BELLEAIR BLUFFS -- The issue of a site plan by a developer who wanted to build townhouses behind Albertson's super market, adjacent to the Belleair Gardens condominiu, got even more tangled at a special meeting December 1 of the Belleair Bluffs City Commission.
At the commission meeting November 23 it appeared that setbacks were the problem, with Belleair Gardens lacking one and the developer, represented on that date by Keith Laws, fulfilling the requirement.
Laws told the commission two weeks ago that he would have his lawyer look into any problems with the land and get in touch with Belleair Bluffs' city attorney.
At last Wednesday's meeting, city officials said they have never heard from Laws or his lawyers.
Robert David, the public works superintendent, checked land plats and discovered that the plat for the new townhomes imposed on land that actually was included in Belleair Gardens' property.
There also was an 11-feet wide easement along the western border of Belleair Gardens. In addition to that, Belleair Gardens plans included a "recreation area" that projected into the land on which the town homes would occupy.
John Hubbard, city attorney for Belleair Bluffs, was totally consternated as he reviewed plat documents before last Wednesday's meeting.
"This is a real mess," he said. "Confusing."
Later, during the meeting he said that an engineer or anoother competent professional need to analyze the land situation and determine that status of the properties.
Again, Laws, the developer, or any of its representatives failed to show up at Wednesday's meeting. That is a pattern established with earlier meetings when the subject was first on the table.
The commission disapproved the town homes site plan.
David said that to proceed, the developer would have to start all over again with a new site plan -- once the status of the land is known.
In other action, the commission approved a legal non-conforming status for the Farm House Restaurant on Indian Rocks Road.
That establishment and its prior owner have been a center of controversy over the sale of beer and wine there.
At one time a variance was granted but with the new status the variance is mooted.