Place
Driscoll seeks to withdraw discussion on Mirror Lake historic designation
St. Pete City Councilmember Gina Driscoll, who introduced the proposal on potentially designating Mirror Lake as a historic designation, wants to withdraw her request on pursuing it further.
Discroll filed a new business item to officially withdraw her initial request for the potential designation and listing of a “Mirror Lake Local Historic District” in the St. Petersburg Register of Historic Places. The upcoming NBI is scheduled to be heard Sept. 9.
The Mirror Lake neighborhood extends between 8th and 4th Streets and between 1st and 5th Avenues North. It’s home to the city’s largest concentration of historical landmarks – a total of 11 buildings in the neighborhood carry the designation. However, a historic designation would affect other properties–with several councilmembers feared it could hinder growth.
The decision to seek a withdraw follows the St. Pete city council members’ vote in July to postpone the discussion on the Mirror Lake neighborhood designation to Oct. 14. The deferral was due to the designation potentially jeopardizing the proposed Sebring Building site as the future 2nd District Court of Appeal.
The new date was strategically decided as the city council is facing a major conundrum: It could move forward with discussing the historical overlay for the Mirror Lake neighborhood to control the types of development there and maintain its character, or it could put the discussion on ice pending the outcome of the 2nd DCA as the proposed location would be affected.
During that time, Driscoll, who introduced the item late last year, said she wanted to move forward with the designation discussion – with the exception of the Sebring Building.
In mid-August, Driscoll sent her inquiry about withdrawing her original request.
The upcoming vote on Sept. 9 will only decide whether to withdraw the original request. If approved, the Oct. 14 meeting will be canceled.
Ryan
August 31, 2021at11:04 pm
How unfortunate and damming for the future of this neighborhood. The most significant problem for Mirror Lake is the over-abundance of surface-parking lots supporting buildings owned by the city and county.
The proposed development is an opportunity to solve the problem of surface-parking adjoining Mirror Lake. The success of the proposal depends on its ability to eliminate surface-parking and to activate Mirror Lake with pedestrian-oriented design. It is now Gina Driscoll’s responsibility to ensure that the site plan and design of the Sebring Building solves the problems that would have been addressed by historic designation.