ARC backs alley vacate but recommends council deny Magnolia Court Hotel rezoning; asks council to allow ARC 10% flexibility if PD approved

The City of Tampa Architectural Review Commission on Sept. 17 recommended that City Council approve vacating a remaining piece of alley that sits inside a multi‑parcel redevelopment site but recommended that council deny a request to rezone the block to a Planned Development (PD) for the proposed Magnolia Court Hotel. The commission also voted unanimously to ask the council that, if it approves the PD, the PD include a note allowing the ARC limited (up to 10%) flexibility to adjust building setbacks and heights during ARC review of a future certificate of appropriateness.

Two linked applications — a vacating request for a small remainder of an alley and a rezoning request from R O‑1 (residential/office) to PD — were opened together and heard by the commission. Ron Viela of historic preservation staff explained that the remainder of the alley requested for vacating is the last fragment of an alley otherwise vacated in 1925; staff circulated the application to city departments and reported no objections to vacating the remnant. “While staff typically objects to vacating requests because of historic grid impacts, the remainder was vacated in 1925, and staff does not object to vacating the remaining portion,” Viela said.

The rezoning drew substantially more public comment and scrutiny from staff. Dennis Fernandez, Architectural and Historic Preservation manager, reviewed the Hyde Park design guideline criteria the commission uses — including scale, massing, setbacks and rhythm — and told the commission staff found the PD plan inconsistent with several guidelines in the form presented. Fernandez said staff considered the project’s height and width, the long mass that would extend across the block, and the need for greater horizontal and vertical modulation to make the bulk compatible with…