The Community Development Board approved a transfer of development rights on Aug. 19 to add five overnight accommodation units to the Holiday Inn/Edge property at 521 South Gulfview Boulevard, increasing the hotel's authorized rooms from 389 to 394. The board voted to grant the flexible development approval and the related transfer-of-development-rights application after presentations by planning staff and the applicant and one public comment opposing the move.

Planning staff witness Austin Dole told the board, “The request is for approval to add 5 overnight accommodation units to the property located at 521 South Goldview Boulevard. That would take their existing units from 389 up to 394.” Dole said the additional rooms would be created through interior renovations only and that no exterior work or increase in building height is proposed for the receiving site.

Applicant counsel Brian Ong said the sending-site owners, identified in the record as the Manning brothers, have agreed to sell the development rights and would retain one dwelling unit on the sending parcel at 887 South Gulfview Boulevard. Ong said the transferred density is being sold “for fair market value,” and that the transfer will be memorialized with a recorded deed and accompanying restrictive covenant to prevent those units from being redeveloped on the sending parcel.

Staff and the applicant highlighted parking and code compliance in support of the application. The record shows the hotel site provides 585 parking spaces, which staff calculated exceeds the new requirement (approximately 473 spaces) after the addition of five rooms. The applicant and staff said the hotel operates valet service and that the proposed conversion will not change the building footprint.

Resident Christine Mikalick, who said she lives at 855 Bayway Boulevard on Clearwater Point, urged the board to oppose the transfer and raised broader concerns that approvals for transfers to the Holiday Inn/Edge complex could create pressure to move density to other nearby properties, including the Chart House. “Please please vote no,” Mikalick told the board. The applicant and staff said any future transfers or changes at other properties would require separate, fully noticed Level 2 applications before the board.

The board’s approval included the conditions listed in the staff report plus three additional conditions read into the record by the applicant: a deed restriction/special warranty deed requirement for the transfer per the code provision cited in the staff presentation, confirmation that lockout rooms will be limited consistent with prior development orders, and that the receiving site’s unit total not exceed the approved maximum. The staff presentation referenced CDC provisions governing transfers (identified in the record as CDC Section 14.03(g) and CDC Section 414.02.3) and noted consistency with the Beach by Design character district and the comprehensive plan.

The board closed the public hearing and voted to approve the application. The approval vests the transferred units on the receiving parcel; any future proposal to move those units again or to develop them elsewhere would require a new application and board approval.

Applicant counsel also noted that the Chart House property is governed by a separate development agreement and deed restrictions; he said that agreement does not expire until 2028 or 2029 and that any change there would need to come back to the board as its own application.

The board’s action finalizes the transfer subject to the recorded deed and the conditions listed in the staff report and in the development order.