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A toy that towers over roofs is too much conspicuous consumption for neighbors in million-dollar homes.
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2002
TAMPA -- Bryce Alley's new toy is almost 30 feet tall, as colorful as an M&M-sprinkled cupcake, and towers in plain view over a waterfront block of stately, million-dollar homes.
On Bryce's 12th birthday, her parents -- Hillsborough Circuit Judge Cynthia Holloway and attorney Todd Alley -- decided to get her a rock-climbing wall. A few weeks ago, they had it built along the tower of their million-dollar home -- to the dismay of some neighbors.
City Council member Linda Saul-Sena said she already has received five complaints about the wall. Reactions range, she said, from concerned to mortified.
"I got calls from people in every direction of the house: the east, the west, the south. They were saying, 'Is that legal?' " Saul-Sena said. "The basic comment is, 'You have to see this.' Or, 'I couldn't believe it.' Or, 'What were they thinking?' "
"I think the colors cause a lot of comment," she said.
One of the complaints came to Saul-Sena's office last month from April Schiff, who lives next door to the wall. The complaint was forwarded to the city zoning coordinator, who inspected the wall and found it violates city code by standing too close to Schiff's property. (Saul-Sena declined to give the names of the rest of the complainants, saying they had the option of calling anonymously.)
"We're going to keep it," said Todd Alley, a civil lawyer who has handled litigation against the makers of breast implants and fen-phen, the diet drug. He said he is willing to put up birds of paradise plants to shield it from Schiff's property.
The house has 5,380 square feet of living space, according to property records. But Alley said they don't have a back yard, so in order to meet city code, he would have to move the climbing wall closer to the street. That would make it even more conspicuous.
Alley and Holloway plan to challenge the city's contention that they need a variance for their daughter's wall.
"It's a piece of play equipment. You don't have to have a variance for a swing-set," said Holloway, who already has been in the news for her fight with the state Judicial Qualifications Commission. In January, the panel found her guilty of interfering in a child-custody case and other matters. She is fighting the charges. Holloway recently has been on medical leave to deal with high blood pressure.
Holloway said the wall doubled as a Christmas present for her daughter.
"It's like my favorite thing, other than softball," said Bryce, who climbs the wall most days after school. "I was supposed to get a horse for my birthday, but I couldn't take care of it, so my dad told me to think of something else."
The climbing wall, built by the Oregon-based Entre Prises, is made of curved, vacuum-molded, polymer-cement panels and features two centrifugal belays that allow a climber to attack the wall alone. A wall like it would cost about $30,000, plus another $2,000 for each of the belays, said Adam Koberna, the company's national sales manager.
Phil Yost, who owns the Vertical Ventures indoor climbing gym in Tampa, said many of his customers have some form of home-climbing equipment -- often modest "hang boards" that cost $50-$120. But the Alleys' wall, which he helped install, is something out of the ordinary.
"They're the first people in the area to really go all-out and put an Entre Prises wall in," Yost said.
Saul-Sena, the council member, said she brought her own kids to see the climbing wall. They decided they wanted one for themselves.
"I told my children, 'Don't even think about it,' " Saul-Sena said. She said there is nothing in city codes that specifically prohibits a climbing wall at a private residence. "One of the things it speaks to is the inability of city rules to anticipate all possible uses."
Despite the rumblings of displeasure Saul-Sena has heard, neighbors grow suddenly quiet when a reporter knocks on their door to ask how they feel about the wall. There are neighborly relations to consider.
"No comment," said one.
"I'd prefer not to talk about it," said another.
"I want to stay out of it," said a third.
Some are charitable. "It's the buzz, because no one has one," said Debbie Medina, who lives across the street from the wall and says the neighborhood kids love it.
Said Teri Willis, who lives down the block: "I feel that's what makes (the neighborhood) unique. Everybody has a few odd toys."
If people are mad, it's the first the Alley family has heard of it.
"We're not ashamed of it," Alley said. "Not one of our neighbors has been by to say, 'This is horrible.' "
Will such largesse spoil the kids?
"I think every parent worries about spoiling their kids," Alley said. "Part of being a parent is spoiling them a little bit."
If Bryce loses interest in the climbing wall, Alley said, it will make a nice donation to the Boys and Girls Club. Last year, he gave $100,000 to the effort to renovate the Bayshore Little League ballpark.
"I think we've done enough for the community for people to know that we're not ostentatious about money," Alley said.
-- Cristopher Goffard can be reached at 813-226-3337 or goffard@sptimes.com.