Hotel plan gets initial OK

Hotel plan gets initial OK



By KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 02/26/08


The St. Augustine City Commission gave initial approval Monday to a hotel whose construction would demolish seven homes along King and Oveido streets.

Commissioner Susan Burk was the only dissenting vote. The other commissioners moved the project to second reading so they could hold a public hearing on it.

The project will go before the board again on April 14.

The commission spent little time on the issue and no one spoke at the meeting about the project.

Donna Wendler is asking the City Commisson for a Planned Unit Development to build an 80-room hotel along Oveido and King streets. The Planning and Zoning Board has denied her request. And the Historic Architecture Review Board also denied her application to demolish seven homes to make way for the hotel.

At the meeting in April, the commission will likely also consider Wendler's appeal of the Architecture Review Board's demolition denial, Mark Knight, city planning and building department director, has said.

Many residents who own homes on Oveido and King Street, as well as others in the nearby Flagler Model Land Company neighborhood, have objected to the hotel, saying it would ruin their community's charm and clog their streets.

Wendler has said she has to demolish the homes because of economic hardship. She can no longer afford the rising costs of insurance and property taxes of the old homes. And it would take an enormous amount of money to renovate the homes, Wendler has said. She believes building a hotel would not only help her, but also revitalize King Street and bring in money for the city.



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