TAMPA - Parking at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts is never easy, but a recent resolution to a zoning dispute with the city means it won't grow more difficult to find a space.
An agreement to grandfather the Straz and the Convention Center's surface parking near the Hillsborough River into the city's waterfront overlay zoning code will allow the Straz to continue to park some cars at its arrival plaza just as it has done for years.
Currently, the Straz parks about 50 cars in the plaza. City planning officials were worried that a zoning amendment codifying that practice would set a precedent for other property owners to demand the right to park on the river's edge.
Meanwhile, Straz officials needed the city to sign off on its parking practices in order to proceed with the center's planned expansion of the arrival plaza.
In May, the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission found the Straz's request to be inconsistent with the city's zoning regulations, mostly because the city and Straz were still negotiating the language of the change to keep it as narrow as possible.
Last month, they reached an agreement satisfying both sides. The amendment allowed the Straz to continue to use its plaza as it had done under the amendment, but the language was kept narrow enough to bar more property owners to follow suit.
"I think we've gotten to a good place," said Doug Dieck, a Straz board member at the June 28 City Council meeting. "The Pandora's Box is closed."
Still unresolved, however, is the Straz's planned expansion of the arrival plaza. Originally slated to begin this summer, the project has been delayed until the city approves a design.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn said Monday the parking agreement was linked to a scaled-down version of the arrival plaza. Earlier this year, Straz officials had pitched a plan that would have removed some green space along West Tyler Street to create more parking space.
The $375,000 project was designed to help relieve parking congestion that, at its worst, has delayed show times and frustrated patrons, especially when an increasingly active downtown fills up the nearby Poe garage.
"They're going to do it in a manner that is more respectful of the area, which is not a sea of concrete," Buckhorn said.
The Straz released a statement Monday in response to Buckhorn's comments.
"We've been having productive conversations with the city regarding the design of our expansion, which is still in the discussion stage. We feel certain that a workable solution, as it relates to parking on our plaza, is forthcoming and are pleased that the connection will be safer and better-defined for the Riverwalk constituency. And we are hopeful these discussions will help shape how The Straz will look and function in the future," wrote Straz spokesman Paul Bilyeu in an email.
Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727)893-8459. Follow@CharlieFrago
