Mayor O'BRIEN's Two McMansions on Agenda Tonight at 7 PM St. Augustine Beach Commission

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 7 PM, St. Augustine Beach Mayor RICHARD O'BRIEN et ux are planning to ask Commissioners to reverse a 4-2 vote of the St. Augustine Beach Planning and Zoning Board March 22, 2016 to DENY their demand to build two illegal McMansions on F Street, likely to be tourist rentals. O'BRIEN has not yet declared whether he is running for re-election. It's time for Commissioners to say NO to too-big, too-tall developers, starting with the Mayor himself.
The applicant is planning to recuse himself but not leave the dais.
The application is unsupported by PZB minutes or streaming video.
Thus, the administrative record is incomplete on the incomplete and flawed application.
This will be the first meeting where new City Attorney James Patrick Wilson will be giving legal advice to Commissioners.
The St. Augustine Beach Planning and Zoning Board (PZB) March 22nd rejected by vote of 4-2 a thinly-documented proposal by Mayor RICHArD BURTT O'BRIEN, et ux. to build two oversize houses on F Street on commercial-zoned property.
The mass, scale and lack of plans led to the rejection after nearly two hours' discussion.
The St. Augustine Record, while running an article quoting O'BRIEN on SAB's "growing pains," has not covered this story.
Once upon a time, lugubrious gooberish good-ole-boys and their bad projects were rotely and routinely rubber-stamped by hick hack local officials in this corrupt County, now the gimlet eye of board volunteers routinely rejects lame-brained projects.
In this instance a bad project pushed by Mayor RICH O'BRIEN was rejected.
A red-faced O'BRIEN was called out by PZB member Karen Zander, who pointed out the legal inconsistencies of seeking a use by exception instead of a zoning change. Citizens Craig Thomson and Ed Slavin (that would be me) opposed the special kid gloves treatment sought by Mayor O'BRIEN. O'BRIEN's wife, LAUREN CHRISTINE RINGHAVER, called out imprecations from the audience (she was ignored, but O'BRIEN was given extra time with the clock stopped, standing challengingly at the podium while making dopey arguments lacking in legal merit.
O'BRIEN is a hotelier whose administrative appeal is now to the same City Commission that elected him as Mayor -- reckon the large cribs are destined for vacation rentals if he wins?
(Ms. RINGHAVER was the person who once pushed her husband, Mayor O"BRIEN, to complain about the lack of lighting in Anastasia State Park on the way into the north end of St. Augustine Beach at the end of SR 312. The expense and threat to wildlife led to that idea being rejected.)
Speak out and oppose this special privilege sought by the Mayor of St. Augustine Beach, RICHARD BURRT O'BRIEN, from his four colleagues, after a 4-2 vote DENYING his application by the PZB.