SRIA close to deciding hotel definition
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

Lisa Newell/Gulf Breeze News Julian MacQueen tries out a Segway that a new company plans to offer as rentals on Pensacola Beach.

Developers will have to wait a little while longer before getting approval on conceptual plans for hotels or fractional resorts on Pensacola Beach as Santa Rosa Island Authority Board members continue to wrangle with the definition of a hotel.

Developers of a "fractional resort" at the site of the former Clarion on Pensacola Beach assured the board that the concept, which has an average room size of 1,289 square feet, will function as a hotel. However, a spokesman for the group expressed concern that the project will miss another season because the SRIA continues debating the hotel definition.

The board tabled the Clarion decision until its May 23 meeting.

In other action, SRIA approved Segway rentals on the island for 90 days, providing the devices operate at normal walking speed.

Prom Queen LLC won the bid for the causeway property at $600,000 which is adjacent to the site of the group's new marina development where Cocoanuts and Boy on a Dolphin were located.

The ribbon cutting for the new public restrooms and public safety building will be May 22.