HOLMES BEACH – The city has received an application to rezone the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church property in a manner that would allow for the construction of up to 17 single-family homes.
On May 12, Marshall Robinson, a land planner with the Bradenton-based Grimes Galvano law firm, submitted the land development application that lists himself and attorney Kyle Grimes as the agents acting on behalf of the property owners.
The application lists Gloria Dei Evangelical Lutheran Church of AMI as the property owner and lists a Tampa address for that entity. Dated May 15, the accompanying affidavit of ownership/agent authorization is signed by Bishop Pedro Suarez.
The land development application lists a comprehensive plan text amendment, a comprehensive plan map amendment and the rezoning of the property as the desired city approvals. The application notes the current zoning designation is PSP (public/semi-public) and the proposed zoning classification is R-1 (single-family residential).
The application lists “single-family detached residential dwellings” as the proposed activity or use.
“The proposed request is up to 17 SF (single-family) detached dwellings on 2.96 acres,” the application says.
The draft concept plan submitted by the applicants shows the church property divided into 11 lots, with an interior access road running through the residential development and a circular cul-de-sac located at the north end of the proposed development.
When contacted on May 1, Holmes Beach Director of Development Services Chad Minor confirmed that he, Mayor Judy Titsworth, Public Works Director Herb Raybourn, Development Services Coordinator Kim Charron and Robinson had recently participated in a pre-application discussion regarding the potential rezoning of the Gloria Dei property.
When contacted on May 29, after the land development application was filed, Minor said the city was not yet close to scheduling a date for the first public hearing on the property owners’ requests.
“I have asked the city attorney to put together a flow chart of the process, as it is a little different with a comprehensive plan and rezone concurrently. Any rezone will require an ordinance and public hearings,” Minor stated in his email response to The Sun.
DRAFT NARRATIVE
On April 8, Robinson sent Minor an eight-page draft narrative letter that details the rezoning and comp plan amendment requests.
“On behalf of the applicant and owner, Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Inc. (formerly known as Gloria Dei Evangelical of Anna Maria Island), we wish to file applications for a comprehensive plan map amendment, comprehensive plan text amendment and a zoning map amendment to be reviewed as companion applications,” Robinson stated in his letter.
“The applicant requests approval of two comprehensive plan amendments and a zoning map amendment for approximately 2.96 acres of land located at 6608 Marina Drive. The subject property consists of three contiguous parcels currently developed as a church,” Robinson stated.
The draft narrative letter notes the property owners seek a zoning map amendment from public/semi-public (PSP) to R-1 (single-family residential).
“The proposed entitlements allow for up to 17 single-family residential units consistent with the maximum gross density permitted under the future land use category. A conceptual plan has been prepared to illustrate a potential layout; however, final design will be determined at site plan approval,” the letter says.
“The subject property is designated PSP on the adopted future land use map and zoned PSP. The property is currently developed with a 6,437 square foot church building on 1.94 acres that takes direct access from Palm Drive. The remaining acreage of the subject property consists of two vacant parcels adjacent to the north consisting of approximately 1.02 acres.
“The low-density residential future land use category allows a maximum density of up to 5.8 dwelling units per gross acre,” Robinson wrote.
His letter stated the 2.96-acre property would support a maximum gross density of 17 single-family dwellings with a gross density of 5.74 units per acre.
“The subject property is surrounded by existing residential development. To the north and northwest are medium-density residential uses with R-2 zoning. To the west, across Palm Drive, are additional R-2 zoned properties. To the east and southeast, across Marina Drive, are existing low-density residential uses zoned R-1. The proposed future land use category and R-1 zoning is compatible and consistent with the surrounding development pattern,” Robinson wrote.
“The Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Holmes Beach was founded on August 3, 1958. The existing church building was completed in 1959 and was in continuous operation until its final service on January 18, 2025. Over time, fewer and fewer members of the church’s congregation were willing or able to travel to Anna Maria Island to attend the church services.
