After months of deliberation and testimony from the public and parties involved, the St. Pete Beach City Commission has approved plans for the controversial Sirata Beach Resort expansion.  

In a 3-2 vote Tuesday evening, February 27th, commissioners greenlighted a conditional use permit (CUP) for the construction of a 290-key luxury JW Marriott hotel, a 130-key limited-service Hampton Inn, and a massive revamp of the existing 382-key resort at 5300 Gulf Boulevard.

Tuesday’s five hour discussion and vote was a continuation of the nearly 11-hour public hearing last week when the newly appointed commissioners made a motion to defer the decision.

Commissioner Nick Filtz and Mayor Adrian Petrila cast the opposing votes, citing concerns about the obstruction of views the expansion will cause for neighboring Seamark Condominiums, the potential vehicular traffic backups, and the designs of each hotel.

"The residents and the developer [resort owner Columbia Sussex] don’t agree on almost anything, but they agree on one thing; that the impact of this will not be minimal," said Petrila, who is firmly against the project.  

The plans, initially filed in early 2023, call for over 50 rooms at the Sirata Beach Resort to be eliminated and replaced by a new freestanding restaurant and pool.

The proposed JW Marriott hotel, which would have a permitted fourth-floor rooftop deck with a bar and dining area, would be built at the northern portion of the property.

The Hampton Inn hotel would rise at the southern end of the Sirata property.

Upon completion of the two new hotels and existing resort renovations, the property will contain a total of 646 hotel units, an increase from the property’s current 264 units.  

Residents of the neighboring Seamark Condominiums weighed in against the project during last week's commission meeting, stating how the hotel expansion will impact views, although partially.

"They [the owners of the Sirata] made very little effort to minimize the impact ... I can tell you this will have a detrimental impact on not just quality of life, but an immediate negative impact on property values," Petrila argued. "The view - once it's gone, it's gone." 

Petrila claimed the developer and team of experts were dismissive and condescending in addressing questions from officials and residents throughout multiple meetings.

"This is a big moment for St. Pete Beach. The city hasn't faced anything like this in decades," Commissioner Lorenzen stressed. "I'm torn on this."  

Columbia Sussex, a Kentucky-based hotel management company that purchased the hotel in late 2022 for $207 million, plans to pump another $250 million into the expansion plan located in the city’s Large Resort District.

"The comprehensive plan is begging developers to redo the resort district," Lorenzen said, stating many of the resident’s concerns may be based on fear and emotions rather than considering how the project aligns with the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

"I see benefits that haven't been talked about tonight; those are the beach easements and [beach] access," Commissioner Karen Marriott said, explaining how it's rare to have private property owners provide beach access points and how the developers also plan on restoring the dunes.

Plans for the redevelopment of the Sirata include the construction of a public boardwalk that runs along the beach that will be fully funded by the developer.

Additionally, Columbia Sussex plans to widen the sidewalks along Gulf Boulevard to 10 feet, have parking on-site to prevent congestion on Gulf Boulevard, and add lighting restrictions and a special film on the new building’s windows for sea turtle nesting safety.

"If we don't approve the application for the conditional use, we lose the ability to negotiate on a lot of those things depending on what they decide to do," Marriott said. "Not a single person who lives adjacent to that property bought their property when there wasn’t a hotel there … None of us get to dictate what is happening on our neighbors’ properties."

Some commissions made comments on redesigning certain parts of the project, specifically the project’s proposed parking garages, asking the developer to go back to the drawing board. As a result, the developers will host a design charrette in the near future to solicit feedback from the community on the parking garage design.

"Sirata is non-conforming [to today's building codes] so they can't tear down and rebuild the Sirata without conditional use," Marriott said. 

The commissioners took into account over more than 40 proposed building conditions, including a wind impact study, which Columbia Sussex rejected as it would delay the process by at least nine months.

With the CUP approval, Columbia Sussex will now proceed with permitting the project.  

A construction timeline has not been announced.