by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Despite being months away from opening, The Carling on Adams Street is causing a bit of a stir at City Hall. That development, downtown’s newest residential highrise, lacks permits for two major on-site improvements.
The City confirmed this week that The Carling’s sign and parking garage never worked their way through the appropriate channels before being built.
“As I understand it, the developers (The Vestcor Companies) believed they had approval for what they wanted to do,” said Jason Teal, an attorney in the City’s Office of General Counsel. “Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
Understanding the nature of redeveloping historic properties, Vestcor submitted their plans for the garage and signs to the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission months ago, Teal said. Vestcor was awarded a Certificate of Appropriateness, though the developer never returned with the certificate to either the City’s Permitting Department or the Design Review Committee for final approval.
Severina Menor, Vestcor project manager for The Carling, said the City had originally been approached before work began on the garage and the sign. However, after the Permitting Department directed Vestcor to the JHPC last year, the developer did not realize that they would have to go back before the City.
“It never dawned on us,” Menor said. “We respect the process and it was never our intention to circumvent it in any way.”
But Teal and DRC chairman David Auchter said it would take more than an apology to garner the City’s endorsement for any unapproved work.
“How could you think you wouldn’t need approval of the DRC?” Auchter said. “We understand that the developer is trying to present something positive downtown, but we are going to have the responsibility to look at this from all angles.
“Ignorance is no excuse and we won’t know the next step until they appear before the DRC at the end of the month.”
Two things are certain: The Carling parking garage will come under fire and the sign currently hanging from the building may not conform to the City’s downtown sign codes.
According to the Downtown Master Plan, which was developed years ago, any new garage must develop at least 50 percent of its ground floor space facing the street with a retail component.
The Carling garage has none, though according to Vestcor, it will at least look like a retail component has been included.
Menor said a portion of the garage would resemble a storefront, but that until the retail market downtown catches up with the demand for parking, it would be unwise to build out the space for another few years.
“That’s the idea,” Menor said. “We’ve gone ahead and made sure to include things like plumbing and utility hookups that can be addressed later. When it comes time to include retail in the garage, we can.”
Teal said it would be up to the DRC to award a deviation from the Master Plan.
“That could happen if the DRC decides that the project is unique, that it offers value in other ways,” he said. “The fact that they’re coming back after they’ve gone ahead without the right permits may play some part in the committee’s decision, but I don’t know what they’ll decide.
“Obviously, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.”