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Tennis complex draws complaints

University Owners are correcting some problems at a property some consider a danger.

A former tennis complex near the University of South Florida has prompted complaints from its next-door neighbors, who describe the defunct club and academy at 14500 N 46th St. as an eyesore, a public health hazard and a potential danger.

Residents of Vieux Carre, a condominium community also on N 46th Street, say the courts bordering the development are overgrown, and an empty clubhouse and trailers on the site have served as a haven for unsavory trespassers.

Although the owners recently were cited for code violations and ordered to clean up the property by Sunday, residents remain frustrated.

"I loved the tennis courts when they were in use, but right now it's disgraceful," said Betty Brey, who has lived at Vieux Carre for 22 years.

Wayne Peltz, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, expressed similar sentiments.

"When we drive out of our gate here, the first thing you see are the buildings that haven't been repaired. You kind of feel like you're in a bad neighborhood, just the way it looks," he said. "It was okay, but in the last six months, it's really looking shabby. It's just become so dilapidated. It's like an eyesore now."

Jane Young, president of the Vieux Carre Condominium Association, agrees that the property has languished over time.

The site has been marginally maintained since the courts closed, she said, but it took a turn for the worse in the past four years.

"It's just gone from okay to dreadful," she said.

Kids have jumped the fence to skateboard on the property. The clay-surface courts are laden with weeds, and trash is scattered about the grounds, which could attract unwelcome wildlife. "We don't know whether there are rats and snakes back there," she said.

Young and other residents say a clubhouse and several trailers were not boarded up until a Hillsborough County Code Enforcement Board order in December. "That's a nice place for vagrants to come and sleep," Young said.

Added Ryan Luebke, "I don't necessarily feel safe walking past the area at night."

Of prime concern for the association, though, is fear that the property, which is worth $1.4-million, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Web site, could bring down property values in Vieux Carre.

Young said residents of Vieux Carre, members and leaders of the association, and even the community's former management company tried numerous times to contact the courts' owner, but their phone calls were not returned.

The county Web site lists the owner as UMPC14, L.C., with the mailing address of a home belonging to Antonia and Shaukat Chowdhari, both physicians.

Neither Antonia nor Shaukat returned calls seeking comment on the property. Their attorney, Patrick O'Connor of Largo, said the Chowdharis fully intend to clean up the property.

"They're moving forward with complying with what the county wants," he said. "Whatever it is they're going to do to bring the property into compliance, that's what they're going to do."

At its Dec. 14 hearing, the county code enforcement board gave the owners a week to secure the swimming pool and buildings on the property or face a $250-a-day fine. The owners complied and now have until Sunday to mow the overgrowth, clean up graffiti and trash, take the trailers off the property, and fix the clubhouse's fascia and trim or face a $200-a-day fine.

On Tuesday morning, work crews were at the site. The clubhouse was demolished, and debris was cordoned off by yellow caution tape.

That raises another question: What will come next?

"I think most of our residents would like to see doctors' offices or something like that," but not apartments, Brey said. More apartments would bring too much traffic, she said.

Others say apartments are acceptable, as long as they do not accept low-income subsidies.

"Construction is kind of a fact of life in Florida, so that's not a major concern," said Mike Luebke, a condo owner for three years. "It's worth it to see the property taken care of."

[Last modified January 11, 2008, 00:20:46]