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City prepares to shift annexation focus

Largo covers 17.28 square miles and is close to realizing its goals. What's next? Acquiring land near the airport and providing services to new residents.

By SHANNON TAN
Published February 13, 2005

LARGO - The framed newspaper article in City Manager Steve Stanton's office proclaims "Largo's March to the Bay."

Since 1997, that has been the city's rallying cry, inspiring victories in hard-fought annexation battles.

Largo has been steadfastly marching to the bay, aggressively annexing unincorporated property past the Bayside Bridge into the Greater High Point area.

From 1997 to 2004, Largo annexed 1,560.24 acres and brought in $330-million in taxable value. The city now covers 17.28 square miles and has brought in 2,250 new residents in the past four years, according to the Pinellas Planning Council.

Sixty-three percent of all voluntary annexations and 3 percent of referendum annexations in Pinellas County in the past four years were carried out by Largo.

Lawsuits have been fought and won. Turf wars have erupted; boundaries have been drawn.

An annexation agreement with the 100-acre Bay Vista office park in High Point is in the works. In the spring, the city is expected to annex 30 acres of property at Roosevelt Boulevard and 49th Street N, making Largo contiguous to the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

Most of Largo's annexation goals will have been realized.

"We've reached the bay," Stanton said.

The goal was to annex unincorporated properties in Largo's planning service area of about 17 square miles.

This was a logical move, Stanton said, so a map of Largo would not look like a piece of Swiss cheese with the holes being internal, unincorporated enclaves. Largo started raking in high-value, commercial properties.

Neighbors started crying foul. Other municipalities accused the city of using questionable tactics to expand its boundaries. The county charged Largo with "cherry-picking."

Officials argued over the definition of words like "contiguous" and "compactness." They pondered whether an annexation would create "serpentine patterns" or enclaves.

Largo spent $95,400 in legal fees over disputes with the county from 1997 to 2004, and another $5,600 battling other cities. The city budgets $200,000 a year for incentives to persuade property owners to join Largo.

But the city's notorious annexation approach has led to several brouhahas.

The coveted gated community Cove Cay on U.S. 19 was one day away from a referendum to join the city when the City Commission scrapped the vote because the city staff had mishandled the project. County officials also contended that Largo's offer of incentives, such as new fire-safe windows, was illegal.

Wrens Way residents, who had defeated an annexation referendum, were surprised to learn that they were part of Largo because although the city had published a notice in the Tampa Tribune, it had failed to notify residents individually. The county voided that annexation, and Largo officials had to vote again to bring the subdivision into the city.

"We're all looking forward to less contention in the future," said assistant county administrator Gay Lancaster. "That would be a good thing."

The meeting before Thanksgiving in 2004 turned contentious.

County and city officials were discussing a potential master contract for fire and emergency medical services when Lancaster brought up the subject of tax inequities in the High Point fire district. Pinellas County intends to reduce the amount it pays cities for fire service in the High Point area, which now has fewer unincorporated residents because of annexations by Largo, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg.

"He was reluctant to resolve those problems," Lancaster said of Stanton.

Lancaster's parting shot: "I hope you choke on your Thanksgiving turkey!"

The next time Stanton saw Lancaster, he brought his turkey bones in a gift-wrapped box. As a gesture of peace, he presented her with the wishbone. Lancaster pulled the longer piece. The wishbone is now taped to the wall of her office.

Annexation is at the heart of the problem relative to the High Point fire service dispute, Lancaster said.

The annexation dispute should not have gotten personal over the years, Stanton said, but it did.

In the past four years, the Pinellas Planning Council was asked to conduct 10 full reviews of voluntary annexations. All of the annexations were Largo's.

Largo has acquired a bad reputation.

At one point, Largo has threatened to sue or has sued all of its neighbors, including the school district.

"That's not a way of winning friends," said Stanton, "but the nice thing is, we have arrived."

Annexation will not grind to a halt in Largo. The city just won't be as assertive in its actions as it has been before.

Lou Hilton, Largo's annexation program planner, said the city will focus on annexing unincorporated enclaves, neighborhoods with annexation agreements and property owners who want to sign such agreements.

Those plans do not include the Greater Ridgecrest area, where residents overwhelmingly rejected a recent annexation offer by Largo, or neighborhoods south of Roosevelt Boulevard in the High Point area that do not have sewer indenture or annexation agreements with the city.

The city will begin to focus on providing services to the people it just annexed. Plans are in the works for a town center at the corner of Roosevelt Boulevard and U.S. 19. There's talk of buying property east of U.S. 19 for a new park.

Lendel Bright, who lives in the recently annexed Rainforest subdivision, was initially concerned about becoming part of Largo.

But he was surprised to find that the taxes he pays are about the same as before. He was pleased to see the police department patrolling his neighborhood. He likes the Largo Library.

"My only concern is access to recreation," said Bright, who hopes for facilities similar to ones in west Largo.

But other residents in the Greater High Point area aren't convinced.

James Byers, a High Point resident who owns a day care center in Bay Vista office park, knows that annexation is inevitable. "But don't make me pay more and give me less," said Byers, who estimates his taxes will increase while the services provided will not.

The Largo Police Department is stretched thin, he said, and is used to handling a community that is not ethnically or economically diverse.

With 138 sworn officers, Largo has one of the lowest ratios of officers per 1,000 citizens in Florida.

"They're not prepared for it," Byers said. "The business and residential community will suffer because of it."

Chief Lester Aradi says he factored in the Bay Vista office park when evaluating staffing in the police department. He is also asking for three new police officers next year.

"I feel if we get (them) next year and we have no major annexations, and the fact that we're finally fully staffed, we can adequately cover our area," Aradi said.

Shannon Tan can be reached at shtan@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

From 1997 to 2004:

Acreage annexed: 1,560.24 acres or 2.4 square miles

Taxable value of property: $330-million

Estimated revenue generated: $9.8-million

Cost of legal fees: $101,000

Incentives provided: $565,000

[Last modified February 13, 2005, 01:07:16]