Several council members want Seminole to take on all three of the suggested projects simultaneously and soon.
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published October 23, 2005
SEMINOLE - A majority of Seminole council members are poised to create a sweeping plan that would change the face of their city and set it apart from other Pinellas municipalities.
The vote to proceed with three projects that would establish a city image and set development rules could come at the council's Nov. 8 meeting, City Manager Frank Edmunds said last week.
Edmunds' comments came after a workshop in which council members heard a presentation from Renaissance Planning Group, an Orlando company the city hired to help them give Seminole an image to distinguish it from other Pinellas communities.
Renaissance had met with city staff members to develop a three-project approach - identify and settle on an image, establish a city center or downtown, and pass rules for developers to follow.
That way, council members could vote to do nothing, to do one or more projects or to do all three.
"It is the council that should decide the scope," Edmunds said.
No specific design themes were presented Tuesday, but council members learned about procedures and timelines. They promised that businesses, residents and others will be consulted throughout the process.
"It has to be the people of Seminole's plan, not just my plan," council member Patricia Hartstein said.
Council members Jimmy Johnson and Dan Hester were also impressed with the promise that the business community would be consulted.
"Business has got to look at it," Hester said. "It's going to require private investment to make this happen."
Hartstein, Johnson, Hester and John Counts all said they're leaning toward doing all three projects at one time.
Because the scope of some of the projects is unclear, a solid estimate of the cost is not available. But it could be as high as $350,000 according to one estimate. That would be $84,990 for beautification and theming; $134,960 for the city center project; $78,230 for the design plan; and the remaining $51,820 for other projects.
Mayor Dottie Reeder was more hesitant, however, saying she thought the creation of a theme and rule setting were the most important issues because of the amount of interest developers are showing in Seminole.
"That should be one of the first things we do," Reeder said. "Time is not on our side for that."
The city center project, she said, could wait. It's a question of cost and timing, she said. As it is, 10 to 15 years will pass before people can see a cohesive, widespread change in the city.
Johnson, however, was more emphatic about the need to do all three projects at one time.
"I think we need to do all three," Johnson said. "I think all three are critical."
Hartstein agreed, saying, "They all are linked to one another. It's almost like you can't do one without the other. If you're going to do a good comprehensive plan, you've got to do all of them."
Because the scope of some of the projects is unclear, a solid estimate of the cost is not available. But it could be as high as $350,000 according to one estimate. That would be $84,990 for beautification and theming; $134,960 for the city center project; $78,230 for the design plan; and the remaining $51,820 for other projects.
If the council adopts any of the proposal, the city would host a kickoff event at the end of November.
By then, council members should have taken pictures of scenes - inside and outside Seminole - that they find aesthetically pleasing, as well as those that they don't. The pictures would likely be displayed at the kickoff, giving the public examples of development the council would like to see in the future.
