- February 12, 2025
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Residents had their last chance on Aug. 15 to put in their two cents on the development coming to the corner of West Granada Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue.
Last fall, residents appeared at Planning Board and City Commission meetings to protest the proposed development. They were concerned about the character of their street being transformed by added traffic and a business development taking the place of woods on the corner.
Developer and owner Bill Navarra plans to construct an 11,400-square-foot office and retail center on 1.65 acres with five individual units.
A photo of the planned building brought praise from the audience, with several calling it attractive. Navarra already has tenants, an eye glass store; his own office, Realty Pros Assured; his real estate title company; and a dental office.
He said he wanted low impact businesses to address the concerns of the residents.
“That’s what people wanted and what we went for,’ he said. “It’s very low key with no night traffic.”
Navarra also said he is spending $50,000 on a six-foot wall and $100,000 on landscaping along Magnolia Avenue in a ten-foot buffer.
In earlier meetings, a big concern of the residents on Magnolia Avenue was the added traffic. Glenn Storch, attorney and developer representative, said that to address that concern, there will be an entrance on Magnolia Avenue, but not an exit. Cars must exit on Granada Boulevard.
“We tried to do as you wished,” he told the audience.
That was not enough to satisfy some of the Magnolia Avenue residents, who say they wanted to keep all traffic off of their street. .
“That’s the one thing we were fighting,” said one resident, “and we’re not going to give up.”
Storch said it was a safety issue, because without the Magnolia entrance, westbound cars would have to make a U-turn and come back to enter the plaza.
The meeting resulted in one change in the plan. The developers agreed to move the garbage bins from the east side by Magnolia Avenue over to the west side. One speaker from the audience said the garbage trucks make loud noises early in the morning when they empty the dumpsters.
The next step in the process is for the city Planning Department to make an administrative review of the site plan to make sure it meets codes and then give approval.
Navarra said he’s ready to begin construction.
After the meeting, dissatisfaction could be heard among at least some of the residents who attended, unhappy that a development is going to replace a wooded area at the end of their street. It was rezoned from residential last year so that development could take place.
"You're taking away our beauty," one resident said, talking about the woods.
At meetings last year, Planning Director Rick Goss said he would “bump up” the neighborhood meeting to a City Commission meeting if neighborhood issues were not resolved.
After the recent meeting, he said it is still possible it could go back to the City Commission. He has commissioned an independent traffic study, and if it does not agree with the developer’s design, including the entrance on Magnolia Avenue, he would seek City Commission review.
QUOTE
“That’s what people wanted and what we went for.”
BILL NAVARRA, property owner
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Next Step
The next and final step in the approval process will be for the city Planning Department to make an administrative review of the site plan to make sure it meets codes.
