Tarpon's voters will return to the polls

In February, residents will vote on two land deals and on who will replace Commissioner Beverley Billiris.

By KELLEY BENHAM
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 7, 2002

TARPON SPRINGS -- Voters will return to the polls Feb. 4 for a special election to consider two proposed land deals and choose a new city commissioner.

Voters will decide whether the city can lease a 19-acre lot behind Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital to an apartment developer and sell a 0.4-acre lot on Hibiscus Street.

On the same ballot, voters will choose a replacement for Commissioner Beverley Billiris, who plans to resign her seat and run for mayor in 2004.

The city's term limits prevent Billiris from running for mayor unless she resigns and sits out a year. She intends to file a letter of resignation this week, ending her term in December, she said.

Businessman Peter Nehr, 50, has already announced his intention to run for Billiris' seat. The city has not yet set a deadline for other candidates to enter the race because Billiris' resignation is not yet official, city clerk Kathy Alesafis said.

The City Commission set up the referendum Tuesday night when it voted to approve both land deals. The city charter requires officials to get the permission of the voters to sell or lease any city-owned property.

If voters agree to the proposal near the hospital, the city would make almost $4-million over 50 years from the lease of the land, which lies east of Alt. U.S. 19 off Curlew Place.

The Boston-based Gatehouse Group would pay $300,000 upfront and $73,500 per year. It would also pay about $60,000 a year in property taxes and at least $33,000 per year in service fees, the city estimates.

The developer would build 160 apartments for independent seniors on the land. At the end of the lease, the city would get the land back, with the apartments.

Commissioners unanimously supported the lease. Mayor Frank DiDonato said the deal makes sense for a number of reasons.

"The area really does need a facility like that," DiDonato said. "The land just sits there and it's not being used. I don't think the city should hold onto it."

The Gatehouse Group has offered to pay for the special election, expected to cost $15,000 to $18,000.

The city also wants to sell a 0.4-acre property at 330 Hibiscus St. It obtained the lot and the 100-year-old building on it through a tax lien and has always intended to sell it, DiDonato said.

So far two groups have expressed interest in the property. St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church wants to put a parking lot there for a youth center it is building across the street.

Developer Joseph Heidenreich Jr., who has built several homes as part of a redevelopment effort in the Union Academy neighborhood, has proposed building six 3-bedroom, 2-bath townhomes on the lot. The two-story townhomes would sell for between $110,000 and $130,000 and have rear garages and a courtyard, Heidenreich said.

Either group would have to pay at least the assessed value of the property, which is $55,000.

The city will choose the potential buyer sometime before the election, DiDonato said.

-- Staff writer Megan Scott contributed to this report. Kelley Benham can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or benham@sptimes.com.

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