More Distance Between Docks AssuredBy Vicki JacksonIt's unanimous. Hearing no public opposition on March 4th, the City of Clearwater Council gave final approval for an amendment to the Community Development Code Section 3-601, which will "increase the required side setbacks for commercial docks located on non-residentially zoned property adjacent to waterfront residentially zoned property." This doubles the setback requirements for such commercial or multi-use docks to twenty percent of the applicant's waterfront property width. As clarified in a previous City of Clearwater Council Work Session, the revised ordinance effectively protects condominium owners from the commercial, and nothing is being taken away from owners of single-family homes. Minimum requirements for setbacks of multi-use private and commercial docks adjacent to waterfront single or two family properties remain at one-third of the applicant's waterfront property width. Councilman George N. Cretekos spearheaded the legislative change. A long-time resident of Sand Key, he stated, "A while back, there was talk about docks going in near the shopping center and the lo-rise condos on the island, and later, about commercial docks in other parts of the city." There was concern that the new construction would be too close and that a "buffer between commercial and residential" was needed. In seeking the amendment, the councilman maintained there was no one incident that prompted his action, but that he "was trying to ease some of those concerns, and thinking ahead of the curve."
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