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Gambling boats lead to conflict in Port Richey© St. Petersburg Times published May 20, 2002 Port Richey and the gambling boat interests that dominate the city waterfront rarely see eye to eye. Oh sure, a few years ago then-City Council members gushed with enthusiasm when one of the companies offered a couple hundred bucks for the privilege of hanging a yuletide banner on city property. But, over the past seven years, the city and the boat operators butted heads over permits, parking and pseudo port fees. Whether it was an unsuccessful attempt to solicit a per-passenger contribution to the city, slapping parking tickets on boat passengers' vehicles even though the city approved a site plan with no provisions for customer parking, or jacking up the occupational license fees, the city was preoccupied with getting its hand in the gambling boats' till. Nowadays, the lust for cash has been replaced by a push for control. City leaders offer mostly empty platitudes about "taking control of our waterfront." Whatever that means. Leading advocate of irrational thinking is City Attorney Paul Marino. He said the city should ban the gambling boats. Pardon our skepticism, but this sounds like the city attorney full employment act, a long, expensive court fight to enrich the lawyers with no positive outcome in sight. Marino's justification? "We should have headed this off before it happened to this beautiful city," he said. Odd reasoning, considering only Marino and council member Pat Guttman remain from the 1995 administration. Remarkably, Marino tossed out this suggestion last week as the city talked about the merits of building a parking garage to kick-start redevelopment of its waterfront. Exactly why the hired help is trying to establish public policy is a question the council must answer. Either way, it makes no sense to pursue a multimillion-dollar parking garage if the city intends to evict the very entities that attract the most people to the area. As the city seeks to redevelop the aging buildings and dirt parking lots into a well-manicured commercial district at the mouth of the Pithlachascotee River, it might be better off capitalizing on the boats as a tourist lure rather than as a liability. The most logical thinking comes from City Manager Vince Lupo. Wait for a proposed zoning district, known as an overlay, along the waterfront before doing something rash. It's sound advice. The city can always return to its old ways if reasonable thinking doesn't work.
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters Letters |
