News

By Dan Moffett

    Ocean Ridge commissioners have grudgingly agreed to give the owners of the town’s five-store business district a three-month extension to submit plans for overhauling the 60-foot-deep strip at 5011 N. Ocean Blvd.
    But they warned the Sivitilli family to make sure the application to renovate the property is complete because the commission isn’t inclined to grant more time.
    “You’ve had 10 years to do this — to convert from commercial to residential — and you didn’t do it,” Commissioner James Bonfiglio told Lisa Sivitilli, the daughter of owners Orlando and Lilianne Sivitilli. “You’re putting the pressure on us to resolve your problem at the last minute.”
    Bonfiglio served as chairman of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission before winning election to his commission seat in March and has dealt with the property’s issues for years. He was the lone dissenter in the 3-1 approval of the latest extension.
    Town Commissioner Gail Adams Aaskov owns a real estate business in the building and does not vote on issues related to it. The other businesses on the site are Colby’s Barber Shop and The Coastal Star. The second floor of the building has four apartments.
    “I’m fully in favor of giving you the extension because there’s not much else we can do,” said Town Commissioner Richard Lucibella, a comment that pretty much captures the exasperation town officials feel after trying unsuccessfully for decades to find a solution for the property.
    Back in 1969, the Town Commission voted to phase out the commercial district over 40 years.
    In 1997, Orlando and Lilianne Sivitilli sued the town to overturn the ban. A settlement of the suit allowed the family to continue operations until 2000, and then two subsequent extensions pushed the deadline back to this month.
    Town Attorney Ken Spillias told commissioners that if they didn’t approve another extension at the May 5 meeting, then in June the Sivitillis would be in violation of just about everything — the suit settlement, the town’s code, the town’s comprehensive plan — and could be shut down.
    But boarding up the building runs the risk of creating an enduring eyesore. The property is too small to attract many developers willing to risk a residential redesign, and as Commissioner Lynn Allison puts it, “How many people want to be across from a Texaco station on A1A? ”
    Bonfiglio was irked that people who had sued the town now were coming forward to ask another favor from it. Why should the commission believe the Sivitillis can deliver in the next 90 days what they haven’t over the last 14 years?, he asked.
    Lisa Sivitilli blamed delays on the collapse of the real estate market and a family illness. She said that Marty Minor, a planning consultant with Urban Design Kilday Studios, would vouch that a complete mixed-use plan and application would be ready in time, at no cost to the town.
    “You have our history,” Lisa Sivitilli said. “We’ve always paid our way.”
    In other business, commissioners gave unanimous final approval to a resolution that abandons the western right of way in front of the homes at 5516, 5514 and 5512 Old Ocean Blvd.
    The town has no source of water to maintain vegetation on the 100-foot strip of land. Property owners will take over the strip, handle the landscaping, maintain the right of way and pay the town expenses. The property owners also have agreed to remove invasive, non-native plants. The town will retain an easement along the properties.