1. DANGEROUS IN HURRICANE. The boat towers will be a serious danger to the area in storms. The towers are 72 feet and only partially enclosed; they do NOT adhere to hurricane-safe height, enclosure and reinforcement standards. In high winds the towers could disintegrate, causing boats and gas to go flying.
2. NON-COMPLIANT WITH ESTABLISHED LAND USE PLAN. The development will be too tall and industrial for the island. The Tierra Verde Community Overlay, part of legally binding Pinellas County land use regulations, requires that any development be compatible with Tierra Verde’s residential community, match its height and scale, protect the island’s environment, and take the island’s coastal vulnerability into account. The proposal does none of these. A lawsuit delineates many ways in which this development does not comply with land-use and zoning regulations.
3. INSUFFICIENT PARKING. The St. Petersburg Development Review Committee allowed two schemes to reduce the required number of spaces. First, the developer was granted a reduction of 40 spaces due to the proximity to the Pinellas Bike Trail, even as one member acknowledged that no one rides a bike to take their boat out on the water. An illegitimate use of wet slips provided an additional 29-space reduction. Tierra Verde Next has challenged this. Our concern is that this project will produce illegal overflow parking on neighborhood streets or use parking provided to customers of Island Grille and the Marriott hotel.
4. HIGH NOISE LEVELS from a club pool and forklift operations will affect adjacent neighborhoods. Greenleaf’s noise study is demonstrably flawed.
5. UNACCEPTABLE SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS. Hidden gas storage tanks and to increased pollution from additional boats and an expanded marina pose a hazard to water quality. A dramatic increase in boat traffic can cause harm to manatees, dolphins and sea grass beds.
6. NEGLECTFUL PROPERTY OWNER. Greenleaf has proved to be untrustworthy as a property owner. Its Tierra Verde Hi and Dri is neglected, in violation of boat storage laws and in violation of its submerged land lease. Greenleaf allowed docks to remain in disrepair for two years after Hurricanes Milton and Helene.
7. MISREPRESENTATION. Greenleaf/HCI has misrepresented itself and its project to a variety of agencies. Contrary to press releases, the company has not listened to residents; instead it has omitted or changed facts in its favor. It claimed to be in compliance with it’s state submerged land lease, but it has not been compliant in many years.
