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Developer wants part of downtown street closed

Grady Pridgen requests Lincoln Street's closing between Main Street and Nebraska Avenue to consolidate parcels.

By JODIE TILLMAN
Published August 22, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - A prominent St. Petersburg developer has asked the city to vacate Lincoln Street as part of his plans for a downtown project.

But New Port Richey officials say they don't know enough about Grady Pridgen's plans to approve his request.

City Manager Scott Miller said he needed to know how vacating Lincoln Street would affect the city's ability to access its utilities.

"The ball's in their court," Miller said late last week. "I don't know what they plan on using that street for. We need more information on it."

The portion of Lincoln Street that would be vacated runs from Main Street to Nebraska Avenue, cutting between properties owned by Pridgen's NPR of Tampa Bay LLC.

Pridgen's firm has not filed any project plans with the city. Spokeswoman Honey Rand said Monday that the application to close Lincoln is simply an "administrative step" to unite the parcels he owns on either side of the street.

Pridgen has not yet decided what he wants to do at the site, she said.

NPR of Tampa Bay's four downtown properties - including the shuttered Spoonbills restaurant - have a total appraised value of roughly $1.55 million.

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New Port Richey City Council Business:

- Fatter paychecks and mean dogs are on the agenda at tonight's work session.

New Port Richey, which has a population of about 16,600, currently pays its mayor $4,700 and the other council members $3,600, without benefits, according to personnel department information.

In January, council member Tom Lackey proposed increasing the salary of City Council members. Before taking that step, council members asked city staff to compile information about salaries in other cities.

That report will be part of tonight's discussion.

Salaries in other cities vary. In Tarpon Springs, which has about 23,000 people, council members are paid $8,000 plus health benefits.

In Dade City, with a population of 6,615, council members are paid $1,200 plus benefits. Zephyrhills, which has a population of 11,828, pays its council members $4,800 with benefits.

- In other business, City Council members will discuss whether to rewrite their animal ordinance so that police can take stronger actions against owners of dogs that bite people.

Under the existing ordinance, the owner of a dog that bites a human can be fined. But police lack the power to require owners to take steps that would reduce the chances of the dog attacking another person, Sgt. James Astuto wrote in a memo to Chief Martin Rickus. Such steps might include muzzling the dog when in public.

In the past two years, police have responded to nearly 175 animal bites, with nearly all of them coming from dogs, Rickus said.

"At this time, we are limited in our ability to take strong actions against the owners of dangerous dogs to make our citizens safe from needless attacks," Rickus wrote in a July 25 memo to the city manager.

Jodie Tillman can be reached at 727 869-6247 or jtillman@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 21, 2006, 22:44:19]