Deeply conflicted City Commissioner DONALD W. CRICHLOW
GEORGE McCLURE, developer's mouthpiece
That's DONALD CRICHLOW on the right and City Manager WILIAM B. HARRIS on the left
PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 07/16/09
A St. Augustine developer who requested a zoning change to build a hotel and retail shops at 180 St. George St. filed a civil lawsuit against the city this week because the commission did not like the style of architecture he chose.
City commissioners voted 4-0 against it.
The fifth commissioner, Don Critchlow (sic), is the architect for the project and did not participate in the commission discussion or vote on the application.
Gaspit Schechter wants a circuit court judge to declare the June 8 vote invalid, claiming that he will "suffer material injury (due to) the Commission's failure to afford (him) due process, apply the correct law and to act without competent and substantial evidence."
Schechter's proposed 17,300-square-foot, two-story brick building would be a small hotel with retail shops along both St. George Street and Cathedral Place on the site of the Bank of America parking lot.
His architectural choice was turn of the century, but the city would prefer First Spanish Colonial.
City Attorney Ron Brown will lead a three-man team of city officials who'll address Schechter's claims at an upcoming mediation.
The city team also includes Mark Knight, director of Planning and Building, and Mayor Joe Boles.
In Schechter's corner will be St. Augustine attorney George McClure, of McClure Bloodworth, and Critchlow (sic)). He'll represent only his client at this mediation, not the city.
Brown said Wednesday that any mediation will be informal. A judge will rule on whether or not Schechter's lawsuit is legally sufficient, and if so will issue an order to show cause, he said.
The city has 20 days to respond.
"We'll see if we can work out (an architectural) style that might work for the city," Brown said. "If they do, it will have to come before the City Commission for a review and a vote."
The initial rezoning application was filed Feb. 6.
"On March 3, the city Planning and Zoning Board conducted a public hearing and unanimously recommended approval of the rezoning," the lawsuit said.
The commission decided April 27 that the application should first be reviewed by the Historic Architecture Review Board, where it was approved. Usually that indicates final approval of the commission is expected.
But the commission brought it to a vote in June, where it was denied.
Members of the public felt that the city should mandate First Spanish in that district rather than rely on a 2003 city resolution that allows the builder to choose styles that are nearby.
McClure argued that Schechter's building would be adjacent to another turn of the century structure, the McCrory's building, fulfilling the 2003 ordinance, which was in effect at the time.
The last structure on the property was built in 1897 and was called the Bishop's Building. It was a commercial brick structure built by the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine as an investment property.
It was torn down in the 1960s.
Opponents of the application argued that the city's Historic Preservation 2 district limits the size and configuration of structures to First Spanish.
The lawsuit concludes, "The city's justification for the denial of the rezoning was a public demand for maintaining a particular architectural style. There was no evidence in the record as to the legitimate public purpose in denying the application."
Brown said Schechter wants windows for window shopping. First Spanish, however, did not have large street windows.
Brown said the issue will be worked out.
"For whatever reason, St. Augustine has been named one of the 10 most livable cities in the country," he said. "We must be doing something more right than not."
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