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5 Oppose Little Harbor's Revised Plan

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By LIZ BLEAU

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 3, 2008

RUSKIN - Little Harbor's down-sized plans to convert condos and homes into hotel rooms and daily rentals continued to draw heavy fire from nearby residents at a second zoning hearing Tuesday night.

The developer, whose parent company is Earthmark Inc., originally sought to convert 450 residential units at its 1,500-home waterfront resort to hotel rooms and daily rentals. After zoning Hearing Officer Laura Belflower recommended that plan be denied, Little Harbor reduced the number of hotel rooms it was seeking to 158 and asked for another hearing.

Little Harbor representative Michael Brooks said the revised plan would be less intense and generate less traffic than it would if the units remained as residential homes.

The plan, he said, was generated by market conditions. The 158 residential units would be in addition to the 100-room hotel that exists at the site.

When the hearing opened for comment, no one spoke in favor of the hotel conversion, and five people spoke against it, including Bill Mizer, who lives behind the existing hotel.

Mizer said he was "totally opposed" to the plan. In addition, he said the developers of Little Harbor have not been good neighbors. He cited parties held at the hotel, which he said have gotten out of hand, and that the developer has not responded to complaints over events at the hotel.

"I don't blame them for trying to stay viable in the market," he said, "but I do blame them for shoving this plan down our throats."

Mariella Smith, who lives near Little Harbor, said the hotel units would increase traffic and change the character of the neighborhood.

"Common sense says a hotel would bring more trips, with all the staff and truckloads of linens. If they thought the hotel would bring less people, we would not be here talking about this," she said.

Smith said a 258-room hotel would be appropriate for Tampa, not for Ruskin.

"They can't fill the 100 rooms they have," she said. "At best, this request is premature."

She also said if Little Harbor is granted permission to use condominiums as daily rentals, it sets a bad precedent for the county.

"If this is such a great idea, why not allow condo owners everywhere in the county to do this?" she said.
Ruskin resident John Keith said the people who live near Little Harbor "should not be expected to bear the brunt of a bad business model."

He also said there has been no traffic study on the effect the additional hotel rooms would have on Shell Point Road, which leads to the resort.

The zoning officer will make her recommendation on the Little Harbor request by May 20. Then it will go to the county commission for another hearing and vote on June 10.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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