CLEARWATER - Despite the worst economy in decades, a growing number of developers are quietly getting their ducks in a row to build hotels on Clearwater Beach.

They're assembling land, drawing up plans and seeking permits. The beach needs more hotels, but not everyone is happy with what's being proposed.

Developers are being lured by Clearwater's willingness to allow taller hotels on smaller parcels. Some 1,200 beach hotel rooms got dynamited and bulldozed during the condo boom a few years back. In order to replace them and boost tourism, the city is letting hoteliers build more rooms per acre than normally allowed.

The first two projects that are to get extra rooms from the "density pool" have run into opposition from their neighbors, who complain the hotels will be far too big for their lots.

One proposed hotel's large size has prompted a couple of City Council members to wonder if the city should tweak its approach. But other Clearwater officials and hoteliers think this strategy is necessary to attract the mid-priced hotels the beach is lacking.

Because of the cost of assembling land on the barrier island, mid-range hotels with rates at $100 to $200 a night need a certain number of rooms per acre to be financially viable, said assistant city manager Rod Irwin.

"We're trying to bring in the Hampton Inns of the world and the Courtyard by Marriotts, so the mid-priced customer will have a future on Clearwater Beach as well as the upscale luxury resort customer," Irwin said.

Walking around his two-story Sea Captain Resort near the beach marina, Don Eifert shot a worried look at the little four-story motel next door.

It's going to be replaced by a 10-story Holiday Inn Express that Eifert worries will dwarf his and hide it from tourists on Coronado Drive.

"The way it's designed, we'll be looking up at a wall five stories high right on our lot line," he said. "You're opening up a can of worms for anyone else who wants to develop on Clearwater Beach. Coronado Drive will be a canyon if the city gives everyone else the same thing."

The Holiday Inn Express' owner, Jeff Keierleber, notes that the building will follow all the city's rules regarding its height and its nearness to the property line.

He intends to begin construction by December, and he also hopes to eventually build another hotel next to his other Holiday Inn farther south on Clearwater Pass.

"We need more hotel brands on the beach," Keierleber said. "We don't have a Ramada down here or a Radisson or a Renaissance. All those brands have different followers."