Peary Court housing development back in front of HARC

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Perhaps the fourth time is the charm.

That’s what developers of the proposed 208-unit residential redevelopment of Peary Court on White Street are hoping. White Street Partners, owner of the 24-acre former Navy housing complex, is scheduled to appear for a fourth time in front of the Key West Historic Architectural Review Commission (HARC) on Thursday, Nov. 6, to present revised plans for the development. HARC commissioners at the previous three meetings voted to postpone any action on the development plan until changes suggested by both HARC commissioners and nearby residents could be made.

Those requested changes have been significant but the latest set of blueprints appear to incorporate the last of the recommendations made by HARC members on May 7. In addition to keeping an existing fence that separates the Peary Court property from residents on Angela Street, the new homes along the Angela Street side of the development have been reduced in size and a 10-foot-wide landscaped buffer will be planted on the Peary Court side of the fence. Parking that had been proposed along that side of the development has also been eliminated.

Developers first went before HARC in February 2013. They withdrew their original plans when it became clear commissioners were deeply concerned over the design. Architect Bernard Zyscovich was then hired by White Street Partners, which purchased the 24-acre parcel last year for $35 million, to completely redesign the proposed development.

Residents of the next-door Meadows neighborhood, particularly residents on Angela Street, have been vigorously vocal in their objections to several aspects of the initial design plans, which included taking down the fence and allowing Peary Court residents to access their homes via Angela Street, potentially contributing to traffic and parking congestion on the street.

“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.

If HARC votes to approve the housing development on Nov. 6, White Street Partners will then go before several city boards for approval. The final go-ahead vote will be made by city commissioners.

Peary Court was formerly owned by the U.S. Navy and used for housing sailors, officers and their families. The development plan calls for razing the existing buildings and constructing 160 market rate homes and 48 affordable housing units.

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