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Tempers reignite over apartment project
By JAMES THORNER © St. Petersburg Times, published February 28, 2001 NEW PORT RICHEY -- When Pasco County commissioners revisited on Tuesday a controversial proposal to build low-income apartments, they succeeded in reopening an old wound among neighbors opposed to the project. A week ago, commissioners approved financing for Lake Lisa Apartments, a 160-unit affordable housing project at Maplehurst Drive and Regency Park Boulevard. But when the board moved to correct an inconsequential zoning mistake on Lake Lisa's application, it opened the door on Tuesday for an angry crowd to flood the West Pasco Government Center meeting room to capacity. How bad did it get? Several people stood, yelled and jabbed their fingers toward the commissioners' dais. Commission chairman Steve Simon ineffectually hammered his gavel for silence. One man shouted over the the meeting hall toward his elected officials: "All of you should resign!" A sheriff's deputy leapt to his feet to reestablish order, escorting at least one audience member out of the room. And near the end of the Lake Lisa discussions, the crowd of more than 100 staged a partial walkout. Residents, most living in the Embassy Hills neighborhood, expressed disgust about getting a second low-income complex in their community so soon after Park Richey Apartments on San Miguel Drive opened a year and a half ago. Residents lined up to take turns lambasting Lake Lisa for its potential to attract crime, overcrowd roads and schools and suppress property values. Simon, who along with Commissioner Pat Mulieri voted against Lake Lisa last week, offered the three other commissioners a chance to reconsider their affirmative votes. There were no takers. In fact, Commissioner Peter Altman accused residents of failing to appreciate the need for affordable apartments to house all the modestly paid service people in west Pasco. When Altman suggested Embassy Hills was a neighborhood in decline, a man shouted: "You want to build a ghetto on top of it!" The vote to approve the zoning alteration on Lake Lisa's application split the board 3-2, with Altman, Ann Hildebrand and Ted Schrader in support and Simon and Mulieri opposed. Neighbors stormed out of the room in disgust, threatening, as they did last week, retribution at the ballot box. Altman said he hopes their fury dissipates. "I hope after all of you leave that you will get over your anger," he told the crowd.
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From today's Pasco Times |
