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Letter to the editor

County soon may offer preservation incentives

A task force will suggest offering homeowners help.

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES, Times Correspondent
Published December 26, 2007

Gabby McGee had looked at dozens of homes on the market when a 1918 "airplane bungalow" taxied into her heart.

The Craftsman-style charmer, nestled in an area of older homes in Oldsmar, gets its name from the rows of windows that wrap around the second story like an airplane, a low-pitched gabled roof and oversized eaves with exposed rafters.

But the two-bedroom, one-bath house, which she is buying for a foreclosure price of $129,000, also needs new wiring and plumbing upgrades. It has no central air or kitchen, and there is evidence of termite damage.

McGee, 21, who works for an insurance company and also is a college student, has searched for grants or low-interest loans to help her cover restoration costs. But no luck.

She hopes a proposed new county program will become a reality and offer money to homeowners willing to preserve Pinellas history.

In 2005, prompted by the threatened demolition of the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa, the Pinellas County Commission created a 12-member historic preservation task force. Its goal: make recommendations for a countywide ordinance that would change the process of development review and encourage preservation of historic structures.

The task force plans to present recommendations during a County Commission meeting in February. The package is expected to include financial incentives and technical assistance for homeowners and others interested in preservation.

In the meantime, County Commissioner Karen Seel, task force chairwoman, has encouraged municipalities to adopt their own local historic preservation programs.

Largo emphasizes the importance of historic preservation but has no ordinance offering financial assistance to fixer-uppers.

A possible consideration is for the county to establish a property tax incentive, similar to the tax increment financing offered in community redevelopment districts.

For example, a home valued at $100,000 that received $100,000 worth of improvements would be taxed only at the $100,000 value for 10 years "to encourage that fixing up, that historic preservation of that property," Seel said.

But a city would have to create an ordinance giving a similar tax break, she said.

St. Petersburg has a preservation ordinance. Thirty-three properties apply for the financial incentive.

"Altogether, they had $527,000 less in ad valorem taxes, but it created $8-million in construction to update those facilities," Seel said. "It really made a dramatic difference in St. Petersburg."

The county would provide educational programs and serve as a clearinghouse for information on grants and loans so that people such as McGee could find help more easily. And the county would maintain a historic registry to include not only buildings and homes, but also bridges, cemeteries and historic sites. A recent survey indicated Pinellas had 31 historic bridges and eight historic cemeteries.

Terri Bryce Reeves can be reached at treeves@tampabay.rr.com.

[Last modified December 25, 2007, 21:41:19]