Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

B&Bs given extension of ordinances' trial run

After a year of experimental rules for the inns, the council decided to give another six months to work out compromises.

ST. PETERSBURG - After disputes over noise and traffic between bed-and-breakfast owners and their neighbors, the city last year floated an experimental ordinance governing B&Bs, promising to review the results in a year.

In particular, the discussion targeted B&Bs in residentially zoned areas. The year is up, but the verdict is not in.

The City Council on Thursday gave the revised set of rules six more months of life. The practical effect is that the owners of Bayboro House and some of their Old Southeast neighbors will have more time to hash out their differences.

The outdoor noise curfew remains 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The city also required parking plans to be filed with the city prior to special events. Other areas of discussion have included parking location, number of guests at outdoor events, and the number of events held.

Most of the editorial content of the July/August Old Southeast Gazette features the views of David and Sandra Kelly, owners of the Bayboro House at 1719 Beach Drive SE, and two dissenting neighbors.

One of those, Glenn Anderson, said he didn't know how his e-mail wound up in the association's newsletter. To a reporter, he said that whatever happens with Bayboro House is up to the City Council and the Planning Commission. But his letter makes the point which opponents of giving Bayboro House a free hand have made continually, and which fill out the city's file on the B&B ordinance: "(Bayboro House) has become an event venue with sleeping rooms attached."

In their statement, the Kellys offered to limit outdoor guests to 100, and to move the closing time for parties up an additional hour, or to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

City Council member Jay Lasita said that neighbors and proprietors going before the council's policy and planning subcommittee and the Planning Commission will give all parties a chance to resolve their differences, preferably in less time than six months.

For the statues on Snell Isle, it's been a rocky summer. Despite being planted on well-manicured lawns, the gremlins and griffins, gods and goddesses lining Snell Isle Boulevard find themselves far more at risk for personal injury than the residents. The month following high school graduations in early June meant four or five tipped-over statues, mostly griffins, Snell Isle Property Owners Association president Mary Bryant said. The griffin, according to mythology texts, is a combination horse and eagle.

The stone creatures can be righted, Bryant said, "But their wings often break off."

The association's newsletter contained statements both from Bryant and board members denouncing vandalism against statues in the recent past but also dating back as far as 1994.

For example, the goddess Diana, who greets all vehicles who cross the bridge onto Snell Isle Boulevard, has been missing her right hand for years. The deer companion at her feet has no legs. By openly discussing the vandalism, Bryant said, the association is trying to get parents to take more responsibility for what their children may be doing.

"We have kind of lost patience with it," she said.

Childs Park has canceled its July meeting and is encouraging residents to attend a city presentation scheduled during the same time slot. The city's Capital Improvements department will present its master plan on improvements to an area between Fifth and 54th avenues S. That meeting starts at 7 p.m. Monday at Wildwood Recreation Center, 1000 28th St. S.

COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS: 7 p.m. Wednesday (6 p.m. social). The Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N. St. Petersburg Audubon Society representative Barb Zias.

CRESCENT LAKE: 7 p.m. Thursday. Huggins-Stengel clubhouse, 1320 Fifth St. N. Traffic calming.

FRUITLAND HEIGHTS/CASLER HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Wednesday. Omega House, 1837 20th Ave. S.

LAKE EUCLID: 7 p.m. Monday. Norwood Baptist Church, 1818 29th Ave. N. Open forum.

LAKEWOOD TERRACE: 7 p.m. Thursday. Covenant Presbyterian Church, 4201 Sixth St. S.

MEADOWLAWN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Hope Lutheran Church, 1801 62nd Ave. N. Debbie Brown, Florida Department of Financial Services, on scams.

NORTH KENWOOD: 7:30 p.m. Monday. Edward White Hospital auditorium, 2323 Ninth Ave. N. Rick Smetana, Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office, South Branch.

PERRY BAYVIEW: 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Bethel Metropolitan Church, 3455 26th Ave. S. Open forum.

WINSTON PARK: 7 p.m. Tuesday. North Branch Library, 861 70th Ave. N. Jason Ohmann, Florida Department of Consumer Affairs.