ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Big changes could be coming to the ancient city's skyline. A developer is trying to get approval from the city of St. Augustine to build a new five-story hotel.
The developer is no newcomer to the hotel business; he owns seven hotels in St. Augustine already -- but right now he has his sights on an empty lot near Ponce de Leon Boulevard. But the proposed height for the building is raising many questions.
Walk around in downtown St. Augustine and you'll see not much blocks your view of the sky.
The building on Cathedral Place is one of the only skyscrapers around and it's exactly how locals here prefer it. That's why there were concerns among city leaders when a proposal for a five-story hotel was first brought up.
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The hotel is being proposed for this area between U.S. 1 and Cunningham Avenue.
Mark Knight, McClure Bloodworth Planner, represents the hotel developer. He said the problem for them is the way the land has been zoned.
"Right now, it's a 35-foot height to get to a nicer hotel. It needs to get to the 50-foot height restriction so he's trying to change the land use and the zoning," Knight said.
The planning and zoning board fears that if it approves this project, it could set a precedent.
But local Roger Everett disagrees.
"It's a main thoroughfare, it's a commercial area, it's a main highway. I see no problem with putting a five-story hotel there," Everett said.
Ultimately, it'll come down to the planning and zoning board's approval.
If not, Knight said they'll look at other options.
Knight said at their first meeting, members did seem like they would entertain changing the height restrictions but first they wanted to address things like traffic concerns. The issue was supposed to be discussed at Tuesday's Planning and Zoning board meeting but instead it's been continued to next month.
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