Northpinellas: Wal-Mart plan should be denied

A Times Editorial

Wal-Mart plan should be denied

Stand on the dock of the Cypress Pointe RV Resort on the shore of Lake Tarpon and the thing you notice most -- more than the lap of gentle waves, more than the drone of distant boat traffic on the lake -- is the sound of the birds. Dozens of them, it seems, are loudly singing or calling to each other in the tops of the oaks and cypress trees.

About the time you realize how unusual it is to hear that kind of avian chorus in North Pinellas anymore, you are struck by what is missing: the sound of traffic on U.S. 19, just a thousand or so feet away.

The traffic is there, streaming north and south past the recreational vehicle park. But it has a way of disappearing from the eardrums and the psyche when you turn into the RV park, drive to the back past the trees draped with Spanish moss, and walk out onto the dock that pokes into Lake Tarpon.

Should this place be turned into a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a housing development?

Pinellas County commissioners are expected to make a decision on that question following a 6:30 p.m. public hearing today in the Pinellas County Courthouse in Clearwater.

The pressure on commissioners to allow development of the 38-acre Cypress Pointe RV Resort, located on the east side of U.S. 19 just south of Klosterman Road, is extreme. The owner of the park, the Wilder Corp. of Delaware, wants to sell the property. Potential developers like the site because of the lack of infrastructure that would have to be demolished to build there.

In 2001 a proposal to develop a Target and a Lowe's on the property was beaten back by park residents and others. The would-be buyer withdrew the plans.

But last summer a new proposal emerged. It is that proposal that county commissioners will consider today. Some county officials are calling it the biggest zoning case the commission has considered in at least a decade.

The Wilder Corp. wants to sell the western 870 feet of the property, about 27 acres, to Wal-Mart for construction of a Supercenter. The store would be built on the northern end of the property facing south, with a parking lot south of the store. A rezoning and change in the land use designation would be required.

The remaining 9.6 acres of the site -- the area that borders Lake Tarpon -- would be reserved for residential development at 10 units per acre.

A quick reading of the documentation makes the proposal seem reasonable. The Wal-Mart would be on the front portion of the property, along commercialized U.S. 19. The back portion, along the lake, would be residential. The developer has made many concessions to try to head off objections, including landscaping and screening walls, an entrance boulevard that can be used by adjoining property owners, and promises to pay transportation impact fees early to help pay for extending Belcher Road.

But county planners have recommended that commissioners turn down the project, and we agree.

The property fronts on what is arguably the most deadly segment of U.S. 19. Known as "Death Valley," it has so much traffic traveling at such high speeds that serious accidents are commonplace.

Anyone who has visited the other Wal-Mart Supercenters knows that they are traffic magnets, especially at peak shopping hours. Planners estimate that the proposed Palm Harbor store would add about 7,600 extra vehicle trips a day to U.S. 19. Until the county makes more progress at reducing the level of congestion and rate of accidents in Death Valley, it makes no sense to approve a project that would have such a huge traffic impact.

The applicant also seeks commercial zoning at a deeper depth alongside U.S. 19 than other commercial properties. Approval could establish a bad precedent as other parcels along the highway are redeveloped.

And then, there are the environmental concerns. The property has many cypress and oak trees that could be impacted by the development of a "big box" store and huge parking lot. And Lake Tarpon, already a water body of concern because of surrounding development, swings close to U.S. 19 there. Do we really want large-scale commercial development like a Wal-Mart Supercenter that close to the shoreline of one of the most valuable freshwater lakes in Florida?

There are plenty of good reasons for county commissioners to deny the Wal-Mart proposal. Redevelopment of this site can wait for a day when a project with less impact on traffic and the environment comes along.