(December 4, 2024) This week, Onyx+East met with neighborhood leaders to explain a “zoning variance” application the developer is filing with the City of St. Petersburg.
The request is to reduce the setback of some of the buildings from fifteen feet to 10 feet from the street on the “soccer field” property and to allow the developer to reduce the space between the townhomes on the property that currently is home to the preschool building from 15 feet apart to ten feet apart.
Onyx+East is sticking to its plans to limit the construction to sixty total units on the two properties (20 homes on the soccer field property and 40 units on the property that currently is home to the preschool and thrift mall.)
While routine in the world of housing construction, these variance requests require city council approval and include a hearing process that is similar to the zoning change request that the city approved.
Onyx+East Vice President David Leazenby explained, ” The variance process is the second and final step to achieve the 60 units; which was the original plan and intent, and always supported by city staff. The rezoning was only ever going to achieve 56 units with our product. However, through discussions with the city, we determined this was the path to get to 60 with a plan that works for all parties.”
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