Hopes for annexation peace tied to mid county summit
Officials from the county, four cities and the planning council hope to iron out who can annex what, who is in charge.
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published June 1, 2003
Four years ago, with mid-Pinellas torn by annexation wars between cities, the Pinellas Planning Council came up with a peace plan: Divide the county into annexation zones and give one to each municipality.
Three years ago that vision became a reality after voters amended the charter to give Pinellas County the right to regulate voluntary annexation.
This Wednesday, elected officials from the county and four cities will sit down in a summit with attorneys and planning council members in an attempt to head off a costly legal battle. While the alliances have changed a bit, the issues are the same: Who controls annexation? Who gets to annex what?
Four years ago, Pinellas County and Pinellas Park were locked in battle against Largo. Now, Largo and Pinellas Park are allied with Kenneth City and Seminole against the county, which last year expanded a no-annexation zone. "I think what needs to come out of this is some clarity on what (the charter amendment) says," Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch said. "I think it's clear it gives us the authority to regulate annexations and move lines."
"I would hope that the cities would see it the same way," Welch said. Not likely.
"We need a reaffirmation of the boundaries we agreed to," Largo Mayor Bob Jackson said. "Once you start monkeying with the boundaries, there's no limitation. I don't think they have the right to shrink the boundaries."
Jackson added: The county could expand the boundaries to give the cities more property to annex.
Mike Gustafson, Pinellas Park interim city manager, conceded the cities' position sounds a bit contradictory, but he said the planning council sold cities on the idea of planning areas by saying that those boundaries could (and would) expand.
He said the idea of shrinking the boundaries was never mentioned. The planning council is composed of one representative from the County Commission, one from the Pinellas County School Board and 11 from the cities.
But while cities were looking at maps, they apparently didn't look so closely at the wording of the ordinance, which directs the County Commission to review the boundaries at least every five years. It also says the planning areas may be amended. There is no language in the ordinance saying the amendments are limited to expansion.
In plain English, the amendment says the County Commission has the power to establish annexation planning boundaries and oversee annexation.
In Lealman, antiannexation activists got the ear of the newly expanded County Commission and Steve Spratt, the new county administrator. Both Spratt and the commission were sympathetic to arguments that repeated annexations into Lealman by Seminole, Pinellas Park and Kenneth City hurt the tax base there by taking away money from the Lealman Fire District while service remained at the same level.
County officials also empathized with complaints that the repeated annexations were destroying the fabric of a historic community that's been on maps since the late 1800s. The area has also had schools and roads named after it. So last June the commission voted to move the planning area lines to protect the Lealman Fire District.
Kenneth City immediately sued, saying the realignment deprived it of an annexation zone. Seminole, Largo and Pinellas Park, which was affected most by the smaller area, joined in.
For the past year, attorneys for the cities, the county and the planning council have tried unsuccessfully to work out the issues although the county has restored the planning areas to Kenneth City and Pinellas Park. Now, the various commissions and councils need to meet in a kind of summit to try to forestall a trip to court.
But cities do not appear poised for compromise. At a City Council workshop last week in Seminole, city attorney John Elias repeated that county commissioners did not have the authority to move the lines.
All Seminole council members agreed they should support other municipalities even though the county had restored Seminole's planning boundaries. Even if it means going to court, Seminole Mayor Dottie Reeder said: "You know this is such a strong issue I have no questions about going all the way."
- Staff writer Maureen Byrne Ahern contributed to this report.
If you go
A conflict resolution meeting to discuss annexation issues is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Harborview Center, 300 Cleveland St., Clearwater. For information, contact Tim Caddell, Pinellas Park spokesman, 541-0718.
