Northpinellas: Residential density? Perhaps

A neighborhood in Dunedin recently succeeded in killing a proposal for a new Publix grocery nearby. Residents packed meetings of the Dunedin City Commission to fight the Publix, which would have been a standalone store smaller than the typical Publix supermarket. They said the grocery would bring too much noise and traffic to the neighborhood.

It is important to note here that the Publix was not going to be built inside the neighborhood, but on the fringe, at the intersection of two well-traveled streets in Dunedin, Union Street and Patricia Avenue, and on a parcel now occupied by a church. Patricia Avenue has plenty of other commercial uses.

It seemed that the residents would appreciate that the new building would, unlike some other businesses on Patricia, have a clean, modern look and lots of landscaping. One might assume that the residents would enjoy the convenience of a close grocery store they could walk or ride bikes to.

But these residents preferred to get in their cars and drive to a store -- thereby contributing to the traffic on nearby streets.

What really caught my attention during this battle was the residents' contention that a grocery store is not an appropriate use near a neighborhood. Really? I'm just wondering, where should we build grocery stores from now on?

Some of the Dunedin residents also argued that a grocery store should not be built near a school, that it could be dangerous. Yet administrators at the school across the street from the grocery store site, Dunedin Highland Middle, apparently did not see a Publix as a threat.

In Oldsmar, residents beat back a plan by Gateway Community Church to build a 15,000-square-foot church and school within 13 undeveloped, wooded acres near their homes. The reason they opposed the church was the same the Dunedin residents gave in opposing the grocery store: too much traffic and noise would be generated. I don't know what kind of religious services or educational activities this still-small church planned, but it is hard to imagine that they could disrupt a whole neighborhood.

So grocery stores don't belong near neighborhoods. And churches don't belong near neighborhoods, either. Would you believe that some people think parks and ball fields don't belong near neighborhoods?

In Largo, neighbors killed a city proposal to build a skate park inside the gates of Pinellas County's Taylor Park. Taylor Park is extremely popular because of its lake, playgrounds, wooded areas and picnic shelters where many schools and businesses hold outdoor events. The city of Largo has its annual fireworks display there. The park is used all the time. But the residents of the single-family homes surrounding Taylor Park were unwilling to tolerate the addition of a skate park for local children and teens. They said it would be noisy. They said it would be a nuisance.

In Clearwater, some residents of the neighborhood around the Glen Oaks Golf Course aren't particularly upset by a city plan to replace the course with a series of drainage ponds to control flooding. What has them upset is a proposal by the city to include two soccer fields in the project. To them that means noise, traffic and lights. City commissioners agreed Thursday to reconsider the idea of soccer fields, though new fields are badly needed in the city.

So add recreational facilities to the list of uses that some say don't belong near neighborhoods.

Pinellas residents recently have fought the construction of schools near their neighborhoods, complaining that schools don't belong in neighborhoods because they bring -- what else? -- traffic and noise. These residents have not said where schools should be built if not where children live.

Residents also have fought construction of apartments and condominiums near them -- even though they may live in apartments or condos themselves -- arguing that multifamily housing brings too much new traffic and shouldn't be built close to existing neighborhoods.

Traditionally in the United States, things like churches, schools, parks and grocery stores have been built beside or within neighborhoods. These institutions even became part of the lexicon of our communities -- the "neighborhood school," the "pocket park" built between homes, the "corner store," the "sandlot" baseball field down the street.

I wonder how, and why, these uses became undesirable in Pinellas. And if we don't build them near where we live, where will we put them, especially in a place as densely populated as Pinellas? We can't put these things on barges and keep them at sea until we need them.

Neighborhoods still may be winning some of these battles, but I doubt the victories will continue much longer. Pinellas is essentially built out and redevelopment of older areas is under way. People still are coming here, moving into the new housing and looking for amenities like schools and parks and shopping.

I think some of the people who have been opposing these projects, people who say they should not be subjected to traffic or sounds or lights, are in a state of denial. Pinellas has grown up to be an urban county with dense residential areas, traffic congestion, a bustling atmosphere and a huge demand for goods and services for its population. Space is at a premium.

In the future -- and the future is now -- those who live here will have even less elbowroom and will have to learn to be more tolerant about that. But acceptance of that reality does not come easily.

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