After a walkabout and initial workshop for the Pass-a-Grille “Pathway to the Future” Project, the Community Development department and city staff believe there are other opportunities to gather more information from the community.
You can contact the city of St. Pete Beach to communicate your opinions on the project by emailing completed WORKSHEETS found HERE to Chelsey Welden, SPB Urban Planner. at cwelden@stpetebeach.org or speaking with here at 727.363.9266. The City of St. Pete Beach is looking for feedback from all St. Pete Beach residents, not just Pass-a-Grille residents, as Pass-a-Grille is an “integral part of our community and is a piece of what makes St. Pete Beach great!” You can also stay in touch with what is happening in St. Pete Beach by following them on twitter at @spb_gov.
The intent of the project is to come up with a plan for the Pass-a-Grille Historic District that protects its architectural and historic integrity while shaping its future. A large part of the discussion will be Design Standards.
A second workshop scheduled for May 21 was postponed in favor of a Community Design Fair that was held in the City Commission Chambers May 29 and 30, with a kickoff introduction at 9:00am both days. Poster boards were set up for residents to walk through and leave comments on for city staff to review until 4:00pm.
Chelsey Welden, City of St. Pete Beach Urban Planner who is overseeing the project, told Paradise News, “We hope to have our next workshop in late June or early July, which should be very interesting as it will take all of these ideas gathered from the walkabout, the May 7 workshop, and the Community Design Fair and refine them. We are planning on using polling equipment for people to vote on issues.
“The May 7 workshop started with a brief introduction by Commissioner Melinda Pletcher and a presentation by the project team at Tindale-Oliver and Associates. Mayor Maria Lowe talked to the group about the importance of remembering that although an idea may sound good—-such as planting more trees–it is always a question of money and whether or not the City Commission wants to spend it.
“The rest of the evening centered on an exercise to gather information on what issues in Pass-a-Grille matter most to people and how they would prioritize those issues. The room was set up with three stations for residents to rotate between, each with a different planning topic: Architecture & Land Use, Access & Circulation, and Streetscapes & Hardscapes. Pictures relating to each topic were displayed to help provoke participants’ opinions.
“Residents were asked to write on poster boards to express what it is that they would like to keep, and confirm what they would like to get rid of. The poster boards had sections ranging from lot style, size, and scale—to street furniture, signage and way-finding. Residents mingled while analyzing the pictures, and staff helped answer any questions. Finally, a Vision Board was mounted, asking residents to write one sentence or one word that describes how they would like to see Pass-a-Grille in the future.”
Long-time resident Jay Anderson, who attended the first workshop, noted it was disappointing that only about six residents showed up, along with five board members, four consultants and three people from the city. He was also hopeful that more residents would attend the Community Design Fair and the final workshop.
STORY by STEVE TRAIMAN