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For the record
A Times Editorial
Published October 22, 2003
In the Times' recommendations Tuesday on amendments to the St. Petersburg City Charter, several lines were dropped from our recommendation on Amendment 3 due to a production problem. What follows is the complete version:
Should the city create a waterfront park on at least half of the airport property?
The Times recommends a YES vote.
This is a unique chance for St. Petersburg residents to reclaim their property and to open it, finally, to the public. If this amendment passes, it would turn the waterfront half of Albert Whitted (more than 50 acres) into a park that would be unparalleled in size and beauty. It would finish the time-honored plan of making the entire downtown waterfront accessible to everyone.
Unfortunately, airport advocates have turned the park debate into a phony campaign against development. Voters who read the amendment question won't be so easily fooled. This is about turning the airport into a park, with grass and trees and whatever other public amenities residents choose. Voters would have final approval of any plans for the inland half of the property, and they could ensure that it would be used to benefit city residents. This question is not about condos. It never was and never will be despite airport advocates' desperate attempts to make it so. In fact, the only plan to build on the waterfront has been put forth by airport advocates, who want to do more dredge-and-fill, pour more concrete and erect more buildings.
Yes, it would be expensive to convert the property to a park, but compared with the cost of airport expansion, it would be a deal. A city analysis estimated that the park plan would cost about $10-million less than the airport plan. And a park would also be eligible for substantial grants to cover expenses. Besides, time and again in the past, St. Petersburg residents have chosen to pay for parks, recognizing their irreplaceable value to the city's quality of life.
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