Tarpon Springs facing a pair of historic questions

In one case, residents are worried about a house being knocked down; in another, they worry about a house being built.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 7, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- Many Tarpon Springs residents are protesting two unrelated proposals they fear would alter the city's historic landscape.

In one case, the owner of the city's second-oldest house wants to demolish it so he can construct 12 townhouses or condominiums on the property.

In the other, owners of property along Spring Bayou are in the midst of a monthslong effort to build an elevated house on the property. Residents said the house was not in keeping with the surrounding historic district and a decision on the project was postponed for the fourth time at a meeting Monday night.

Jules Elliott, owner of the Patten-Hope House on Athens Street near the Sponge Docks, has applied for a building permit to demolish the 116-year-old house and has hired a demolition company.

Elliott has owned the house for 10 years and said he ultimately decided to knock it down to make room for new development. The building has been boarded up for several years and is riddled with termites, he said.

"There's a difference between historic and old," said Elliott, a Fredericksburg, Va., developer.

Some residents said they don't want the house torn down. It has not been declared a historic structure but it is important to the city's history, they said. Only the Safford House is older than the Patten-Hope House.

"I'm very concerned," said Elaine Vinson, chairwoman of the city's Heritage Preservation Board. "I think there's probably other alternatives that can be explored."

Vinson said the house is not only the second-oldest house in the city, but also "the second-most important property in Tarpon."

The house was built by one of the oldest pioneer families on the Gulf Coast. Nathaniel Stone Patten, a steamboat captain who retired to Tarpon Springs and opened a sawmill, built the house in 1884.

In 1905, Florida statesman Samuel Edward Hope acquired the house on the hill. Hope, a veteran of the Civil War, a state surveyor and a civil engineer, was a member of the Florida constitutional conventions of 1865 and 1885.

Elliott said he is frustrated that the city has not bought the building in the past. He was in negotiations with city officials in the past and the city expressed an interest in buying the house, restoring it and turning some of the 0.83-acre property into a parking lot. A sale never went through.

The city had wanted to buy the house using grant money, but to get the grant it was required to have the property under contract, said Walter Fufidio, the city's director of planning and zoning. But he said the city could not sign a purchase contract without having received the grant first.

At this point, the city is unlikely to buy the house and restore it, said Kathy Monahan, community-affairs administrator for the city. The city already is working on other historic renovations and property purchases, she said.

"As much as I think the city would love to do it . . . we don't have the staff to operate it right now," Monahan said.

Monahan said she hopes someone will save the house and restore it. If it is demolished, she said, an important piece of the city's history would be lost.

"I think it would leave a void in the story the city has to tell," she said.

Meanwhile, the Heritage Preservation Board once again failed to reach a decision on a proposal by Wayne and Susan King to build a home along Spring Bayou. After several hours of discussion Monday night, two of the four board members present at the meeting voted to deny the application. Because the vote was 2-2, the motion failed.

Ultimately, board members opted to do what they've done at previous meetings: They recommended that the Kings make changes to the house design and urged them to increase the distance the house is set back from the street. The setback should be more in line with other homes on the street, board members said.

Several residents attended the meeting to oppose the King project. The house is not in keeping with the look of other homes in the surrounding historic district and must be set back as far as the neighboring house, they said. Sixty-one residents have signed a petition opposing the house.

The Kings, who live in Crystal Beach, said they are frustrated by the continued delays. They said they have worked hard on improving their house plans and are eager to start building.

The issue will come up again at the board's July 10 meeting.

-- Information from Times files was used in this report. Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.

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