Staff Reports
Don’t reserve that unit in the Bezu condo building just yet. Neighbors around the proposed St. Petersburg development filed suit to stop the project from rising up from the ground.
The St. Petersburg Development Review Commission in September approved the 19-story tower adjacent to the Flori de Leon Apartments, and a divided City Council at a meeting earlier this month narrowly let the decision stand, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times.
Now, plaintiffs William Hermann, Suzanne Marks, Kelly Lee Frederick and Jack Rice filed a lawsuit against the City of St. Petersburg and property owners The Driven Ziggy asserting the proposal violated the law and won approval in error.
Driven Ziggy owns the site but First and Fourth Development is expected to develop the project should the approval survive the court challenge.
A new lawsuit says the approval should be tossed and the developers should return to the city and have to prove the plan meets the “correct burden of proof” to move forward.
Developers plan to build the Bezu project on land at the corner of 4th Avenue North and First Street North in Downtown St. Peterburg, on a site normally large enough for just two single-family homes.
Hermann, who for the past 63 years has lived in the Flori de Leon apartments next door, rallied opposition to the proposal earlier this year. The city approval process ultimately culminated in a 4-4 City Council vote on whether to negate the DRC approval, short of the required super-majority.
Marks also lives in the Flori de Leon apartments, while McFrederick and Rice, who are married, live in the Spanish Palms Condominiums, another neighboring community to the Bezu site.
Over the lengthy approval process, developers for Bezu scaled the project down from a 288-foot tower to about 180 feet and also cut out plans for nine units beyond the 20 approved.
Still, the plan as approved towered over the adjacent Flori de Leon apartments, which stand seven stories high.
