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By EILEEN SCHULTE, Times Staff WriterThe recommendation to the City Commission aims to maintain Safety Harbor's quaint ambience.
SAFETY HARBOR - To hear Kathleen Earle tell it, her neighborhood is a sweet, Old Florida-style haven where armadillos scurry across lawns and seabirds float in backyard pools.
To Erik Abrahamson, it is a somewhat blighted place that needs improvements to make it more attractive.
Both were talking about the same locale, three-quarters of an acre of triangular-shaped land bounded by Second Street S and Fourth Avenue S and Short Street, and includes the Lisa's Court property in the redevelopment district.
Abrahamson and dozens of angry residents like Earle had a showdown at a planning and zoning board meeting at City Hall Wednesday night.
Abrahamson, who owns five of the seven houses in the area, was there to ask board members to recommend to the City Commission that it change the density from four units per acre to 15 units per acre.
To residents that meant one thing: townhouses.
"I want to talk about the possible destruction of a neighborhood," said Earle, who has lived in Safety Harbor since 1970. "But first I want to thank (Abrahamson) for my neighborhood being slightly portrayed as a crack house."
Abrahamson, a Clearwater lawyer, owns the houses in the triangle with his father, whom he said lives in one of them part time.
He told the St. Petersburg Times that they bought the small cottages, some just 700 square feet, "throughout the '90s" and have no plans to develop the property.
"They have been rental properties for us," he said. "The city is re-evaluating the density of the entire town. I'm just giving my input. There (shouldn't) be restrictions on the density."
But neighbors don't buy it. Earle said all the houses Abrahamson owns are vacant and have been for months. For sale signs have gone up only to come down again.
"Something is up," she said.
Tilvila Hurwit, a business owner who lives nearby, said in the 18 years she's lived in the city, she's been impressed with the board's backbone, and said it was because of them Safety Harbor is still a quaint town. She hopes they continue to be strong in the face of developers who tempt them with townhomes.
"What's important, money or happiness?" Hurwit said. "I don't want to get emotional about this. But (more) development will bring more noise, more people and more traffic. Are we going to increase the roads? All the roads leading here are two lanes. You have the power to maintain the sweetness of the community."
To Bob Diaz, himself a developer, the issue isn't density at all. It's about ambience.
"We've lost our character," Diaz said. "We're giving away our community. Safety Harbor is financially sound and doesn't need the taxes. We need to apply the brakes on development."
In the end, the board sided with residents and decided to recommend to the commission that the current low-density status be maintained.
The issue with come before the commission on Aug. 15.
"It's fascinating when people come to the area because of its charm and then destroy it," said board member Martin Altner.
Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com