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Tyrone neighbors want road closed

The City Council will hear fears about traffic from a new Publix.

By JON WILSON
Published April 1, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - It's not the new supermarket, restaurant and shops that worry residents of a neighborhood next to a 66th Street N commercial corridor.

It's the direct road from the development to 13th Avenue N, essentially the main street for Crossroads Estates, a sedate neighborhood with many homes of 1960s vintage.

That road, residents think, will send hundreds of cars down 13th Avenue and probably onto other neighborhood streets.

"We think we have some legitimate complaints about preserving the neighborhood and the safety of the streets. We kind of a see a lot more cars than the city estimates will pass through," said Greg Holzwart, president of the Crossroads Estates homeowners association.

The road foes will go to City Hall on Thursday and ask the City Council to close the access road.

"We're not trying to stop the development; we're trying to protect our neighborhood street," Holzwart said.

The issue is coming before the council because the Environmental Development Commission approved the development site plan in February but declined to close the access road. Holzwart appealed the decision on the homeowners' behalf.

The development includes a 45,000-square-foot Publix built over a parking garage and 31,000 square feet of new restaurant and retail space.

A city staff report notes that residents did not object to the road's staying open when condominiums, rather than a supermarket, were proposed.

"We think a Publix will be busier on a regular basis than condos," Holzwart said.

The city report notes that residents presented no evidence that supports their claims of increased traffic.

But Carolyn Arnow, a Crossroads resident for 28 years, said she took a count of vehicles coming and going from a nearby Publix off 22nd Avenue N in a commercial pod that has other shops.

She said she counted about 600 cars on a Thursday between 5 and 6 p.m.

"People weren't all going to Publix, but there will be other shops here, too," Arnow said.

Herb Polson is the City Council member who represents the neighborhood.

He said he couldn't comment on the issue because it is a quasijudicial matter, meaning that those who speak will be sworn in and the matter conducted nearly like a court proceeding.

[Last modified March 31, 2007, 20:14:14]