Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Community report

Palm River: Citizens' group aims for unity, framework

Organizers of Palm River 1st say they hope to craft a cohesive vision of what the area will become.

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published December 3, 2004

For Liz Gutierrez, the easiest part of forming her new citizens' group was coming up with the name: Palm River 1st.

"We're not going to be last anymore," Gutierrez said. "This is the time for us to come together as one community of business owners, of residents, of landowners."

She said she hopes the result will be the first cohesive vision of what the nebulous Palm River area, including Clair Mel and Progress Village, can and will become.

In October, Palm River 1st received a $55,000 county grant to identify areas of concern and possible improvement in the communities immediately southeast of Tampa.

Gutierrez, executive director of the Greater Palm River POINT Community Development Corp., says her goal is to have residents take a good look in the mirror before 2006, when the Planning Commission is scheduled to initiate a community-based planning process similar to those now under way in Riverview, Ruskin and Apollo Beach.

"We're involved in bringing residents of the community together to make decisions about how to improve this community," Gutierrez said. "This is a very diverse community with a lot of issues, but also many opportunities."

Palm River POINT officials will kick off Palm River 1st at their annual Community Fellowship Celebration on Dec. 18 at Keeney United Methodist Church. Much of the $55,000 grant will go toward hiring at least one full-time coordinator, who is expected to be on hand at the celebration to solicit support from residents.

Gutierrez says the community's diversity - a third black, a third white and a third Hispanic - and a high population of low-income families have made it difficult to unite a majority of residents behind a single growth strategy.

In a plea for funding before the County Commission in May, Gutierrez said the Palm River area suffered from a lack of attention from the county. Residents, she said, need access to better health, water and law enforcement resources, especially as housing developments in Brandon and Gibsonton inch closer to the area.

"We're hoping that we will engage those folks at 601 Kennedy Boulevard in this process, but we will engage them strategically," Gutierrez said. "What we want to do is create an energy, an excitement, an interest in that process, so that people can be viable participants."

Residents will decide which areas to incorporate into Palm River 1st.

The communities of Clair Mel and Progress Village are possibilities, but a group of residents in Progress Village has already begun working on a growth strategy for that area.

Lorraine Duffy, a senior planning manager with the Planning Commission, said the work done by the Progress Village Civic Council Association could lead to a separate community plan in that area.

Palm River 1st officials say the next two years will give all residents a chance to build momentum heading into the county's official planning process.

"It'll help us understand what is happening and how to make changes," said Veronica Moore, president of the Palm River POINT board.

- Jay Cridlin can be reached at 661-2442 or cridlin@sptimes.com

Palm River 1st, a citizen-based planning effort, will debut at Palm River's annual Community Fellowship Celebration, scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Dec. 18 at Keeney United Methodist Church, 7735 Destin Drive, near the corner of 78th Street and Palm River Road. For information, call Greater Palm River POINT Community Development Corp., 628-9179.

[Last modified December 2, 2004, 13:12:11]