BELLEAIR — Town commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday night to reduce the size requirement for hotel properties, dismaying preservation advocates who say the decision paves the way for demolition of the historic Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa.
The neighboring Belleair Country Club had requested the change in December, saying it wants to buy 2.3 acres of the Biltmore property from its Miami owners for continued use as surface parking. But that would have violated a town law that hotel properties must be at least 20 acres — the exact size of the Biltmore site — so commissioners were asked to reduce the requirement to 17.5 acres.
The amendment passed on first reading in February, but a lawsuit filed last month by preservation advocate Rae Claire Johnson, president of the Friends of the Belleview Biltmore Inc., claimed the action wasn’t legal.