Timing of Selby meeting sparks debate

A new source of controversy has arisen over Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ already contentious campus master plan proposal: when to hold the hearing.

On June 12, the city’s Planning Board directed staff to set a meeting for September on a series of applications associated with the first phase of the botanical garden’s $92 million improvement project. The hearing could take place more than two months later than staff planned, which drew questions from Selby officials.

“We’re special, but we’re not that special that we ought to get yanked off the agenda and pushed back a couple of months,” said Dan Bailey, an attorney representing Selby Gardens.

City staff originally scheduled a hearing on the Selby project for July 10, a date that the board objected to for a variety of reasons. Several board members said they did not want to hold a hearing on a project that has garnered significant public input in July, when fewer seasonal residents would be in town.

“What I was reading in the emails that were sent out is that they’re concerned about having such a significant meeting in July when half the population’s gone, and there’s also the chance of hurricanes and things like that,” Planning Board member David Morriss said.

Mike Connelly, the assistant city attorney who regularly works with the Planning Board, has to leave the July 10 meeting by 9 p.m. because of scheduling conflicts, though another assistant city attorney would be available to fill in. All five board members and Connelly were available for a July 17 meeting, but the advisory board said it was concerned about its workload and would rather wait until September.

At the June 12 meeting, Planning Board member Eileen Normile said she was worried a hearing regarding a downtown condo project would go longer than scheduled. That hearing has since concluded with one meeting fewer than originally scheduled.

On Monday, two city commissioners said they wanted the Selby hearing scheduled as soon as possible. City Attorney Robert Fournier said the question of when to hold the meeting is up to the Planning Board, but commissioners Liz Alpert and Hagen Brody both thought waiting until September was unreasonable.

Brody pointed out the Planning Board would be making a purely advisory recommendation, and the final decision on the project rested with the City Commission.

“I find it very disturbing that they would push this out to wait for snowbirds to come be there in attendance,” Brody said. “I don’t think that’s fair to the applicants, and I think it hurts the integrity of this whole institution.”

Representatives for Selby appeared at Monday’s commission meeting to object to the timing of the hearing, calling the delay a costly setback. Afterward, resident opponents of the project spoke to urge the commission not to interfere with the Planning Board’s decision.

Fournier said he did not think the Planning Board’s actions were unreasonable, noting the amount of attention devoted to the Selby proposal likely meant a hearing would be lengthy and warranted its own standalone session.

“They have a discretion that has to be exercised reasonably, and I didn’t feel like there had been an abuse of that discretion,” Fournier said.

As of now, city staff is vetting the possibility of holding the hearing Sept. 18 or Sept. 25.