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Battle over land prices bogs down park project

Landowners say the county offers too little; officials say residents want too much. Meanwhile, planners seek a backup plan.

By EMILY NIPPS
Published July 31, 2005

NEW TAMPA - Hillsborough County wants to buy Jimmy Gardner's Branchton home and property to make room for a regional park.

But the amount the county is offering, Gardner said, is downright insulting.

"I know my house is old," the 75-year-old retiree said. "But they didn't even take my house into account when they made the appraisal."

Gardner's 8.2 acres are part of a 40-acre area county commissioners think is ideal for an athletic park, which would include the adjoining Branchton Park. He is one of eight property owners the county must negotiate with to acquire the land along the southeast corner of Cross Creek Boulevard and Morris Bridge Road.

The county and the landowners are so far apart in price, it appears that an athletic park in Branchton might never happen.

According to county Commissioner Ken Hagan, the Branchton property has been appraised at approximately $100,000, but some of the property owners are asking for "out of control amounts" such as $200,000 an acre.

Actually, Gardner said, the price for his land is now up to $250,000 an acre.

"I know I can sell it for that much or more to a private developer," he said.

In April, county commissioners voted 6-0 to accept a report of a New Tampa parks task force, giving the group 120 days to find at least 40 acres to house a regional park. Hagan, who lives in Cross Creek, has been a major advocate for such a facility in New Tampa and has been actively seeking a deal.

Hagan had to recuse himself from the April vote because his father, Ken Hagan Sr., is the real estate broker representing the Branchton landowners. What was perceived as a possible conflict of interest, however, has not seemed to benefit anyone involved so far.

"We're still quite a ways away in coming to a deal," the younger Hagan said. "As of right now, it's in someone else's hands."

Meanwhile, Hagan is looking into other options. The first involves two pieces of land in Live Oak - a 26-acre plot and a 16-acre plot, over a mile apart from each other. Another, he said, is still too early to talk about.

"No one else has considered it yet, but it could very well work out," he said. "It would be phenomenal if it does."

County commissioners will meet with their real estate department on Aug. 17 to discuss purchasing land for the park, and Hagan said he hopes there will be at least one good option presented to the board by then.

"I'm optimistic we'll be able to contract the two properties in Live Oak," said county real estate director Mike Kelly.

But from a multiuse athletic park standpoint, the noncontiguous Live Oak property might not be ideal, said John Brill, spokesman for the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.

"In a general sense, that wouldn't be the best thing," he said. "If you're a parent, you don't want to have one child playing on a ballfield on one side of the park and another child playing a mile away."

Brill realizes the quandary the county might face in trying to buy one big 40-acre area. "The green space in that particular area is going fast," he said.

Just as county officials realize this, landowners in the more rural and undeveloped areas in New Tampa's fringes do, too. Gardner said he plans to sell his land (he has 47 acres total) in the next two years or so, but only for the right price.

"They (county officials) think they're dealing with a bunch of dumb people," Gardner said. "One of these days, Morris Bridge Road is going to look just like Bruce B. Downs."

- Emily Nipps can be reached at 813 269-5313 or nipps@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 30, 2005, 10:41:05]