The Bloomingdale cleanup program to instill neighborhood pride is the best beautification project for 2003 in Hillsborough County.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published September 26, 2003
BLOOMINGDALE - It started in 2000 as casual brainstorming among Bloomingdale community leaders who were concerned about worrisome changes in their 25-year-old community.
Some longtime residents were too old and cash-strapped to mow their lawns and fix their garage doors, so the grass grew tall and the doors stayed broken.
An increasing number of renters were calling Bloomingdale home, and in too many cases, their trashed yards became a disturbing symbol of absentee landlords.
Younger families, many of them first-time homeowners, often had no knowledge of the county's codes or their own deed restrictions. So some of them parked trailers out front, or left trash cans out for days at a time.
After batting around possible solutions, the Bloomingdale Homeowners Association eventually came up with a neighborhood improvement project called PRIDE.
It kicked off in April with a Saturday cleanup that had hundreds of residents filling five industrial trash containers with unwanted appliances, furniture and other items. It continues today with plans for directing assistance to elderly residents who might need help keeping their homes beautiful.
Now, less than a year after the official rollout, Bloomingdale's PRIDE program has caught the eye of county officials.
On Wednesday, county commissioners presented BHA president Ted Grable and other leaders of the volunteer association with an award recognizing PRIDE as Hillsborough's best beautification project for 2003.
"This is an example of what a homeowners association can become," said commissioner Ronda Storms, who helped kick off the PRIDE program by filling a bag full of trash from Bloomingdale's streets.
BHA members thanked Storms and the rest of the commission for their support, even giving neighborhood relations officer Shelley Blood a plaque representing the BHA's gratitude.
"The board is just really proud," Grable said. "Because often, the work of neighborhood volunteers doesn't really get much recognition."
Bloomingdale is a sprawling community of some 4,900 homes, from humble residences built in the late 1970s to sparkling new behemoths priced at half a million dollars.
Most of Bloomingdale's 40 sections don't require homeowners association membership, meaning the association has no legal standing to enforce deed restrictions.
PRIDE is a way of encouraging enforcement through the notion that the community's future depends on every resident caring enough to pitch in.
Grable stressed that PRIDE is an ongoing effort. Bloomingdale's problems haven't completely vanished.
"But now I have to look a little harder to find things wrong," Grable said, recalling a recent afternoon when he spotted a young couple scraping old paint from their garage to make way for a fresh new coat.
"I think people are becoming aware now of what we're trying to do," he said. "It's a good sign to see that type of pride coming back."
Bloomingdale holds monthly meetings for residents to discuss and learn more about PRIDE, the neighborhood beautification program. PRIDE meetings are held the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Bloomingdale Community Office, 3509 Bell Shoals Road. For more information, call the office, 681-2051.
