Age key to fruit stand battle

The owner of the stand, which the county wants closed, contends it was opened before the area was zoned residential.

By ROBERT FARLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 23, 2000

PALM HARBOR -- A small but steady flow of cars pulls up to Spiro Pittaras' roadside fruit and vegetable stand on County Road 1.

Customers pick through the oranges, peppers and, this week, a supply of strawberries from Plant City, the same as they have done for decades.

Just how many decades is a matter of some debate. At stake in the debate is the fate of the fruit stand.

County officials contend the fruit stand first opened in 1967, several years after zoning codes established the area as residential, in which retail businesses are prohibited.

Pittaras contends his business predates the 1963 codes, and therefore must be grandfathered.

A zoning examiner ruled against Pittaras in August after citing testimony from several longtime local residents and aerial photos which showed no evidence of a fruit stand in 1965.

When Pittaras allowed a 30-day appeal period to lapse in September, county officials issued him two citations, one for having an illegal sign out front and another for operating a retail fruit and produce business in a residential area. Each carries an $82 fine, which Pittaras refused to pay.

Pittaras appealed and a hearing was scheduled for Feb. 11, but on the morning of that hearing, attorney Charles Perry filed a lawsuit on Pittaras' behalf against the county. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction against the county and a declaration the business is legal. The appeal hearing was continued until March 31 to allow Pittaras to pursue this latest legal tack.

Pittaras bought the property at 541 Omaha St. in 1995 from Bonita Wiggins. Wiggins' niece testified the stand was opened by Mrs. Wiggins in 1967, after her husband died.

"I bought this property because I figured I can make an honest living here," Pittaras said. "I don't bother anybody."

Pittaras has gathered 300 signatures on a petition in support of the fruit stand. Several of those who signed claim the stand was open before 1963.

One of them is Andy Popovich of Palm Harbor, who says he used to tend to the stand when Mr. Wiggins traveled to Tallahassee to buy peanuts.

"It was there before 1963," Popovich said. "I'm sure of that."

Perry says the aerial photos used in the zoning hearing may be deceptive.

"I'm not surprised it didn't show up in an aerial photograph," Perry said. "When people sell fruit, they don't have to have a building you can see in an aerial photo."

Often, he said, it's nothing more complex than putting out a chair and a small stand or basket.

Jewel White Cole, senior assistant county attorney, doesn't buy that contention. But even if it were so, Cole said, Mrs. Wiggins and Pittaras improperly expanded the business in subsequent years.

"There just should not be a fruit stand there," Cole said.

Pittaras feels he's being singled out by the county unfairly, considering Mrs. Wiggins operated the business for more than two decades with no problems at all.

Cole said no one ever complained before. But with increased traffic on County Road 1, the stand has become a traffic hazard, she said, and several area residents complained to the county.

"Had someone called in to complain about Mrs. Wiggins, we would have cited her," Cole said.

Pittaras believes there is more to the complaints than traffic.

"It's because my English is not very well," Pittaras said. "The Greeks are not supposed to do business over here. The law's got to be for everybody, not just me."

Pittaras said he may sue the county for discrimination, though it is a claim even his attorney says may be difficult to prove.

Meanwhile, the county recently posted "No Parking" signs in front of the fruit stand to discourage cars from blocking the sidewalk. Some drivers heed Pittaras' call to park in the grassy area behind the stand, but others simply ignore the signs and park in front.

The suit filed by Pittaras' attorney seeks to have the signs removed. With no other "No Parking" signs posted on the block, the suit alleges, the signs "are not part of any valid parking plan and are intended solely to impair (Pittaras') vested right to sell fruits and vegetables."

A "For Sale" sign now sits in front of Pittaras' home next to the fruit stand. It's a contingency plan in case the courts rule he can't continue his business.

"They bother me so much, I don't know what else I can do," he said.

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