 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Low-income apartment plan is shot down
By JAMES THORNER © St. Petersburg Times, published February 15, 2001 Pasco County commissioners have rejected a proposed lower-income apartment project, a vote that could bode ill for three similar projects up for consideration next week. Commissioners on Tuesday night cited overcrowded schools, traffic-clogged roads and general neighborhood incompatibility as reasons for turning down River Crossing Apartments at Little and Trouble Creek roads. The developer, River Crossing Partners Ltd., needed commissioners' support to apply for state construction bonds. Commissioners unanimously withheld consent. The vote effectively kills the project, said George Romagnoli of the county's community development division. Most vociferous in his opposition was Commissioner Steve Simon, whose district includes River Crossing. Deer Park Elementary, which already relies on eight portable classrooms, can't handle the crush of additional students from the proposed 216 apartments, Simon said. Nor can the roads. He complained that developers want higher-income Pasco neighborhoods to become "receptacles" for lower-income renters from outside Pasco. Another commissioner from New Port Richey, Peter Altman, said the county should encourage home ownership, not the proliferation of rentals. The vote could be a preview for Tuesday's review of three more low-income apartment complexes. Developers are asking commissioners to support tax credits to finance the projects. Hundreds of people have complained about the three apartment complexes: Forest Trace at Lake Bernadette in Zephyrhills, Jordan Lakes at Little Road and Ross Lane, and Lake Lisa on Regency Park Boulevard south of Embassy Boulevard. Among opposing neighbors is Gary Gordon, whose neighborhood has hired attorney Clyde Hobby to defeat Jordan Lakes. Other apartment opponents, seeking proof that the projects will attract crime, have counted hundreds of sheriff's calls to existing low-income apartments. "We moved here for the elbow room. We moved here for the safety factor," Gordon said. "When you have 216 neighbors here, that changes things." Despite the political sensitivity of the proposals -- all the apartments are reserved for families making less than about $30,000 a year -- Romagnoli said the law won't allow the county to discriminate against lower-income people. Romagnoli said county staffers will recommend approving financing for no more than two of the three projects. The county won't announce which projects get the recommendations until Friday. As for arguments that lower-income apartments don't belong in more well-to-do areas, Romagnoli said: "You really don't want to segregate incomes, for the sake of diversity in the community." - Discuss this and other issues in our Pasco discussion forums at http://www.sptimes.com/pascoforum.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
