Lacking a long-term growth strategy, officials have their work cut out for them as they try to redevelop the city into a destination, not a pass-through.
By SHANNON TAN
Published March 21, 2004
LARGO - Tourists and commuters driving through Largo are greeted by strip malls, hardly any landscaping and nary a sidewalk in sight.
The highways and development may feed the economy, but they make Largo indistinguishable from many other cities.
Now, Largo - a bedroom community known for its many mobile home parks - wants to transform itself from a "pass-through" between Tampa and the beach to a destination city.
It's not an easy task. Pinellas County's third-largest city, with more than 70,000 residents, has struggled to find an identity. For years, the densely populated city has been shaped by a "build-as-you-grow" approach.
Neighboring cities have a long-term, strategic plan. Largo doesn't.
The result: big, congested roads lined with billboards. A lack of pedestrian-friendly town centers. Residents of subdivisions feel isolated.
For more than 18 months, city staff and a strategic planning committee have been grappling with these questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?
They held community workshops to get feedback from a largely apathetic public. They e-mailed surveys and distributed doorknob hangers, bookmarks and fliers. They advertised at movie theaters and on garbage trucks and posted digital signs around the city.
Residents gave a thumbs up to the city's small-town feel and recreational facilities. They craved more sidewalks and stricter code enforcement.
The city paid $180,000 to a consultant, who came up with a draft titled "Reconnecting the Community." They're also calling it the "Tale of two Largos."
Will costs rule?
Residents who know Largo can find more than the seemingly never-ending sprawl - a thriving cultural center, a growing downtown and well-maintained parks. But that's only a small part of the city.
Reconnecting the community's ambitious proposals, which extend over the next few decades, aim to cut through the featureless swath of drive-throughs and strip centers. City officials even talk of turning the city into the next Boca Raton or Winter Park.
But such a plan could cost millions. That's a mind-boggling concept for a city that's prided itself on its rock-bottom tax rate and cheap services. Voters could reject a costly redevelopment plan at the polls.
By aggressively annexing properties, Largo hoped to spread the cost of its services among more residents. Shelling out big bucks to buy land for a community park east of U.S. 19 and paying for a Missouri Avenue makeover, however, would increase costs.
Many residents would not support raising taxes or fees to accomplish these goals, said resident Gigi Arntzen, chair of the strategic planning committee.
It's not just about money, said David Barth of Glatting Jackson, the consultant. It's also about attitude.
"It doesn't have to be huge initiatives," Barth said. "It's a matter of deciding that's what you want and taking small incremental steps."
Already, the city plans to implement some aspects of the strategic plan through several capital projects, such as street and park improvements.
Officials realize there will always be trade-offs.
Turn Clearwater-Largo Road into a two-lane corridor, and congestion results. Oversize sidewalks to make streets more pedestrian-friendly, and residents complain they have less space to park in their driveways. Build streets to connect neighborhoods, and commuters might use those streets for a shortcut.
No matter what the city does, it seems a vocal minority will always show up at City Hall to shoot down the proposal.
"We just need to do what we need to do and stop listening to those whiners," Commissioner Pat Gerard said.
As Largo's centennial approaches, officials dream of a Norman Rockwell-ish Main Street where families can stroll and window-shop. Many envy swanky Boca Raton, whose Krispy Kreme store is possibly the only one in the world without its neon sign that lights up to signal each fresh batch of glazed doughnuts (city code prohibits exposed neon signs).
Barth suggested sending one or two people to cities like Boca. Ask them how they addressed the problems Largo is dealing with. Get copies of their code ordinances. Take pictures.
Those cities tell developers: If you want to come, play by our rules.
Build this, not that
When the city was incorporated in 1905, Largo was 1 square mile. Today, the former citrus city is more than 16 times its original size. And the city continues to expand to the east in the High Point area.
Officials are now trying to figure out how to redo things they don't like and preserve the things they do like.
When Commissioner Charlie Harper first skimmed through the draft, he thought it was "the most anti-business, communist plan I had ever seen in my life."
But the plan grew on him, he said. He thought about sprawl along Belcher, Indian Rocks and Starkey roads.
"We really need to try to save those areas," he said.
Commissioner Pat Burke wondered whether officials can say, "Warehouse, you can't build there. Too bad, drugstore, there's another one of you a block away."
Mayor Bob Jackson said government can't overrule the wishes of the public or the demands of a market bent on having a drugstore on every corner.
But it can build a plan for major development areas such as the Crossroads Mall, which is rapidly losing tenants, Clearwater-Largo Road and the historic downtown.
Right now, Clearwater-Largo Road is a four-lane corridor. A 4-foot sidewalk runs past crumbling mobile home parks and struggling businesses, and there's isn't any on-street parking.
Glatting Jackson developed a series of computer-generated images transforming the street. Multistory buildings house apartments and offices above shops and restaurants. Attractive signs lining the three-lane road could give visitors a sense of place. Think Dunedin's Main Street or downtown St Petersburg.
Jane Jacobs, who wrote the classic Death and Life of Great American Cities more than 40 years ago, argued that the construction of highways actually destroys neighborhoods.
Auto-centric cities are impersonal, said the author, who advocated for sidewalks to bring people together and neighborhoods that include places for work and leisure.
Largo officials want to establish community streets connecting neighborhoods so residents can walk or bike instead of having to drive on Ulmerton Road or East Bay Drive just to pick up a gallon of milk.
Highland Avenue, which connects the future Eagles Lake Park to Highland Recreation Complex and Largo Cultural Center, could be transformed into a pedestrian-friendly corridor with wide, tree-lined sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Other potential street connections include 142nd Avenue, Wild Acres Road and Willow Avenue.
Appointing a liaison between the city and neighborhood associations would help get more people involved in city government.
Still, "you're going to have some folks who say, "Leave us alone,' " Barth said.
Staying the course
As the city decides what initiatives to implement, the costs involved could provide a reality check.
Prohibit new development outside of designated areas, and fork out $160 an hour for a land-use attorney. Planting trees could cost $4.5 million; buying easements for landscaping and sidewalks, $5.8 million. The list goes on and on.
Unlike Northern Florida, where developers can create communities from scratch, Largo officials have to redevelop existing properties, change land uses and provide incentives or disincentives to developers.
It boils down to how much money is available and how involved officials are in wanting change. Property owners and residents might resent the city interfering in the way they live and do business. The city will need to partner with the county on several projects, with which it has clashed over annexation issues.
For this City of Progress, change may be a long time coming. But more importantly, officials have decided they want these changes to happen.
Maintaining momentum could be the biggest hurdle, the consultant said.
That means ensuring each new road built is pedestrian-friendly or buying land to expand existing parks whenever possible.
"Once they agree on certain things important to them," Barth said, "then every decision they make has a potential to contribute to the vision."
