Sirata’s St. Pete Beach expansion vote postponed after 10-hour hearing
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 22, 2024

Following a more than 10-hour public hearing, the St. Pete Beach City Commission has pushed a vote on the planned expansion of the Sirata Beach Resort until Feb. 27.

If approved, the proposed expansion of the Sirata will allow two new hotels to be added to the site. Plans include demolishing portions of the existing site and adding a 290-room JW Marriott and a 130-key Hampton Inn. The commission was tasked with deciding whether to approve a conditional use permit to allow for the expansion.

The meeting — which started at 4 p.m. on Wednesday — saw a wave of questions from commissioners and hours of public comment and testimony. By 2 a.m. Thursday, commissioners began to discuss the possibility of pushing the vote to next week.

“It’s been 10 and a half hours,” Mayor Adrian Petrila said. “I think we would be much better served to approach this fresh with adequate time.”

Petrila refused to recuse himself after a request from the Sirata's owners, who claimed the mayor had a “pervasive bias” against the application, which would violate their “due process rights.” Petrila said he had no conflict and could review the request without bias.

Some of the residents expressed concerns about their views being obstructed, the “charm” of St. Pete Beach being tarnished and the development leading to traffic issues.

Elise Batsel, a partner with Stearns Weaver Miller in Tampa, represents Kentucky-based owner Columbia Sussex. She said there’s “too much economic investment” in the site for the developer to start from scratch if the permit isn’t approved.

When the developer purchased the property in December 2022, Batsel said everything indicated the city would welcome development as their regulations and the district that the site falls in all permit growth.

Batsel said the feedback from the city manager at the time, as well as the former city commissioners, was largely positive, and if the permit isn’t approved, the developer would have no choice but to consider an alternative path forward.

“There is a huge economic issue here, and if this CUP does not go forward, the plan B is to develop under the Live Local Act,” Batsel said. “The Live Local Act, from an economic standpoint, makes the second most sense other than this CUP. That is not a plan A, and that is not what they want to do, but it’s important for you to understand the effect of your vote on what will go there if this isn’t approved.”

The Live Local Act, approved in 2023, is sweeping affordable housing legislation that has opened the door to development in Florida to combat the ongoing housing crisis. The law removed many local building, zoning, density and height restrictions to streamline development.

Under the Live Local Act, the site — which falls within the city’s large resort district — would qualify for 975,000 square feet of development. The current expansion plan is for 574,575 square feet of development. Under Live Local, the developer would do mixed-use for the site rather than strictly a hotel.

Batsel said they would contemplate a mix of hotel, retail and residential, though the plan is not yet designed. If they go down the Live Local Act path, 65% of the development will need to be residential and 40% of the residences will need to be affordable or workforce housing.

City Attorney Andrew Dickman told commissioners the city has not evaluated how Live Local would apply to the site.

The delay will give staff time to modify the conditions for project approval following the commissioners’ feedback. Commissioners will enter deliberation for the item at 6 p.m. on Feb. 27. Public comment and presentations from staff and the applicant have officially closed.