“Accordingly, for the good of the church, the decision was made to move the church off the Island. At that time, the church structure was utilized as a daycare until the hurricanes of 2024 and the church has remained vacant and unused since that time. Due to the designation of the PSP future land use category, there are no reasonable uses of the property that are permitted by the city’s comprehensive plan available to the owners at this time,” the draft narrative letter says.
“The proposed comprehensive plan amendment is consistent with the future land use element, which emphasizes the protection of the city’s predominantly single-family residential character and the compatibility of land uses,” Robinson wrote.
Regarding compliance with the comp plan, “The proposed amendment supports Goal 1 by changing the subject property from public/semi-public to low-density residential, and by aligning the subject property with the surrounding residential development pattern. Moreover, as the current PSP, one is very limited with regard to permitted uses; and as the existing church use is no longer a viable option, there is no reasonable use of the property available to the current owner under the existing future land use designation.”
The proposed low-density residential will permit the property to be redeveloped with additional, sustainable and resilient housing options, rather than leaving the property vacant, unused and deteriorating,” Robinson wrote
CITY’S INTEREST
In May 2025, after receiving two valuation appraisals, the city commission authorized Mayor Judy Titsworth to make a $3 million offer for the church building and property. The appraisals prepared for the city were based on the assumption that the existing PSP zoning and comp plan designations that do not allow residential or commercial development would remain in place.
City officials hoped to preserve the church building and use the building and the church grounds for public purposes that might have included office and operating space for non-profit organizations, space for the displaced School For Constructive Play preschool to potentially return to the church building, and green space for public use.
In June 2025, Taylor Rahdert, the real estate agent representing the property owners, sent Minor an email informing him that the Synod Council declined the city’s offer.
“Unfortunately, I do not see a path forward on an acquisition at this time,” Titsworth said when discussing the Synod Council’s decision.
The Synod Council received a $9.9 million appraisal that was based on the assumption that the property would be rezoned for residential development. After the city’s offer was declined, the church property was put on the market with a $9.9 million asking price.
In 2018, city officials discussed purchasing the undeveloped portions of the church property, but not the church building itself. That potential $1.3 million sale never transpired.
In 2016, city commissioners denied a comprehensive plan amendment sought by church officials who wanted to change the future land use designation to R-2 (multi-family residential) for the two undeveloped parcels and rezone those parcels in a similar manner. The church officials hoped to sell the two rezoned parcels for development by someone else and use the sales proceeds to help fund the ongoing church operations.
PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION
The rezoning request has not yet been presented to the city commission, but it was the subject of informal commission discussion on May 12.
Commissioner Jessica Patel referenced a news story about the city of St. Petersburg’s approach to allowing land zoned for public use to be rezoned for private development. Patel asked if the city of Holmes Beach could stipulate that the church property, if rezoned, could only be used to develop affordable or low-income housing.
In response, City Attorney Randy Mora said, “It depends. There is never an absolute right to a rezoning or a redesignation in a comp plan. Process is everything and I’ll leave it at that. You have the ability to redesignate properties, but it would be subject to a multiplicity of factors.”
He noted affordable housing and low income are often two very different things.
Mora said there’s a difference between putting a restrictive covenant on a city-owned public property and transitioning that property to private ownership, versus putting a covenant on a privately-owned property that carries a public use zoning designation but is not owned by the city.
“Our ability to intervene in the private market, where people buy private property with private funds – it’s very unlikely that you’re intruding on that process,” Mora said.
Titsworth said the church building is an “Island landmark” and there’s only so much property in the city zoned for public/semi-public use.
“It’s also in our future land use map, so it’s part of the comprehensive plan,” Titsworth said. “You might all decide we don’t want to give up any public/semi-public land, which is OK. There’s nothing saying you have to do it. If the site plan meets all the criteria, you almost feel obligated, but this is a zoning change, and it’s a future land use change. This is coming our way. You’ll hear it and you’ll make the best decision based on what’s presented to you.”
