Gulfport can't pose the question on the Nov. 7 ballot, but the city could hold a special election or ask on March 6.
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published August 23, 2006
GULFPORT - This city's ambitious plan to annex about 600 homes has fallen through - at least for now - because officials missed crucial filing deadlines imposed by a state law that took effect July 1.
"We just weren't aware of the bill," said Fred Metcalf, the community development director of Gulfport. "It was entitled the Interlocal Service Agreement Boundary Act," which gave no indication the law dealt with annexation rules.
"It got kind of lost in the shuffle."
The result is that Gulfport has no way to comply with the filing requirements and still make the county's Sept. 6 deadline to get the referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot. That leaves Gulfport with three choices: Drop the matter entirely, hold a special election, or put it on the ballot during city elections March 6.
Although a final decision is up to the City Council, Metcalf said he anticipates that the referendum will be on the March ballot.
Metcalf said city officials found out about the missed deadlines Friday when a representative from the Pinellas Planning Council called. By Monday, he had sent the planning council notice that Gulfport intended to drop its plans. A formal notification was to come this week.
Under the new law, Gulfport was required to issue its "ability to serve" report at least 15 days before the City Council took formal action. The report shows how the city plans to provide services, such as fire and police protection, to the area it wants to annex.
Official action could be construed as the council's passing a resolution, the first reading of the annexation ordinance, or even the final reading of it. But that does not really matter; Gulfport would have been late no matter which was considered the formal action.
Gulfport may also have had another problem. The new law requires the city to mail letters to all affected residents and property owners in the area to be annexed at least 10 days before the first reading of the annexation ordinance. That was originally scheduled for Aug. 29, meaning the letters would have had to be sent Aug. 19. It's unclear whether Gulfport had such a letter prepared.
"They could back up and meet all those requirements with what they've done, but the supervisor of elections has also imposed upon them an artificial deadline," said Dave Healey, executive director of the Pinellas Planning Council.
The proposed annexation, if successful, would have added 193 acres to the city. Its boundaries would have extended to include the area south of Gulfport Boulevard, essentially the land on the water that includes parts of Pasadena Yacht and Country Club, the Pelican Creek Village, Middle Kingdom and Golfview condominiums, and Sun Ketch Townhomes of South Pasadena.
