Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Neighborhood notebook

Neighborhood groups name top concerns, ideas for year

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published January 23, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - The Council of Neighborhood Associations started the year off on Wednesday vowing to make a difference. City Council member Richard Kriseman swore in president Karl Nurse, vice president Steve Plice, secretary Conrad Weiser and treasurer Libby Steele with an oath he composed, asking the officers "to improve government and make government work more for the people."

With that tone-setter, members of the city's largest umbrella neighborhood group set about establishing priorities for 2005. This year's crowd of more than 40 deviated from the "cops and codes" mantra that dominated 2004's to-do list. Neighborhood leaders will hold similar forums in their own locales, then bring the results back to CONA in February.

Nurse and others will use the list of priorities as neighborhood talking points to City Council members and the mayor.

Here are some of the areas in which neighborhood representatives said they wanted change.

Use of police force: While not the focus of the goal-setting meeting as much as in 2004, this one still generated lots of talk. Everything from BayWalk to how many officers work full time on speeding came up. Blame shifted from low staffing numbers to the alleged priorities of the police chief and mayor - both of whom, some neighbors said, do not care enough about stopping low-level crime. Others attacked the all-purpose uses of community police officers, whom contractor Jeffrey Danner called "the spackle squad" because they fill holes in the department.

Police also factored into a brief discussion of the BayWalk shopping plaza, which has made news lately for youths fighting there. Christina Ward, a mental health counselor from Meadowlawn, said some parents must share blame for dropping their children off at BayWalk for hours at a time.

"Why are the police at BayWalk at all?" asked Cathryn Wilson of Greater Woodlawn. "That's private property."

Underground power lines: Snell Isle residents Barbara Heck and Bobbie O'Malley raised burying utility lines as a priority, not only for electricity but also telephone and cable.

Rep. Frank Farkas, a St. Petersburg Republican, said that a hurricane preparedness committee on which he sits would study burying of the lines this year.

Downtown skyscrapers: A proposed 29-story building downtown, due before the Environmental Development Commission in February, had some calling for building height limits downtown. Currently the only arbiter of downtown building height is the Federal Aviation Administration, which has curbed proposed buildings deemed to be in the flight path of airplanes to the Albert Whitted airport.

Shrinking waterfront: Broadwater president Penny Flaherty, a Realtor, lamented the lack of waterfront availability to boat owners, as the former Huber Yacht Harbor is developed for condominiums and townhomes. If that trend continues, as Flaherty said she believes it will, "soon there will be no place to dock your boat."

Truancy: "You can see how these kids, when they are not at school, that's when they start stealing and vandalizing and so forth," said past Uptown president Ingrid Comberg.

Homelessness: Members asked for enforcement of existing ordinances for panhandling and other offenses. Karl Nurse advocated some kind of system where feeding the homeless comes with treatment for drug and alcohol problems. "We want to help, but we want to help in a fashion that helps the neighborhoods and doesn't make them worse," Nurse said.

After deciding how to rank the priorities, CONA leaders will group goals into short term and long term. Some issues could arise during election campaigns, Nurse said.

CONA also voted to oppose a zoning change sought by Rutland Northeast Storage, from residential-office retail to commercial general. The City Council on Jan. 6 had granted the change for the property at 898 30th Ave. N, but the issue may not have ended there.

The Pinellas Planning Council on Wednesday agreed to pass the case on to the County Commission, whose members will hear the case Feb. 1. Greater Woodlawn president Maureen Eppley and past president Cathryn Wilson spoke in opposition to the change, and called for a letter-writing campaign to the commission.

Sanitation trucks have made two runs at Disston Heights but have three to go, starting at 7 a.m. Monday. Monday's pickup will cover the area from Fifth to 22nd avenues N, from 49th to 58th streets. A pickup on Jan. 31 will cover 22nd to 40th avenues N, from 49th to 58th streets. And a Feb. 7 pickup covers the area from 30th to 40th avenues N, from 58th to 66th streets; and also the area from 40th to 42nd avenues N, between 62nd and 63rd streets.

You may discard items at curbside such as furniture, appliances, carpet and yard debris including tree limbs up to 4 feet long. Do not leave paint or solvents. The Sanitation Department also cautions residents against leaving items such as building materials or entire trees, and reserves the right to refuse free pickup. Crews may leave behind a card with such items containing an estimate for removal.

BAYOU HIGHLANDS: 7 p.m. Thursday (6:30 p.m. social). Skyway Resource Center, 1065 62nd Ave. S. Stephanie Radtke, of 211 Tampa Bay, on "How to find help or give help."

COQUINA KEY: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Clubhouse, 3850 Pompano Dr. SE. City transportation manager Michael Frederick to present traffic-calming proposal.

EUCLID HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Tuesday. First Alliance Church, 5000 10th St. N. Reconstructing the association. All residents asked to attend.

GREATER WOODLAWN: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Woodlawn Presbyterian Church, 2612 12th St. N. Sunken Gardens representative; traffic committee.

HARRIS PARK: 7:30 p.m. Monday. Neighborhood transportation manager Michael Frederick, on neighborhood traffic-calming plan.

HISTORIC UPTOWN: 7 p.m. Wednesday (6:30 p.m. Crime Watch). The Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N. Alternate landscaping for area parks. Drug march after.

HOLIDAY PARK: 7:30 p.m. Monday. Garden of Peace Lutheran Church, 6161 22nd Ave. N. Will Michaels, St. Petersburg Museum of History; bylaws revision; officer elections.

LAKE MAGGIORE SHORES: 7 p.m. Thursday. Enoch Davis Center, 1111 18th Ave. S. Larry Newsome, representing developer Aracle Williams, LLC.

LAKEWOOD CIVIC: 7 p.m. Tuesday. Lakewood United Church of Christ, 2601 54th Ave. S. Progress Energy representative; new Walgreens store on 54th Avenue S.

OAKWOOD GARDENS: 7 p.m. Thursday. Norwood Baptist Church, 1818 29th Ave. N. Projects and goals for 2005.

RIVIERA BAY: 7 p.m. Tuesday. Officer elections; Lt. Roger Young, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; concerns for 2005.

[Last modified January 23, 2005, 00:14:21]