KEYS TO THE BULLDOZER

Another EARful from Don House

[The City of IRB Comprehensive Plan is the overall master plan our city’s future development. The State of Florida Department of Community Affairs requires all local governments to review and update their comprehensive plans every seven years. The review process is referred to as the EAR, which stands for Evaluation and Appraisal Report. Our comprehensive plan will then be amended in accordance with the adopted EAR. The comp plan is one of the most important documents in keeping IRB a small-town, family-oriented beach community. Participation from the public in the EAR process is strongly encouraged to safeguard against the addition of amendments that could possibly open the door to big developers.]

From Don House:

The other night I bumped into IRB Mayor R.B. Johnson on the beach and we talked about a few things. The following is an overview of info I e-mailed to the commissioners concerning our conversation. We talked about the big changes proposed in the EAR. These changes are downright scary to me. R.B. questioned what I was talking about since nothing had been mentioned in the joint City Commission/P & Z workshops. How did we miss it?

Well, at the P & Z public hearing on the EAR, comments were made by consultant Debbie Love and Interim Manager Danny Taylor so that I asked specific questions. My first question was under the phrase ANCILLARY NON-RESIDENTIAL can a business put its parking lot in a residential area? The answer was YES. This phrase appears in all land classifications and is part of the current "parking in the rear is best" thinking.

After one of the CC/P & Z workshops, Debbie Love and I were talking and she said whenever possible the city should put the parking in the rear. In the A2K/USF drawings, all the parking was in the rear. A few weeks ago, Commissioner Terry Wollin said that what was in the A2K/USF drawings could never happen in IRB because the city doesn't have room to park in the rear. With the verbiage that is proposed in the EAR--everything changes.

The other question I had concerned the part of the city west of Gulf Blvd. The change proposed here totally changes that area and allows commercial retail in every single property west of Gulf Blvd. I asked specifically if under the new rules I could open a Beach Rental shop at my little house. The answer was YES. It seems that as an ANCILLARY use to my residential house I can have a retail business without any special permission. This would destroy this part of our city.

I agree with R.B. and question how we could have missed these proposed changes. The "unintended consequences" of these seemingly innocent phrases could be monumental. As I read the EAR, I kept looking for the keys to the bulldozer. I have come to the conclusion that the EAR isn't just the keys--but the entire bulldozer. Could it be it is time to just update the data included in the EAR and not change the rules?

Don House
IRB Planning & Zoning Board Member