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Palm Harbor's push to be a city gets heard

Organizers submit a draft feasibility study and an incorporation bill to Pinellas legislators.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published November 16, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Joseph Garnett, Jr. | Times] State Sen. Charlie Justice is being considered by the coalition as a possible sponsor for the bill to incorporate.

The idea of incorporating Palm Harbor as its own city got its biggest public hearing yet before the Pinellas County Legislative Delegation on Thursday.

The Greater Palm Harbor Community Coalition, an informal partnership of community groups, submitted a draft feasibility study and an incorporation bill to the delegation at Dunedin's Dr. William E. Hale Senior Activity Center. The delegation's dozen members will vote whether to support the bill Jan. 3.

Coalition spokesman Jim Kleyman offered no high-pressure sales pitch for incorporation.

Quite the opposite.

"I'm not here to advocate for or against the creation of the town of Palm Harbor," he said.

Rather, he simply said he wanted the legislators to support a bill that would give residents a chance to explore the pros and cons of incorporating and then decide at a referendum whether it benefits them.

"We may be able to reduce our property taxes and do a better job of governing ourselves," Kleyman said.

Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Tarpon Springs, said he is sponsoring the bill "to give the people of Palm Harbor the opportunity to make an important decision affecting their future."

With the feasibility study, residents will know whether their taxes would go up or down, Nehr said.

Sen. Dennis L. Jones, R-Treasure Island, asked when the legislators will hear from Pinellas County on the subject. He was told the county will get a copy of the final version of the feasibility study when completed in about two weeks. The county will address it then.

Jones also asked who is paying for the feasibility study.

Coalition member Scott Fisher of Palm Harbor is preparing the study without charge. In addition to Palm Harbor, the study encompasses Ozona, Crystal Beach and all of East Lake, communities that would vote on whether to be part of any new town. The coalition is counting on the county to provide comments on the study and also on the state to verify it.

The 68-page draft feasibility study lists numerous reasons why the coalition wants to consider incorporation, including:

- Dissatisfaction with delivery of services by Pinellas County.

- Concerns about land use and growth management.

- Desire for more fiscal control.

- Wish to have representation proportionate with population.

- Preventing annexation by nearby municipalities.

"Many times, when we went to the county government for help, they would say, 'That doesn't apply to you because you're not a municipality,' " said Palm Harbor businesswoman and civic leader Lesley Klein, a coalition member. "We've been treated like the red-headed stepchild."

Getting some of their tax dollars back has always been a fight, she said. She's frustrated with that and more.

"We're not looking at the holistic, big picture," she said. "There's no long-term solution here."

Before the draft study can be completed, Fisher must develop the town's first year and five-year budgets. And an estimate from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on the cost of providing contracted police services will get a second look. Fisher said the cost greatly exceeds what the office charges to provide such services in Dunedin.

"We might have to pay a little more for police services," Fisher said.

But he expects other funding increases to outweigh that. He would expect Palm Harbor to get $5-million more from local sales taxes, many millions more from the Penny for Pinellas tax, millions from the state in municipal revenue-sharing and the opportunity to apply for a wide array of grants available to cities.

One change in the coalition's strategy is that they will attempt to recruit Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, as a sponsor for their bill. The coalition has heard Justice, who couldn't be reached late Thursday, might sponsor the bill after reading the feasibility study if he thought Palm Harbor could become a viable community.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, had said he would consider sponsoring the bill if the group got 1,000 signatures from affected individuals.

After the meeting, East Lake residents John Miolla and Bob Loos were talking it over.

Miolla, also an organizer of the Council of North County Neighborhoods, said the East Lake residents he had talked with at a Rotary Club meeting that morning were overwhelmingly opposed to joining an incorporated Palm Harbor.

"They should wait until they see the feasibility study," Loos said.

"I agree," Miolla said. "And also wait until the county presents their pros and cons on incorporating this area to the citizens."

As an individual, Miolla said, he would "remain open-minded until we have all the facts."

Theresa Blackwell can be reached at tblackwell@sptimes.com or 727 445-4170.

Fast facts

For more information

You can find the draft feasibility study and the bill under a tab called "Town Charter" at the Greater Palm Harbor Community Coalition Web site www.palmharborcoalition.org. The Pinellas County Legislative Delegation will vote on the bill at 9 a.m. Jan. 3, 2008, at the Catherine A. Hickman Theater, 5501 27th Ave. S, Gulfport.

[Last modified November 15, 2007, 23:34:19]