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Singer Island residents oppose high‑rise development; councilman to ask CRA board to review district boundaries
Summary
Residents at a comprehensive‑plan meeting criticized large development proposals on Singer Island, raised concern about impacts on diving resources and views, described a recent 19‑story zoning application that was overturned on appeal, and heard Councilman Glenn Spertus say he will move to reconsider CRA district boundaries.
Several Singer Island residents used the comprehensive plan meeting to press city officials about proposed high‑rise development, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) district and recent zoning hearings they said affected the island.
Speaker Bill Contole told the meeting that Singer Island was never blighted and that allowing 25‑story planned unit developments in the CRA district would erect “a wall of condos” that could shadow the island’s prominent snorkeling and dive sites. “To allow that kind of project under the guise of a CRA… is an affront to everything that everyone here has said that they’re for,” Contole said.
Resident Harvey Gold described a recent case at the Condado property, where developers sought zoning changes to allow a 19‑story building on a small parcel. Gold said the initial administrative approval was appealed and later overturned because the developer lacked standing and did not own the property; the appeal outcome rescinded the prior approval but cost neighbors time and money to challenge. “On appeal, it was totally thrown out,” Gold said.
Councilman Glenn Spertus confirmed he will make a motion at the upcoming Community Redevelopment Agency meeting to review and “rethink the boundaries” of the CRA district, which he said currently includes high‑value properties such as the Ritz‑Carlton and enables developers to seek greater heights and planned‑unit‑development treatments. “I will be making a motion that we look into the CRA district and rethink the boundaries,” Spertus said. He added that tax increment revenues captured by the CRA go to CRA projects rather than directly to city general funds for police, fire or utilities, and said Singer Island contributes a large share of the city’s property tax base.
Residents also raised traffic and infrastructure concerns, saying narrow two‑lane roads cannot absorb more development traffic. Spertus and other speakers urged residents to submit written land‑use comments at the meeting’s land‑use table so planners will include the community’s preferences in the comprehensive plan draft.
The meeting included multiple examples of developer activity on Singer Island and earlier attempts to change voting or electoral district boundaries; speakers said those items had been contested in prior meetings. No final land‑use ordinance or CRA boundary change was adopted at this session; Spertus’s motion is scheduled for the next CRA meeting for discussion.
