be VIEWED HERE.
- Following the June 4th meeting, the board asked the development team for "architectural drawings, landscape plans, parking plans, traffic flow, traffic study, etc." Their team responded they needed a couple months to get it together. However, this information was never sent to the board, despite the board clarifying to them in September we were still waiting on more information. The developer submitted plans to the City without sharing any further information with us.
- Some specific points the board continues to advocate for on behalf of the El Cid Historic Neighborhood Association:
- Reduce the overall height and scale to better match the neighborhood including developments such as Magnolia Court, HIVE properties, Grato
- Move the ingress and egress away from Flamingo, Barcelona and Cordova and onto Dixie Highway (as Casa Mara does).
- Dramatically increase the landscape buffer between the development and the single family historic homes in El Cid.
- Increase setbacks.
- Improve architecture to better reflect neighborhood.
- Smaller scale retail and restaurants.
- Reduction in requested waivers.
- Please participate in this survey and share your thoughts on the project. CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE SURVEY
319 BELVEDERE SITE: 1 acre
- Update: Following the November Plans and Plats meeting, the developer's application failed to pass staff review. Those plans may be VIEWED HERE. The lengthy feedback from city staff may be READ HERE (scroll down to Staff Review 11/18/2024 and click).
- City Staff noted that the application as is would require many additional waiver requests.
- The developer updated their application and re-submitted it on December 24th. City Staff appears to have until January 10th to review and provide feedback.
- We do not currently have the updated plans, we will send around when we do.
- Here is the recording of the zoom meeting with the developer on November 19th. CLICK HERE TO WATCH Passcode: *p8kNP!h
- Some specific points the board continues to advocate for on behalf of the El Cid Historic Neighborhood Association:
- Increased setbacks on the South Olive and Pershing Way sides.
- Change in design to walkup units (townhomes) on the South Olive and Pershing Sides. This is to avoid the "dead wall" which is currently wrapping around the parking garage.
- Landscaping to code (at minimum).
- Overall reduced scale, specifically the east building.
- Neighborhood serving, boutique retail and or restaurant/coffee shops.
- Additional pedestrian entrances to these off of Dixie Highway as that intersection is increasingly dangerous.
- Sufficient parking to code (at minimum).
- Sufficient loading zones that do not block the streets (especially Pershing/S. Olive).
- Reduction in waivers required.
- Note: this would be the first commercial planned development on South Olive.
- Please participate in this survey and share your thoughts on the project. CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE SURVEY.
Additionally, the board is concerned about overall pedestrian safety with these developments and encourages the City and Developers to prioritize wide sidewalks and sufficient landscaping, consider the flow of traffic and increase the number of crosswalks on Dixie Highway (working with FDOT), S. Olive and S. Flagler.