ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. -- If you walk along St. Augustine Beach you'll notice not much is blocking your view. Residents here like it that way.
"I've lived in communities where they didn't have that type of zoning and anything over 35 feet or 40 feet was considered a monstrosity," said homeowner Ti Sanders. "You get up 8 to 10 stories and people can't see the beach."
Ti and Jane Sanders have lived in St. Augustine Beach for the past four years and would not like to see their community inundated with skyscrapers.
"I think it makes St. Augustine a kind of special place because you start heading south and you see more and more construction of high rises," said Jane Sanders.
That's exactly what Vice Mayor Rich O'Brien, who also owns the beach front hotel La Fiesta Inn and Suites, hopes to avoid.
The Vice Mayor and city commissioners want to make it tougher to build homes and businesses over 35 feet.
"We have an unspoiled resource now, I think it's important to keep it that way," said Rich O'Brien, Vice Mayor of St. Augustine Beach.
Right now, the height requirement for buildings on St. Augustine Beach is no more than 35 feet. City leaders want to take an extra precaution to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
"It would take a super majority, which would be four commissioners would have to vote, as oppose to now it's three," said O'Brien.
According to O'Brien, they would still allow buildings to go past the height limit in order to install air conditioning systems or elevator towers at the top of the structure. But the city still would preserve the look of St. Augustine Beach.
"If you look at Jacksonville Beach, they probably have 20 to 25-story buildings. Between 2 and 4 in the afternoon the sun is blocked from the beach. We want to be different than that, it's important to keep the profile of the buildings low," said O'Brien.
Starting in February the Planning and Zoning Board will come up with recommendations to present to the City Commission. Leaders hope to make a final decision in April.
