Commission delivers initial OK to Buttonwood project

Town commissioners on Monday added their initial approvals to those of the town’s Planning and Zoning Board and about 65% of town voters in advancing plans to build a pair of homes at the corner of Buttonwood Drive and Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Commissioners unanimously supported a long-term land-use change and then a zoning change to allow Mark Ursini’s Brista Homes to build at 597 Buttonwood Drive, land that had previously been zoned for commercial use.

A second and final approval will be set for a future meeting. 

In preparing for the build, Ursini last fall had to ask town voters to approve upping the allowed residential density on the land from zero to three units an acre on the 0.86 acres. Voters supported the request by nearly two-thirds. It’s the first such project to gain voter approval and advance to commission approval.

"Mr. Mark Ursini and Brista Homes has worked diligently with the homeowners association to come up with these plans as well as go through the whole referendum process," said Bruce Franklin, representing Ursini before the commissioners.

Brista, who also plans to develop adjacent commercial land to the north without a zoning change, proposes a master plan for stormwater drainage for not only the two residential parcels, but also the commercial site to the north and the surrounding area.

According to town documents, Brista is proposing linking the two residential sites with swales and under drains to collect runoff and divert it to a system on the commercial site capable of handling rainwater from the three properties and water that tends to run off Gulf of Mexico Drive into the lower-lying Buttonwood Harbor neighborhood.

The goal is to improve conditions in the entire area, not just to simply satisfy a requirement to not exacerbate drainage issues at the corner of Buttonwood Drive and Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The town’s Planning and Zoning Board is expected to consider the commercial parcel’s site plan, which includes elements of the drainage plan, on April 19. The developer has made clear that he can design standalone drainage system’s for the residential sites should the commercial site plan stall, but that is not his preferred path.

At some point, city leaders will have to consider granting permission to use an easement to the developer to make the drainage system, which would probably only be considered once all other approvals are complete.

Permission to use the city-owned easement along Buttonwood Drive would require Town Commission approval. A second easement will have to be accessed from the Buttonwood Harbor Homeowners Association.

"It’s our recommendation, the town attorney’s office’s recommendation that we only give the easement once all of these matters are heard and all appeal periods have run, so we’re not giving away easements for projects that are not clearly going forward," said Town Attorney Maggie Mooney.

Commissioner BJ Bishop, who lives in the Buttonwood Harbor community, said Ursini told the residents that his drainage solution would help mitigate water running off Gulf of Mexico Drive, something that isn’t necessarily required to move forward. Franklin said Ursini would likely seek some kind of reimbursement from the town or Florida Department of Transportation for his role in solving "a public problem. But I know he is committed to dealing with it and working it into the master plan, regardless."

It is the responsibility of the town's building department to determine if the systems proposed will have the desired effect on stormwater drainage.