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Seminole adds 1,333 new residents, 612 homes
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- Lorraine Trappman has lived in the Seminole community her entire life. She attended Oakhurst Elementary, Seminole Middle and Seminole High. She says she's always considered Seminole her home, but the 39-year-old hairdresser has never actually lived inside the city's boundaries. That changed Tuesday when the majority of her neighbors voted to annex into Seminole. Mrs. Trappman said the incorporation will increase property values in her subdivision of single-family homes north of 102nd Avenue near the Pinellas Trail. And besides, she said, if it's a choice between being incorporated by Largo or Seminole, she prefers the latter. "I was born and raised here and Seminole is better than Largo," Mrs. Trappman said Tuesday after casting her ballot at Seminole Community Library. Mrs. Trappman's neighborhood, called Northwest by city officials since it abuts Seminole's northwest boundary, is one of two unincorporated areas that approved annexation referendums Tuesday. The two areas will bring 431 acres, 612 homes and 1,333 residents into the city. And much to the surprise of city officials, a third area voted against joining the city. In Bridlewood, a neighborhood of 24 single-family homes, 78 percent of voters rejected the annexation even though a significant majority signed a petition in favor of joining Seminole. The annexation, which takes effect Jan. 31, is the second largest in Seminole's history. The city's largest annexation occurred in June 2000, when a referendum brought 2,410 acres and 3,113 registered voters into the city. That annexation doubled the city's land mass and increased the taxable value of city property by about 60 percent. The vote was close in the Northwest area, where 58 percent of voters approved the referendum. The area, which encompasses 459 single-family homes, is north and south of 102nd Avenue and west of the Pinellas Trail. Sixty-six percent of voters approved annexation in the Timberwoods/Parkview areas. Timberwoods is a 109-unit condominium complex and Parkview Woodlands is a nearby neighborhood of 44 homes north of 82nd Avenue N and east of 98th Street. Even though the referendum failed in the Bridlewood area, the vote pleased Seminole city leaders. "I think the city is working very hard to square off our boundaries," said Council member Janet Long. "It's progress. We're moving forward." Three years ago, Seminole plotted new boundaries: 131st Street on the west, 110th Avenue on the north, Starkey Road on the east and Bay Pines on the south. City Manager Frank Edmunds says the planned borders would give the city easily defined boundaries. If accomplished, the city would cover 12.5 square miles and would contain 50,000 to 60,000 residents, compared with Seminole's current 4.5 square miles and 17,000 residents. But Dorothy Book hopes that never happens. A strong opponent to annexation, she stood Tuesday in the parking lot outside Timberwood Condominiums Community Room, where voters in Bridlewood, Timberwoods and Parkview Woodlands cast their ballots. "Did you hear both sides of the story?" Mrs. Book, 60, asked voters before they entered the building. She says Seminole is interested only in increasing its tax base. She says she and a handful of friends mailed 600 letters to voters in the three unincorporated areas. Its message: It will cost more to live in the city because of the electric company's 6 percent franchise fee and 6 percent utility tax. Robin Clark agrees. The 47-year-old nurse said that's one reason she voted against Seminole annexing her neighborhood north of 102nd Avenue. "We've lived in our house since 1980 and the county has provided us everything we need," she said. Mary Ann Tucci, 67, voted for annexation. "You feel more a part of a community if you belong to a town," she said. REFERENDUM RESULTS:Northwest For 290 (57.9%) Against 211 (42.1%) Timberwoods/Parkview Woodlands For 87 (65.9%) Against 45 (34.1%) Bridlewood For 4 (22.2%) Against 14 (77.8%)
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