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Seminole's annexation plan draws arguments

At a meeting, most people living just outside the city say they don't want to be part of any town; others approve.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published April 16, 2006

But, surprisingly, a vocal minority said they approved of Seminole's plan and wanted a chance to annex into the city.

"No, no, no and no," Cyndy Johnston , a resident of the Bay Ridge subdivision, said Monday about the prospect of enlarging Seminole's annexation planning area.

Dot Miller, who represented the neighborhood along 86th Avenue N, echoed the sentiment.

"We do not want to be part of a city, any city," Miller said. "Please do not approve Seminole's plan."

The women represented the majority of comments made at a public forum Monday hosted by the Pinellas Planning Council and Planning Authority Annexation Subcommittee. The comments will be factored into the group's decision next month on whether Seminole should be allowed to expand its planning area boundaries beyond limits set in 2000.

Some people at the meeting Monday accused Seminole of "skullduggery" and other shady doings in relation to past, failed attempts at annexing land by referendum. They suggested that the people had already rejected Seminole's advances and should not be bothered now with having to fend off the city again.

But not everyone was against City Manager Frank Edmunds' plan.

"We approve of the city's proposal and would like to annex in," said Neal McCracken of Pine Grove Estates. The proposal, he said, gives property owners a choice of where to live - the county or the city.

Johnston, Miller and McCracken were three of the 120-plus people who attended Monday's forum in the Digitorium at the Seminole campus of St. Petersburg College.

Currently, the city's annexation planning area is bounded by the Pinellas Trail and Duhme Road on the west, and 90th Avenue N and 102nd Avenue on the north. Starkey Road is the eastern boundary.

The new request wouldn't affect the eastern border, but it would expand the other borders to 110th Avenue N to the north, 131st Street to the west and the Intracoastal Waterway to the south.

The current boundaries were established by a countywide referendum in 2000. The goal was to stop annexation wars between cities and the county by creating zones that each municipality could annex free of competition. Zones where cities could not annex - even if an individual property owner desired - also were created.

The voter-approved law also required that boundaries be reconsidered every five years, which is what is being done now.

In exchange for more rights, Edmunds agreed to do five things in return, including paying the Lealman Fire District tax money lost when Seminole annexed the tax-rich property on the west side of Park Street in 2000.

The committee, which asked for Monday's public hearing, is scheduled to vote on Edmunds' proposal during an 8:30 a.m. meeting May 19 at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport. The meeting is open to the public, but committee head John Morroni said it is unlikely the group will allow any members of the public to speak.

Morroni, a member of the Pinellas County Commission, said he was surprised to hear the differing opinions concerning the annexation . He said that highlights one of the dangers of the issue - the possibility of pitting neighbors and friends against each other.

"I think there is a message here," Morroni said. "The message is 'leave things the way they are.'"

County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan, another member of the annexation committee, said he was surprised by the amount of support displayed by property owners who spoke. Duncan did not discuss his vote, but said he thought that Edmunds' proposal was one of the more balanced suggestions that had been made.

[Last modified April 16, 2006, 09:01:41]