The tax district approved $150,000 in improvements last year but learned homeowners don't own all the land.
By TIM GRANT
Published August 6, 2004
NORTHDALE - Although it has been a year since the Northdale tax district voted to spruce up its main entrance, homeowners may wonder why no work has been done.
The reason is simple.
Northdale homeowners don't own all the land at the entrance on N Dale Mabry Highway. Several hundred square feet of the entrance belongs to Walgreens Drug Stores and SunTrust bank.
Tax district officers have asked the two businesses to sign easements allowing the homeowners to maintain these areas.
"We're not asking them to give us the property," said Rick Pitrowski, property manager for the Northdale Tax District. "We're asking for permission to maintain and landscape their property."
Pitrowski said SunTrust has at least verbally approved the easement, although the company still hasn't signed any paperwork. Walgreens, however, has been stalling the deal at its corporate office for four months, he said.
"We're ready to go ahead with everything," Pitrowski said. "But we can't do anything until we get the easements signed."
Tax district officers approved about $150,000 last year to add new lighting, landscaping and irrigation to the front entrance and other common areas. But before they started the bid process, they discovered they don't own all the land at the entrance.
"This is something the developer should have done 20 years ago," Pitrowski said. "Now we've got to go back and get permission to maintain something we've been maintaining all these years.
"If they don't sign the easements for some reason, we've got to go back to the drawing board and shrink down the size of the improvements."
