Firmenich Proposal Rejected by Board of County Commissioners (UPDATED)

After eight long months filled with hearings and proposals, protests and pleas, the fate of the Richman Group's plan for the Firmenich property came down to one final meeting.

Less three hours after that meeting began, the issue was put to rest, apparently for good.

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously against the Richman Group's proposal to build an apartment and office complex on the Firmenich property by a vote of 7-0 on Tuesday.

Citing the need to preserve industrial sites in the county, the commission, acting as the Countywide Planning Authority, went against previous recommendations made by the Pinellas Planning Council and the Safety Harbor City Commission in rejecting the proposal.

"I don't see a compelling reason to change from industrial limited in this case," Chairman Ken Welch said, "so I will not be supporting this."

All of Welch's fellow commissioners concurred with his decision, with varying reasons for not approving the item.

"I think the contention within the community of Safety Harbor leads me to believe this is not the right time to make this change," Commissioner Charlie Justice said regarding the close 3-2 vote by the City Commission and the number of residents opposed to the issue.

As has been the case with other meetings on the matter, many residents showed up and spoke out against the proposal, including Safety Harbor City Commissioner Nancy Besore.

"The Richman Group and the City of Safety Harbor have been working hand in hand," Besore, speaking as a resident of the community, told the board.

"The Richman Group had the City of Safety Harbor, I'm sorry, this hurts, they had the City of Safety Harbor at 'hello'."

Commissioner John Morroni mentioned the amount of people who have spoken out or written in expressing their views against the Richman Group's proposal.

"I have six letters of support, and as the clerk said earlier, 308 were opposed," he said. "I think that tells what is going on in that community, so I will be voting against this also."

After it was mentioned that the owners of the Firmenich property came to the city years ago looking to expand their operation but were turned down after residents objected, a couple of the commissioners cautioned the residents to be careful what they wish for when it comes to putting residential versus industrial development on the land.

"I'm not sure who protested the expansion of the citrus packing plant five years ago, but sometimes you reap what you sow," Commissioner Karen Seel said.

"If it does come back with an industrial use offer for this property, we're going to support it, because it's going to be the direction that you all have given to us."

"I am very confident that this is probably the most compatible use that you're going to get for this property, so be wary what comes next," Commissioner Janet Long added. 

"It's pretty clear to me that this particular piece of property has been eroded to the point where you're not going to find the type of industrial use that you would like to see there, and what you may end up with is something you won't like as well."

Despite strong claims by the broker for the property that the location has discouraged industrial companies from choosing the site for their operations, the commission ultimately decided to keep the parcel zoned for industrial use in hopes of attracting a prospective tenant to the area in the future.

"While I respect the County's decision to require this property to be developed as industrial I'm concerned that they ignored the primary concerns of our citizens, which are compatibility and traffic congestion," Safety Harbor Mayor Joe Ayoub wrote to Patch via email after the decision.

"Going forward, I'm looking forward to working with the County to find a buyer that is willing to use the property in a manner that fits in with the character and charm of Safety Harbor."

Related:

-Complete coverage of the Firmenich property saga 

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