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Neighbors challenge Jabour's decision
Residents appeal to review board
BY TIMOTHY
O'HARA
Citizen Staff
Writer
KEY WEST — A
group of Old Town residents fighting the development of a condominium
complex in the Key West Bight will once again plead their case before
the city.
The group is
appealing the approval of the project by the city's Historical
Architectural Review Commission.
Last month,
the commission approved a 32-unit condominium complex at the site of
Jabour's Trailer Court off Caroline Street. Plans call for spacious
three-bedroom condominiums to be used as vacation rentals for tourists.
The project,
which is proposed by a group of developers calling themselves the
Caroline Street Partners, has been tied up in legal battles for years.
Developers and the city have been at odds over how many units can be
built on the site. The development group initially proposed 101 hotel
units. An agreement recently worked out with the Key West City
Commission allows the group to build 32 units on site, and to transfer
another 48 units to a site or sites to be determine at a later date.
Two separate
groups of residents have been battling the developers and the city for
months. They pleaded with the city commission to not approve the
agreement, arguing that the project is too big and that the city allowed
the developers to build too many units. They have filed lawsuits
challenging the agreement.
The neighbors'
attorneys attended the HARC meetings, telling commissioners the project
will dwarf neighboring buildings. The HARC board initially sent the
developers back to drawing board, saying the buildings were too tall and
out of scale with rest of the community. In April, the board approved a
trimmed-down version of the project.
The buildings
will be 40-feet tall and 21/2 stories over parking. Many surrounding
buildings are no taller than 20 feet, the residents' attorney, Lee Rohe,
said.
"This is way
out of control," Rohe said. "It's going to be a walled fortress."
Rohe plans on
bringing an architect to the meeting to testify about the building and
its impact to the surrounding skyline.
In most cases,
only the developers file appeals to HARC decisions.
"This is very
unusual. It's usually the applicant who appeals," HARC Chairman George
Born said. "The vast majority of cases are not appealed. An appeal in
itself is unusual."
tohara@keysnews.com |
