We have been asked recently how we feel about the issue of growth on our barrier islands. Some residents have been displaying signs saying, “No Hotel Expansion.” The Tradewinds already has 800 rooms. Should they be allowed more? How about the luxury Corey Landings apartment complex at the east end of Corey?
Can our island support the growth? Longer term residents remember participating in meetings and workshops about it. The city of St. Pete Beach wrote a new comprehensive plan over a decade ago that included the ability for resorts with enough land to replace their obsolete buildings with more efficient modern buildings. Several properties, including the Tradewinds and the Sirata, have changed hands with rebuilding in mind. Needed infrastructure work is finally done. Our lifestyles in Paradise depend a lot on the tourism industry. Even if we never step into one of our beachfront resorts, the people who stay there eat and shop in town. They shop at the Corey market and help to support our favorite restaurants and bars. Eventually some decide to move here. That keeps our property values up. The resorts pay a larger share of our taxes every time one sells or improves itself.
There are less than 10 resorts that qualify to expand under the comprehensive plan, and they cap out at eight floors, so St. Pete Beach will never look like Sand Key. We have learned that in the relatively near future the Army Core of Engineers plans to ”fortify our beaches” with 10-foot-tall sand dunes that will need new walkovers built at any access point. Fortifying against sea level rise is another important part of any resort rebuild, as is building in solar panels and electric car chargers.
The Tradewinds has done a truly amazing job of putting lipstick on their group of aging beachfront motel properties for decades. They have the largest piece of beach property in the area, and they plan to keep any of their construction off Gulf Blvd. and out of our way as we go about our daily routines. If our hotels are not allowed to rebuild in a more modern footprint, we will likely end up with condominiums on the beach in their place, and they will be sold as sometimes homes and will sit empty like the Lido and so many others do. That does not support our favorite restaurants.
Corey Landings, at the east end of Corey Ave., can also be built out of our way, to help protect our downtown from rising seas. Its residents will be a nice boost to the Corey business district, which presently has a number of empty stores and open lots.
As far as traffic is concerned, we have a growing number of electric bikes, ride-sharing alternatives, plus the personal and public use of golf carts. I feel the use of our personal cars is going to decrease nationwide over the next decade.