Planning Board Address- 3/15/22
My Venice City Planning Board speech at the Tuesday March 15th meeting is a response to their 2 presentations on February 8th, when I didn’t get a chance to speak. However, their following meeting may make my words seem out of sync since they responded to the public outcry against increased building heights in our historic downtown. They voted to recommend a 35’ maximum building height in our historic downtown Venice. It was a great step forward. You may also want to read the short post below about the Feb.8th meeting that prompted the Save Downtown Venice petition.
Here is Tuesday’s speech to the Planning Board:
Good Afternoon Planning Board Members and Venice Neighbors,
I welcome this opportunity to address you in person. I attended the joint Planning Board/City Council meeting on February 8th- and I was very troubled by what was said during the 2 presentations that day. There was an acknowledgement of the public opposition to increased building heights in our historic downtown, however it was disparaged. It was stated there was only opposition because the public doesn’t understand, and it was too complicated for them. This was insulting as well as wrong.
The downtown Venice historic district is treasured by Venice residents and its many visitors. I have started a public petition asking the Venice City Council to protect the downtown with a definitive height limit, and I have been getting an overwhelmingly positive response. I hope the city council will have the wisdom and foresight to listen to the public response as you have not.
There were other points raised in that February 8th meeting that I also take issue with now. Taller buildings were given as examples of height exemptions in the past, and it was suggested that they should be our guide in the future. However, several of these buildings are on oversized lots often set back from the sidewalk, and were meant to be city landmarks. They were meant to rise above the typical buildings and to stand out in our sightlines. To have future buildings all rise up to the same heights would not be harmonious and would in fact crowd the now spacious and park-like avenues.
Another assumption made at the February meeting was that extra height is needed for architectural details so that buildings aren’t “big ugly boxes”. That was said repeatedly. Well, I invite you to take a stroll up Venice Avenue. Half of the buildings are currently 1 story and yet most people think they look nice, so where are the ugly boxes? There is plenty of room for growth and beautification without increasing building height. We can have progress and modernization such as with the proposal at 219 W. Venice Avenue that stays within 35’. The owners have made a conscious effort to improve their structure while still blending with their surroundings.
In closing, I want to make one final point: you would be making a mistake to underestimate the community’s attachment to our historic downtown Venice. Almost unanimously, people love and enjoy downtown. It is a vibrant, colorful advertisement for our city. Don’t think you can change it, and yet it will somehow remain the same. One or 2 buildings with height exemptions would forever destroy our historic avenues, our welcoming atmosphere, our spacious Florida feel…we would lose the legacy we currently enjoy and should preserve for future generations.
Thank you.