Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Dream dwelling or cash cow?

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published March 28, 2007

To add on at 736 Fifth St. S in Safety Harbor, Kevin and Julie King asked for and got a variance to accommodate their family.
	[Times photo: Bill Serne]

SAFETY HARBOR - When Kevin and Julie King built their Key West-style house, they included a front porch where they imagined they would visit with neighbors.

But the Kings will do no lighthearted gossiping on this shady veranda anytime soon.

Here's why: As soon as they completed their dream home about one month ago, they put it on the market, before even moving in.

That, and the size of the house, makes some neighbors furious - and suspicious of the couple's motives.

The Kings, who live across the street in a small rental, say they have to sell their new house because they realize now they can't afford it. They had a baby 11 months ago, and with two other kids, one in college, it's just too much.

But some neighbors say they believe the couple never intended to move in at all.

They say the couple duped them and the city. They say the Kings turned a charming bungalow that fit in perfectly with the other little houses on the street into a two-story manse too large for the 5,000-square-foot lot it sits on. And it dwarfs the other residences on the block.

They claim the Kings wanted to build a big house, then sell it for a big profit.

Julie King disputes this.

"We're not going to make a dime," she said.

"We've got $605,000 into this," she added. "We pay $3,500 in interest a month."

The house is listed for $669,000.

Tension in the south side neighborhood has gotten thick. One resident handed out fliers with a photo of the house under construction. Its message: Would you want this in your back yard?

A few neighbors enlisted the help of Vice Mayor Kathleen Earle, who spoke up at two City Commission meetings, saying the house gobbles up too much of its lot.

Earle urged more caution in granting future variances because in the Kings' case, the family asked for its variance to accommodate a larger family, but then didn't move in.

Julie King emphasizes that she and husband are "not developers."

She recalled that at one commission meeting she attended, her husband argued to commissioners that modern-day families cannot live comfortably in the small bungalows that line the quaint brick streets of Safety Harbor.

His larger family needed a larger house, he said.

Sitting in the chambers holding her infant son. Julie King heard a woman sitting behind her hiss "get out." She took the baby and left City Hall. The baby wasn't crying, but she was.

* * *

Kevin King, 36, is a project coordinator for the Bacon Group, an architectural and engineering firm based in Clearwater.

He designed the gazebo on Main Street as well as the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce building.

He and Julie King, 42, a former high school French teacher, married nine years ago.

She has two teenagers from a previous marriage. The couple has one son, Aiden, 11 months old.

In March 2005, they bought a 726-square-foot cottage at 736 Fifth St. S from Charles and Joanna Maria Clark for $168,500.

They secured their variance to expand their new purchase, and they moved into a small house across the street, so they could watch the big house go up.

The city's allowance permitted King to construct a second story and gave him a break on setbacks. The house is now 2,478 square feet enclosed.

King said he designed it after the Seaside community in the Panhandle, complete with a tin roof.

"We're proud of it," he said.

It's not the look of the place that has neighbors upset. Many, in fact, say it is lovely. It has four bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. It features hardwood floors, granite counter tops, two staircases, one inside and one outside, a covered deck, a balcony, top-notch appliances, a breakfast room, a fireplace and a two-car garage.

It's just too big for the lot, some neighbors argue.

"It's huge, it's a monolith," said Pilar Gomez, who lives on Seventh Ave. S, behind the house the Kings are leasing.

"I feel the city messed up because they allowed them to build up. They lied to the city, that's my opinion. They pulled the wool over the city's eyes."

Bob Hempel, who lives behind the Kings' house a few doors down, joked the house is so large "I don't see the sun until 1 p.m."

"We have a 6-foot privacy fence, but they can see into our yard from the second story," Hempel said. "It's the perfect house, but not for our neighborhood."

But the couple also has supporters.

"I don't understand what the (opponents') problem is," said Stephanie Johns who lives across the street from the Kings' house. "It's pleasing aesthetically. It's just going to increase the property values."

Cynthia Ryan, who has lived in the house next door to the Kings for 41 years, agreed.

"It isn't any of their damn business," she said of the complainers. "I don't know why people are making such a big deal about it. Of course it's going to make my house look like a shoebox."

Ryan went on to say "this little town is like Peyton Place, and that there are always going to be people who are going to scream and holler."

Julie King discovered she was pregnant before construction started. She quit her job to be a stay-at-home mom. It was then that the couple sat down and took a hard look at their finances.

"After spending all this money on construction and having Aiden, we said, 'Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?' " said Julie King.

The couple's 14-year-old daughter, Ashley, lives in the rental with them, and their 19-year-old son, Brandon, attends Florida State University and comes home on vacation.

The rumor mill keeps churning. Gomez said she "heard they are buying the house they rent."

She said she fears the Kings will build a second story on that house just like they did on the rain blue-colored house.

Julie King said she and her husband may indeed buy the modest rental house they now live in at 705 Fifth St. S.

But she said if they do, they will not build a second story on it.

The mental drain from building the blue house has taken its toll.

"I feel extremely harassed," Julie King said. "Their malicious rumors. ... I've been hurt by this."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 27, 2007, 22:04:59]