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Teamwork by agencies helps on fields of play

It is no secret that there are many more children who want to play soccer than there are places to put them in North Pinellas. Just drive by any soccer complex on a practice or game day and you can't miss the sea of cars parked every which way and hundreds of young players and their families tripping over each other. There is so much competition for practice fields that some teams have been forced to use parking lots.

Every local government in North Pinellas is under pressure to build more playing fields, but finding the large swaths of open land required for fields and associated parking lots is tough in a built-out county. Plus, the fields aren't always popular with neighbors, as Clearwater officials learned two years ago when they announced plans to build soccer fields on part of the former Glen Oaks Golf Course.

Also, as government budgets get tighter, it is more difficult for local governments to find the money to satisfy competing demands for recreational facilities and services.

Creativity and cooperation can solve the problem, as four government agencies are proving.

The Pinellas County School Board, Pinellas County government, the city of Clearwater and the city of Safety Harbor are cooperating on a plan that may result in construction of additional fields just off McMullen-Booth Road north of Sunset Point Road.

The vacant land, which is just west of McMullen-Booth Elementary School, is owned by the school district and is reserved for use one day for a middle school. However, the district doesn't plan to use the land for at least five years. The School Board appears willing to lease the land to Clearwater for use for athletic fields.

If the lease arrangement goes through, Pinellas County government has agreed to pay to build the fields and light them. Clearwater and Safety Harbor would pay the annual operating costs for the fields.

It won't be just children who will benefit from this negotiated arrangement. The four agencies will realize benefits, too.

The school district will have its vacant land cared for and put to a productive use. If all goes well, perhaps the district could be persuaded to allow other vacant land it owns to be used. In a county as crowded as Pinellas, the school district's vacant properties present a valuable opportunity.

Pinellas County, Safety Harbor and Clearwater will get the chance to relieve some of the pressure they are getting from constituents to create more playing fields for children. The median age in Pinellas is falling as more families move here. That means more children and more recreational needs that must be met.

Children from Safety Harbor, Clearwater and unincorporated Pinellas currently share limited space at a four-field complex just north of Countryside High School in Clearwater. Of the roughly 1,500 children who play sports there, 34 percent are from Clearwater, 26 percent are from Safety Harbor and 27 percent live in unincorporated areas of Pinellas. Those statistics alone indicated that a joint solution to overuse of the complex made sense.

The four agencies are due congratulations for their willingness to work together to solve a community need. We hope all the necessary approvals will be forthcoming and neighbors of the proposed complex will enthusiastically support the project because of the benefits it will bring to children.

[Last modified December 9, 2005, 01:19:17]