Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
The Park Motel will be demolished and a new Best Western built on the site.
By ANDREW MEACHAM
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 15, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Fossil Park neighbors have settled their differences with a local innkeeper, ending a two-year legal battle.
The neighborhood association on Sept. 6 reached what attorney Darryl Rouson called "a difficult but amicable settlement" with Jayesh Patel, who owns the Park Motel. Terms of the deal prohibit either side from discussing it, but the neighborhood on Tuesday will hear from an architect representing a group of investors who intend to build a Best Western at 6338 Fourth St. N.
Few neighbors are apt to regret seeing the Park demolished and replaced with a national chain less likely to attract the kinds of activities neighbors claim they have witnessed for the past four years.
Represented by Rouson and City Council member Bill Foster, Fossil Park neighbors filed a public nuisance lawsuit against the Park in August 2000, calling the motel a magnet for crack sales and prostitution.
Patel confirmed that a settlement had been reached but declined to elaborate. Sanjay Patel, who is part of the new ownership group, Ram Tampa Inc., said it likely will take at least eight or nine months before any construction starts. (The two Patels are not related, either to each other or to another Jayesh Patel, who is part of Ram Tampa group.)
Current plans call for a three-story, 30-room Best Western, said Lakeland architect George Aubin. His firm, Automated Consulting Services, is handling the design.
Such a use meets current zoning regulations, said John Hixenbaugh, the city's zoning official. Development Services officials have looked at ways to reduce crime in the area through landscaping and lighting. The city would like the new motel to be more oriented to automobiles than pedestrians, Hixenbaugh said.
A Best Western on the site would rent rooms at about $65 a night and up, Aubin said.
"I think the neighborhood has every right to be proud of what we did," said Karen Mullins, president of the Fossil Park Neighborhood Association. Aubin will discuss tentative plans for the Park property at Fossil Park's meeting, which starts at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Healthcare, 521 69th Ave. N.
A representative from the Amber Alert system, which disperses information about child abductions (including suspect and vehicle descriptions) through electronic bulletin boards on interstate highways, will explain the system to a pair of crime watch groups.
The Lakewood Estates Neighborhood Watch will hear about the technology at its Tuesday meeting, 7 p.m. at Maximo Elementary School, 4850 31st St. S. The same program awaits the Broadwater-Maximo Neighborhood Watch, which meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, 3747 34th St. S.
Bayou Highlands residents can say goodbye Monday to odd-sized, unwanted merchandise. A special Sanitation Department pickup affects those living between Fourth and Dr. M.L. King streets S, from 46th to 54th avenues. Workers starting around 7 a.m. will come prepared to haul away furniture, appliances, carpet, tree limbs up to 4 feet, and other items -- but not paint, solvents or other hazardous materials.
CENTRAL OAK PARK: 7 p.m. Tuesday. St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 4444 Fifth Ave. N. Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg; Rep. Charlie Justice, D-St.Petersburg; candidates for Florida House of Representatives, District 51.
COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS: 7 p.m. Wednesday (6 p.m. social). The Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N. Representatives from the Salvador Dali Museum; CASA Domestic Violence Center; Volunteer Road Patrol; Manhattan Casino. Also city urban planner Bob Jeffrey.
CRESCENT HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Tuesday. American Baptist Church of the Beatitudes, 2812 Eighth St. N. Candidates for Florida House of Representatives, District 52.
EDGEMOOR: 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Faith Covenant Church, 150 62nd Ave. N. Representative from the Volunteer Road Patrol.
FIVE POINTS: 7 p.m. Wednesday. Wesley United Methodist Church, 301 37th Ave. N. Board member nominations.
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST: 7 p.m. Monday (6:45 p.m. social). Westminster Presbyterian Church, 126 11th Ave. NE. Candidates, Florida Senate, House of Representatives, District 52.
MEADOWLAWN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Hope Lutheran Church, 1801 62nd Ave. N. County cooperative extension agent Bert Henderson, on botanical gardening.
PONCE DE LEON: 7 p.m. Thursday. Gladden Park Recreation Center, 3901 30th Ave. N.
RIVIERA BAY: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. St. James United Methodist Church, 845 87th Ave. N. Open forum.
TWINBROOKS: 6:30 p.m. Monday. Childs Park United Methodist Church, 3940 18th Ave. S. Neighborhood plan.
WINSTON PARK: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. North Branch Library, 861 70th Ave. N. Fire Department EMS coordinator Todd Livingston.