The Planning and Zoning Board of Safety Harbor City on Aug. 13 recommended that the City Commission approve a site-plan application (Case 2024-26SD) allowing a roughly 2,017-square-foot rear addition to The Stuffed Mushroom at 825 Main Street, subject to conditions limiting the new space to storage and requiring certain engineering and permitting steps.

The board’s recommendation follows a staff presentation by Cecilia Archon, senior planner and GIS analyst for the City of Safety Harbor, who said the site is about 0.169 acres in the Service Corridor 1 (Carriker District) and that the proposed building would be about 16.75 feet tall, under the downtown master plan maximum of 35 feet. "The building addition shall only be utilized as a storage space and shall not be open to the public," Archon said when describing a proposed restriction staff is recommending.

Nut graf: The application includes two waivers—one to keep a long-standing, unenclosed dumpster located within five feet of the property line and another to reduce the number of required parking spaces. The board discussed safety and maneuverability concerns in the alley behind the building and added conditions intended to ensure the proposed parking layout is functional before permitting.

Archon told the board that downtown parking standards would normally require 11 spaces for the site’s retail floor area but that the applicant has provided three on-site spaces and two on-street spaces (the on-street count is being treated as one), for a total of four. The applicant submitted a parking agreement with Sylvan Abbey Funeral Home on Sunset Point to park catering vehicles off-site when those vehicles are not in use.

Board members focused on whether vehicles could safely use the alley spaces and whether the dumpster location conflicted with the proposed parking. Pat Montecchi, the project engineer, said the dumpster "has been there for years" and suggested that drivers would need to exercise care when parking. "I guess whoever parks there is gonna have to use a little bit of care," Montecchi said.

Members suggested two practical conditions: (1) flip the location of the accessible parking space to the left side of the lot to avoid the dumpster conflict and (2) require an auto-turn demonstration or on-site note showing that vehicles can maneuver into and out of the proposed spaces. The board asked staff to record the handicap space location in the field and to require an auto-turn as a permitting condition so the project would not delay the Sept. 2 City Commission hearing.

Archon also noted standard conditions and permits that must be satisfied before building permits or a certificate of occupancy are issued: a Southwest Florida Water Management District permit or exemption letter where applicable, right-of-way permits for any work in public easements, stormwater and erosion-control protections during construction, and a private solid-waste pickup agreement to replace on-site municipal pickup given the existing dumpster configuration.

Motion and outcome: Board member Miguel Vicks moved to approve the site-plan application, case number 2024-26SD, with the condition that the accessible parking be scribed on the left-hand side and with other conditions imposed by staff; the motion passed on a unanimous voice vote. The recommendation will be considered by the City Commission on Sept. 2, 2025.

The board also briefly introduced new alternate member Sylvia Maracas, who said she is a Safety Harbor native and has worked as an attorney for about 15 years. The meeting adjourned after a short discussion about upcoming community planning month events.