PANAMA CITY BEACH — In a hearing labeled “a dress rehearsal” by city staff, the Panama City Beach Planning Board voted unanimously Monday to issue a development order for a 10-ride amusement park at Pier Park.
The quasi-judicial hearing was requested by the owners of Miracle Strip at Pier Park after the city issued a notice of intent to administratively issue a development order for the project in mid-May. The proposed amusement park is located at the same site where Miracle Strip at Pier Park formerly was located.
The written appeal of the notice submitted by Miracle Strip lawyer Mike Burke initially outlined two reasons why the development order was non-compliant with the city’s land development code and comprehensive plan.
Burke argued that amusement parks were not allowed under the Pier Park Development of Regional Impact (DRI) development order, which was adopted by the city in 2002. He also contested a conditional use permit should be required to re-establish an amusement park in the location, as required under the city’s land development code.
Burke also submitted a third grounds for appeal to the city June 3, which attests that the square footage of a specific commercial zone within Pier Park exceeds the permitted square footage outlined in the DRI.
Early in the meeting, however, the board motioned to disregard all arguments related to the DRI because the legislation is ultimately under the city’s jurisdiction, and not that of the planning board.
Burke, who said he was “handcuffed” by the decision to throw out the DRI issues, was limited to arguing the second point, that the development should require a conditional use permit application, a process that is vetted by the planning board.
However, city staff and legal representation for Simon Property Group and the applicant, Pier Park Rides, held that under the DRI, the site is protected against “down zoning,” or rezoning to a lower density use.
The argument ultimately swayed the planning board’s decision, despite Burke’s claim that because the land use changed after the DRI was adopted, down zoning did not apply.
When the DRI was adopted by the city in 2002, the land in question was zoned “tourist,” and did not allow amusement parks. The site’s zoning was amended by the city in 2009 to allow for amusements at the location when Miracle Strip at Pier Park set up shop.
The change allowed the park to be grandfathered in when the city’s new land development code was adopted in 2012, setting forth a new conditional use requirement for amusement parks. Miracle Strip relocated to a larger site outside of the DRI earlier this year, which required a conditional use permit.
“We’re asking you for a fair playing field,” Burke said. Under the land development code, “you said everyone was going to play by certain rules, and that’s what we’re asking for.”
Representing the applicant, Pier Park Rides, attorney Robert Hughes said the appeal was ultimately an attempt to impede competition and delay the process for the project during the peak tourist season.
“My clients think that it’s abjectly unfair that they have to go through the process that the Meeks didn’t have to go through to put the same rides on the same piece of property,” Hughes said. “I’m telling you, the level playing field is more level for his people than it is for my people on this same piece of property, so we feel that the city is correct in everything they’ve done.”
Although any adversely affected party has 10 days to appeal the planning board’s decision, city staff completed a written order of the planning board’s decision Monday so the appeal can be filed by the city, rather than waiting for an appeal to be filed by Miracle Strip.
As outlined on the Panama City Beach City Council agenda sent out before Monday’s planning board meeting, the council will set a date for the rehearing at its regular meeting Thursday.
The city also noticed the hearing, tentatively scheduled for June 26, in Tuesday’s News Herald in order to meet the minimum public notice requirement.
Because the city council has the jurisdiction to make decisions regarding the DRI, Miracle Strip owners Teddy and Jenny Meeks said they intend to present arguments and evidence that Pier Park exceeds its permitted square footage under the DRI.
While the total DRI plan accounts for 1,073,000 square feet of retail space, it also breaks the development into four commercial zones, with specifications for square footage within each zone.
The zone in question, designated “central commercial,” allows 250,000 square feet of retail space under the DRI, but Burke cites 390,000 square feet of retail space developed to date.