During my six years as mayor, Clearwater has begun to see the benefits of establishing a vision and maintaining a focus on balanced redevelopment plans. These plans have been created with extensive public participation and a focus on improving both an aging public infrastructure and deteriorating private developments.
Thanks in part to these plans, we now have multiple new hotel properties proposed for the beach and hundreds of new residential units proposed for the downtown area. Both are vital to the long-term economic health of our city.
Despite these successes in recent weeks, there have been some disturbing suggestions that Beach by Design and the Beach Walk project are somehow designed to sacrifice our beach in the name of big developers, or that the projects are intended to limit or eliminate affordable, public access to our beautiful natural resource. This simply isn't true.
Beach by Design, and the associated Beach Walk project, were designed with considerable community input to ensure the long-term health of Clearwater's tourist economy in an increasingly competitive market. Contrary to what some may believe, the incentives that were put in place as part of Beach by Design were put there to encourage developers to build hotel rooms instead of condominium units. They were, and are, a key component in ensuring that Clearwater Beach remains one of the top tourist destinations in Florida for years to come.
In recent years, Clearwater Beach has lost more than 400 hotel rooms and there has not been a single new hotel development on the beach since 1990. Many of the aging motels have been bought and rebuilt as condominiums and town homes. The Pinellas County Convention and Visitors Bureau tells us that this problem is not unique to Clearwater. It's happening all the way down the Suncoast beaches. In fact, it's happening all over Florida.
The only way to stem this tide and preserve the tourist base is to create an environment that's attractive for these investors to consider hotel development instead of residential development. That's the basis of Beach by Design.
If all the proposed hotel developments under review are built, Clearwater Beach will gain more than 800 new hotel rooms. At the same time these new developments are under review, renovations are being made to several of the mid-priced hotels on the beach. Much of this is a direct result of the current investments and future plans Clearwater has made to improve the beach experience.
I recently checked current room rates for some of the existing hotels on the beach, and found prices ranging from $54 per night to $119 and up. These are hotels that are not part of any of the Beach by Design projects - hotels that will still be there after any of the new proposed developments are completed. Moderately priced accommodations are, and will continue to be, available on Clearwater Beach.
In just the past few years, we've invested millions in improving the north end of Clearwater Beach, from the Mandalay streetscaping, to traffic calming, to a new pool at the Clearwater Beach Recreation Center. When brought to our attention, our Development Services Department immediately tackled the illegal practice of short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods, an issue that now stands in litigation.
This City Council, along with those before it, has spent almost 10 years working to spark successful redevelopment on Clearwater Beach. To hear someone suggest that either beach homeowners or tourists have been ignored is disappointing in light of the facts.
I can't stress enough that Beach by Design, as was pointed out in a 2001 Times editorial, is a plan "created and approved by communities, not by some government bureaucrat sitting in a city office." The redevelopment of Clearwater Beach is for everyone, and our primary goals have always been to preserve the quality of the beach experience, maintain convenient public access to the beach and protect the center of our local tourist destination from disproportionate residential development. We are absolutely committed to maintaining Clearwater Beach as an easily accessible, public beach for everyone's use.
-- Brian J. Aungst, mayor of Clearwater
Firefighters deserve pay increase
Re: Contract dispute between Clearwater firefighters and the city.
As a registered city of Clearwater voter, I think it is time for the City Council to grant a 3 percent pay increase.
-- Joel Franklin, Clearwater
Road markings need explaining
Re: New road markings in Clearwater.
Please advise drivers whether it is ever legal to cross double yellow lines. There are a lot of new kinds of them, especially on Old Coachman, Druid and Belcher roads. An explanation is needed before someone gets killed.
-- Dorothy M. Schuette, Clearwater
[Last modified October 27, 2004, 00:19:25]
