Zoning board delays decision on FSDB plan

From: St. Augustine Record, FL - Sep 3, 2003

By PETER GUINTA
Assignment Editor

The St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board voted 4 to 2 Tuesday night to delay for 60 days the decision on a proposed rezoning and planned unit development on property owned by the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.

The issue before the city agency is the request of the North City school for a planned unit development and rezoning on a city block bounded by Alfred and Genoply streets, San Marco and Douglas avenues. The school has already spent more than $2 million on property purchases there. The school wants to expand outside its current 77-acre campus into the Nelmar Terrace neighborhood south of the campus.

Three dozen people signed cards to speak as the hearing began shortly after 8:30 p.m. Some left before they were heard because of the lateness of the hour. Many had been at the meeting since it began at 2 p.m.

At 11:30 p.m., there were still more speakers to be heard.

Andrew Zarca, a designer for FSDB, said the 2.2 acres of school property on the Alfred and Genoply blocks was zoned mostly commercial and would contain four structures, each with a footprint of 3,000 square feet.

"What we're able to do with a planned unit development design is a site plan of a more compatible project," he said. "We want more landscaping, to keep trees and keep it architecturally in harmony with the neighborhood. This could be a win/win for the school and neighborhood."

However, Bill Hutton of the Nelmar Terrace Neighborhood Association, said the project was inappropriate and that the school has used "questionable business practices."

"This PUD and zoning request should be denied," he said. "These are not residential units or homes. They are dormitories. The size of the structures are incompatible with the neighborhood."

He said the school's plan is to widen Genoply Street from 20 to 24 feet to allow easier access by trucks and buses.

"We don't want the school to expand into our neighborhood," Putton said. "The city will lose tax base, parts of a historic neighborhood and affordable housing. This will happen again and again. FSDB will continue to buy property and destroy our neighborhood one home at a time."

Bert Hodge, another resident of Nelmar Terrace, said the school has no mandate to house students over 18 years old, like it claims.

"Housing students is not mentioned in that law," he said.

In 1972, the school had 876 students. Today it has 720, Hodge said.

"There is no need. They have 77 acres over there," he said.

Lee McNally, a resident of Nelmar Terrace who is also a parent of two former students at FSDB, said he also opposes the rezoning.

"Bring the focus back to the students," McNally said. "The school is supposed to be part of the community."

Walter Sauls, also a resident, said, "It's not about the mission of the school. It's about the misrepresentation of the mandate. It's not about teachers and students. It's about trustees and statutes. To get what they want, what they want, whenever they want."

The cost per student of the new dormitories is $150,000, he said. That's $2 million for the property and $5.4 million for the buildings, divided by 48 students.

"Last year, they had 12 students (over age 18)," he said. "They were housed with elementary school students. What they say they can't do they've already done."

The numbers of those students are growing, though.

Hugh Lewis, principal of the Deaf Department, said there were 37 students in that category right now.

"They are mixed in with other students. We try to keep them with the older students as much as possible," he said. "They're eligible to stay until they are 22."

Dan Hutto, an FSDB administrator, said that at the present time there are 22-year-olds in the same dormitory with 13-year-olds. "That is not something we like," he said. Hutto said that while there may be spaces on campuses, they may be incompatible with the need.

Sandra Parks, a former city commissioner, suggested the planning and zoning board ask the city to form a community committee including the neighborhood, school representatives, and come up with a plan that is compatible with the immediate area but that also allows for the expansion the school needs.

Elaine Ocuto, an employee of the school for 10 years, is also a parent of an FSDB graduate. She said her son finished FSDB and completed graduate school and now is in the workforce.

"Think of the faces of the children and of those who work there" when you make your decision, Ocuto said.

© Copyright 2002 The St. Augustine Record and Morris Digital Works.