Madeira Beach wants resident ideas for waterfront land development

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — The city of Madeira Beach will host another round of town hall meetings next week to gather ideas from residents on how to move forward with developing more than four acres of waterfront land the city purchased last October.

“The possibilities are super exciting,” said resident Caitlin Beaird. “It’s going to be really nice to see something we can all be really proud of as we cross over into our lovely city.”

The city paid $18 million for 4.6 acres of vacant property located at 555 150th Avenue, which is also named the Tom Stuart Causeway. Madeira Beach held the first round of town hall meetings last November.

At that time, some ideas from residents included a lot of green space, similar to Coachman Park in Clearwater or the St. Pete Pier. Other ideas inlcuded a fishing area, wet slips for boats, a water playground, a parking garage and restaurants.

Resident Pam Koewing-Rasmussen said she plans to attend the upcoming town hall meetings and agrees a parking garage should be a priority with a nice restaurant on top.

“We’ve got all the ground surface parking we need in Madeira Beach. We can’t get much more,” she said. “Let’s go up two or four stories… So you have a good view.”

Koewing-Rasmussen said she wants to see development which generates revenue for the city to recoup the money the city paid for it.

“Something like a John’s Pass North or West or whatever you want to call it, with a boardwalk kind of decor and development,” she said. “I would like to see that go all the way under Tom Stuart and over to Patriot Park.” 

Beaird said she would like to see a museum which honors the city’s fishing village history, which she believes is becoming more of a fishing resort town these days.

“I really would like to see some type of museum exhibit,” she said. “Featuring the maritime history of the area and the ecology of the area.”

Both Koewing-Rasmussen and Beaird would like green space to be a part of the development plan with a walkway along the waterfront. Beaird said a restaurant on Boca Ciega Bay is needed too.

“Of course, waterfront dining,” she said. “There’s other beach towns up and down that have restaurants on the waterway that we can pull our boat right up to. And we don’t have that yet in Madeira Beach.”

The town hall meetings have been scheduled for Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. and Feb. 7 at 11 a.m. at Madeira Beach City Hall.