Article Courtesy of The Tampa Bay Times

By Susan Taylor Martin

Published January 31, 2015

It's called "Bliss," but that's hardly the word to describe how some people feel about the 18-story condo tower proposed for downtown St. Petersburg.
  
A resident of the nearby Parkshore Plaza is suing the city, claiming it should not have approved plans for Bliss because the project is too big for its site and violates the city's comprehensive plan. 

     
The two suits are the latest salvos in a battle over the 204-feet-tall Bliss, whose own stunning bay views would partially block those of the Parkshore and other nearby condo towers. 
   
In a recent lawsuit filed in Pinellas County Circuit Court, Michael Levy wants the city barred from issuing building permits until Bliss' developers revise their plans to comply with land use regulations. Levy owns a ninth-floor Parkshore unit valued at $720,000. 
  
"The proposed intensity of the Bliss project, including its excessively large scale relative to its small building lot, as well as the alley congestion and noise that would result from its vehicle elevators, would create safety concerns and devalue Mr. Levy's property if permitted as currently designed," the suit says. 
  
Levy alleges that Bliss, on Fourth Avenue NE just off Beach Drive, exceeds the maximum "floor area ratio" allowed for a residential building in that part of downtown. The ratio measures the gross floor area of a building divided by the area of the parcel on which the building is constructed. 
  
During the city's review of their site plans, Bliss' developers received permission for a maximum 4.0 ratio. But the suit says officials didn't check the actual size, which it says exceeds the 4.0 ratio.

An engineer hired by condo owners in a neighboring tower, Rowland Place, told City Council members that Bliss was about 10,000 square feet over the limit. Nonetheless, the council approved Bliss in December. 
  
In its response to Levy's suit, the city says it does not calculate the floor area ratio until a project reaches the building permit phase. As of earlier this month, no permits had been requested.
  
Jackson Bowman, Levy's attorney, said the city is trying to keep the public in the dark by delaying those calculations until the permit phase. 
  
"It's not a place that provides for a check on whether the development is consistent with the comprehensive plan," Bowman said Tuesday. "There's no notice to the public that somebody has even applied for the permit. It's behind closed doors. Also, if the city isn't checking even at the site approval phase, what assures the public they're going to do it at the building permit phase?" 
  
In its own suit, the Parkshore Plaza Condominium Association says the city erred in approving Bliss' garage, which forgoes the usual sloping ramp in favor of using elevators to carry cars up to their parking spaces on four levels. 
  
The main access to the garage will be through an alley also traversed by Parkshore cars as well as by trucks serving nearby stores and restaurants. The suit says that cars waiting to use the Bliss elevators could stack up and clog the alley. 
  
"It is an important fact that the city has no experience with car elevators," the suit says. "The city has no ordinance nor has it adopted standards to regulate the use of car elevators in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public." 
  
Bliss' developer, Brian Taub, did not respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment. He previously said Bliss complied with all city building regulations and would not cause any traffic or safety problems. 
   
In October, he said Bliss had sold 21 of it 30 units at prices ranging from $664,900 to $1.25 million.