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Seminole inches into overhauling its identity

As city leaders approve part of a broad redesign, worried mobile home residents crowd the council chamber.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published November 13, 2005

SEMINOLE - Rather than approve a sweeping three-part plan to redesign their city, council members agreed only to take the first step.

Their decision came moments after the lone speaker against the plan garnered applause from an overflow crowd that spilled into the courtyard outside City Hall.

The crowd - made up of residents from 12 mobile home parks from across Pinellas - had not come to talk about redesigning Seminole. The group had come to ask the council to refuse to rezone mobile home parks.

Still, while they were there, group members were quick to register their disapproval of a proposal to spend up to $350,000 on the three-part visioning plan to spruce up Seminole's image and set it apart from other municipalities.

"Frankly, I didn't know we had a bad image to start with," said Philip Foulke, a resident of Otter Key condominiums. "I think our image could be a lot better served by everyone on council working to cut taxes."

Foulke noted that he was the only speaker opposed to the proposal, but said he knew he had support.

"There's a lot of people who are not really happy about it," Foulke said. "The silent majority."

Creating the plan could cost $350,000, he said, but enacting it could cost millions.

When Foulke stepped away from the microphone, most of the 110 people in the council chamber applauded.

City Manager Frank Edmunds reassured them that millions would not be spent enacting any plan. The project, which will likely kick off at the next council meeting, will include public participation at all stages, he said. And when it comes time to implement the ideas, the city will rely on grant programs and low-interest loans to businesses to help get the work done.

"It's not (going to cost) millions of dollars," Edmunds said.

Council member John Counts defended the council proposal to hire the Renaissance Planning Group of Orlando to help create the plan.

Counts said he originally opposed the idea, but said that was "shortsighted."

"I was initially opposed to it but I have seen the light somewhat," he said.

Mayor Dottie Reeder also explained the council's actions, saying the city is in the midst of major redevelopment changes.

They include the proposed construction of townhomes on what are now mobile home parks and the potential sale of large tracts of land ripe for redevelopment. With no plan in effect, it would be hard for the city to guide those projects, she said.

"This is council's effort to have a Seminole by design, not just a Seminole whatever-happens-to-it," Reeder said.

The council then unanimously agreed to hire Renaissance to help develop streetscaping ideas and ordinances. Seminole will pay Renaissance up to $92,310 for that help.

But a moment later, Reeder asked that the council delay a vote on the next two steps - the development of a city center master plan and the creation of a strategic plan. The vote, she said, could come later.

"It's not voting no. It's not tabling them," Reeder said. "We could vote on them at another time."

The rest of the council agreed.

Later, the council gave members of the crowd a chance to speak. Some were seated in the outside courtyard listening to the meeting on newly installed speakers, but only four members spoke up.

One, Fred Taylor, is the president of the Harbor Lights Mobile Homeowners Association. Taylor referred to a developer's recent offer to buy Harbor Lights and turn it into townhomes and condominiums. That deal fell through earlier this month.

"Our residents have been given a timeout," Taylor said. "We are not convinced our problems are over."

The crowd has grown larger with each Seminole council meeting. They are residents from across the county who have banded together to urge elected bodies to protect their homes and to refuse to rezone mobile home property.

"We will continue to attend these meetings and we thank you for your patience and concern," Taylor said.

[Last modified November 13, 2005, 03:00:43]