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Prank irritates neighbors, prompts more discussionBy ANDREW MEACHAM © St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Its bold red letters attracted attention. Once the sign went up around 5 p.m. Wednesday on property where a dry cleaners once stood, a steady stream of drivers stopped to examine it.
After Consideration of Tuesday Nights Home Owners Meeting Ownership of This Property Has Decided On Adult Fantasy Super Store Coming Soon Thank You, Home Owners For Your Input Michael Grubbs, the owner of the property, removed his sign by noon Thursday, but not before setting off a firestorm of criticism from neighbors. Now the mayor wants to meet with both sides to resolve the issue. The real story lay in a smaller sign already posted at the site of the former Sterling Cleaners, which burned nearly two years ago. Grubbs is asking the city for exceptions to zoning regulations so he can build a car wash at 2300 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. N. He is scheduled to go before the Environmental Development Commission June 6. Grubbs and Rodney Brown, a project manager for Stillwater Technologies, presented their case Tuesday before the Greater Woodlawn Neighborhood Association. A car wash made more economic sense than a rebuilt dry cleaning establishment, he said. Zoning codes would have required him to shave 1,300 square feet off the existing design, and he had recently set up a Value Cleaners plant 10 blocks away at 1800 Fourth St. N. Besides, he could put a car wash there for about $400,000, about half as much as a new dry cleaners would cost. In response to neighbors' traffic concerns, Grubbs offered to close off proposed entrances and exits on 23rd Avenue N and the alley on the property's west side. Brown outlined each of the variances Grubbs said he needed: a landscape buffer of only 5 feet (the city requires 10); seven parking spaces instead of nine; and a landscaped hedge in place of a fence. Neighbors grilled Grubbs about dry cleaning solvents still in the ground. The property is on the state's toxic waste cleanup program for dry cleaners, with a rating of 28 on a scale that tops out around 150. When neighbors brought up noise levels, he offered to automatically shut off pumps at the car wash at 9 or 10 p.m. One woman asked him why he couldn't just donate the property to the city, if he wanted to be a good neighbor. "I admire your boldness," Grubbs replied after a pause. It got him a laugh, but not the votes he sought. Greater Woodlawn turned down support for the variances 41-2, with three members abstaining. Grubbs seemed stunned by the outcome. Over lunch Wednesday at Harvey's 4th Street Grill, he decided to even the score with a prank: announcing that instead of a car wash, he would build an "adult fantasy super store." A friend offered to make the sign and delivered it to the site by 5 p.m. By Thursday morning, someone had knocked the sign to the ground. Jim Shanklin, a Web page designer and Woodlawn association member, restored the sign with a post hole digger, "so that people can see it." By noon, Grubbs had the sign returned to his office at Value Cleaners, and someone had posted two professionally made "Adult Supercenter" signs on the property, with the Value Cleaners phone number beneath. "He's got to know this isn't going to win him any friends," said Shanklin, 41. Grubbs' tenuous relationship with neighbors goes back a few years. Greater Woodlawn president Cathy Wilson said the Sterling Cleaners incurred multiple codes complaints, proving Grubbs is "not a good neighbor." City codes director Sally Eichler said the Sterling property was cited for electrical work without a permit in 1993, water running into the alley in 1998, and three overgrowth complaints following the fire and demolition.
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