HARC again postpones Peary Court decision

BY PRU SOWERS

NEWS WRITER

A decision on the 208-unit housing development proposed for the Peary Court property has been postponed for a third time.

Members of the Historic Architectural Review Commission (HARC) unanimously voted to postpone a decision on the controversial development until architects could include the commissioners’ latest directive. While they agreed on the mass and scale of the rest of the development, they insisted that large homes slated to be built next to the existing Meadows nhttp://konknet.com/konk-life/contributors/pru-sowerseighborhood along Angela Street be eliminated in favor of smaller, 600-900 square-foot cottages that would face existing houses on the other side of Angela.

“Six out of six commissioners would like to see a double-loaded lane with discreet houses, not guest houses that belong to a big house in front, but discreet houses,” HARC Chairman Michael Miller told Peary Court architect Bernard Zyscovich.

 

Zyscovich pointed out that by doing that, the cottage owners would be using Angela Street to access their homes, potentially contributing to traffic and parking congestion on the street. Residents along Angela Street have come out in force to HARC meetings protesting exactly that. But, Zyscovich said, if that’s what HARC wants, he will comply.

 

“I’m fine with that,” he said about the double-loading plan for Angela Street. “That’s where we started.”

 

The discussion of parking and traffic issues raised by Angela Street residents was cut off abruptly by assistant city attorney Ron Ramsingh, who said any changes to public streets would have to go before the Planning Board and the Key West City Commission, not HARC, for approval.

 

“I would implore this body just to stick to the architectural components and the relationship to the historic fabric in your guidelines. The lion’s share of this discussion has nothing to do with what you are charged with,” he told HARC commissioners.

 

Prior to that, several Angela Street residents had made public comments at the meeting voicing their concern about the development.

 

“If you allow access into Peary Court across Angela Street and remove the fence, you’re asking the residents of the Meadows, and Angela Street in particular, to have their surroundings and their quality of life radically altered for the sake of an ambiguous development,” said Donna Feldman, a 23-year resident of Angela Street.

 

“To open up our neighborhood, starting at our narrow Angela Street… with historic architecture so close to modern houses… would be to toss Key West’s historic jewel into the sea,” said Steve Dawkins, 1212 Angela St.

 

But some HARC commissioners grew tired of the continuous protests from residents in the Meadows.

 

“I’m a little bit disappointed and disturbed by the community of the Meadows in regards to their resentment of the new neighborhood,” said Commissioner Theo Glorie. “It’s very disturbing that everything has to be so negative.”

 

By the end of the HARC meeting, it seemed clear that the only objection commissioners had to the proposed development was the size and location of the cottages. If developers can place the cottages as stand-alone homes facing into Angela Street, it seems likely that the project will get the HARC go-ahead.

 

“There’s nothing sticking out that I would be against,” said Commissioner Patrick Wright. “I think you’re close.”

 

“I think this is a unique opportunity for the whole community of Key West to come up with something fantastic,” said Glorie.

 

Developers first went before HARC in February 2013. They withdrew their original plans when it became clear commissioners were deeply concerned over the design. Zyscovich was then hired to completely redesign the proposed development.

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