NEW SMYRNA BEACH — City commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve the request by developers of a proposed 114-room beachfront hotel to build closer to the ocean, a critical step for the project to move forward.
Poseidon Hotel Ventures, which is planning to build a SpringHill Suites by Marriott on about 1½ acres just north of the Breakers Restaurant and Lounge on Flagler Avenue, requested to move the city’s coastal construction setback line an average of 75½ feet to the east, to allow for the construction of an underground parking area, a swimming pool and a deck. However, after some negotiating initiated by Mayor Jim Hathaway, the developer promised to build those structures no more than 55 feet past the line.
Hathaway, who on Aug. 11 voted against the request on first reading, approved it this time saying he was trying to reach a compromise and “put our city back together.”