 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Florida Forever grant for land eludes city
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- The city's request for a $1.9-million state grant to purchase 36 acres of green space didn't make the cut this year. But City Manager Frank Edmunds said that as long as the owner still has an interest in selling the property to Seminole, and the City Council approves another submittal, the city would try again next year. The land, which abuts Long Bayou, is east of Seminole Boulevard at the tip of 68th and 70th avenues. Edwina Hutchison, owner of the property, has kept developers at bay for years. According to her attorney, Richard Eagle, Mrs. Hutchison prefers the land remain undeveloped. Last year she asked the city whether it was interested in buying the property and keeping it as green space. Coincidentally, one of the city's goals is to buy some undeveloped land. Council member Patricia Hartstein suggested at a retreat last March that the city try and preserve what little green space is left in Seminole. "We need some of old Seminole to remain as old Seminole," Hartstein said, noting the cows that wander the Hutchison property. "We need some pristine areas because if we overdevelop, we won't have any of old Seminole left." The Hutchison property is two parcels: One is 34 acres; the other, almost 2. For tax purposes, the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office valued the large parcel at $680,000 in 2000. The small lot was valued at $132,400. Assessed values are generally about 85 percent of market value. The city applied for the grant from Florida Forever, a state agency that provides funding to local governments and nonprofit environmental organizations for land acquisition for conservation, open space and outdoor recreation. One of the reasons the city did not score better on the application was because it did not propose a financial contribution to the acquisition, Edmunds said. "Obviously, that's a condition we need to evaluate before we resubmit," he said. The city is not sure what it would do with the property if it bought it. It could become a passive park, said Mitch Bobowski, Seminole's general services director. Or, he said, the city could partner with Southwest Florida Water Management District to put retention ponds on the land to treat stormwater before it flows into Long Bayou.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
