New Tampa annex plan

By Compiled by Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 9, 2000

City Council members are set to vote Thursday on annexing three small parcels, a total of 90 acres, on the edge of the Heritage Isles development near Morris Bridge Road. And that agreement eliminates a roadblock to Tampa gobbling up a cattle ranch that stretches north to the Pasco County line.

When the city annexed Heritage Isles in 1998, the owners left out a 5-foot strip of land on the property's north and east borders. Because Tampa can annex only land that touches city limits, that blocked the next target in Mayor Dick Greco's annexation plans: K-Bar Ranch, a 2,400-acre tract north of Heritage Isles.

But Tracy Harris and Bing Kearney, partners who own part of 936-acre Heritage Isles, also control the 90 acres called the Star Property. As part of that annexation deal, they agreed to bring the 5-foot strip into the city as well.

Last month, an attorney for K-Bar Ranch and Tampa officials traded drafts of an agreement to annex part of the huge tract -- slated for nearly 1,600 new homes -- into the city.

"I don't understand how we could be asleep at the wheel on this," County Commission chairwoman Pat Frank said when learning of the implications by a reporter.

County officials decided against extending water and sewer service north of Tampa to prevent urban sprawl from encroaching on sensitive upland and wetland habitats, Frank said.

The city is undermining that policy by cutting deals with land owners to annex and develop the property, she said. "We don't want sprawl going in all directions."

Ron Rotella, Greco's development consultant, said sprawl is when development leapfrogs urban areas into places without enough roads and services. K-Bar Ranch is at the edge of current development, he said, and the city has taken the lead providing services in New Tampa.

Annexing the entire tract would leave 46 acres of unincorporated county surrounded by the city, creating an island or "enclave" prohibited by state law. Former Hillsborough Chief Judge Guy W. Spicola offered to sell the land to the county last year, but officials balked at his asking price of $1.6-million. Enough of K-Bar would remain in unincorporated Hillsborough to keep Spicola's land from becoming an enclave, Rotella said.

The biggest issue in negotiations is who will pay for roads and traffic improvements to handle increased traffic. No new roads would be required under the draft deal if developers built up to 800 homes.

If they build up to 1,599 homes, developers would have to add two lanes to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard from Cross Creek Boulevard to Interstate 75, add two lanes to Cross Creek from Kinnan Road to Bruce B. Downs and make improvements to the Cross Creek-Bruce B. Downs intersection.

GENSHAFT LISTENS IN FIRST DAY: Judy Genshaft spent her first 90 minutes as University of South Florida president doing something likely to become very familiar -- listening to professors gripe. They complained about declining numbers of doctoral candidates and increasing levels of bureaucracy. Some weren't happy with the university's Web site. No one was happy about the parking shortage on campus.

Genshaft, however, was quite content with Wednesday's breakfast discussion, which doubled as her introduction to about two dozen of USF's most distinguished faculty members. "It's very important for me to hear what's bothering people," said Genshaft, 52, a psychologist, the mother of two small boys and the former provost at the University at Albany, State University of New York, an institution about half the size of USF.

"I'll be spending a lot of my time listening to people's concerns," she said. "There's a lot to learn."

During her long, first day on the job, Genshaft also accepted a $1-million donation from the Tampa Bay History Center to endow teaching, research and public education programs. She pledged to fight any effort to dismantle USF's regional campus system, which came under serious assault during the past legislative session.

Genshaft also took several opportunities to declare her intention to raise USF, which has 36,000 students, to a national-class institution.

She wants to increase financial assistance to graduate students, whom she considers the backbone of USF's growing research efforts. She is counting on continuing benefits from USF's move into big-time football.

Genshaft also spent an hour tromping through large puddles and 90-degree heat while inspecting several campus construction projects still months from completion. "I think this is just fascinating," she said, completely ignoring the mud caking her shoes.

OLYMPICS BACKER HAS SECOND THOUGHTS: Neil Cosentino, a retired Air Force pilot, isn't against bringing the Olympics to Tampa. What bothers him is that Florida 2012, the not-for-profit group spearheading the effort, has proposed hosting the Games during hurricane season. 'Our position is really any time other than hurricane season,' Cosentino said.

If not for Cosentino, Florida would not be pursuing the Games. In an effort to save old Houlihan's Stadium, Cosentino called then-Hillsborough County Commissioner Ed Turanchik and suggested the Games be brought to Tampa and the football stadium be used as the primary venue. Turanchik was the first to stop laughing at the idea. He used his political contacts to muster support for the bid, resigned from the Commission and took over at Florida 2012.

But things haven't gone exactly as Cosentino had planned. Houlihan's Stadium, now a parking lot, won't be the primary venue. And a new fight is over the dates Florida has proposed -- June 15 through July 1. "It's so dumb. It defies common sense," Cosentino said.

He is particularly incensed that Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill to have Florida taxpayers cover losses of up to $175-million if the Games come to Tampa and are a financial stinker.

"He's going to look really stupid bonding a bid for an Olympics in the hurricane season," he said.

Turanchik said Florida 2012 is unconcerned. "We have researched the weather history in central Florida over the past hundred years and have conducted a detailed, hour-by-hour weather evaluation for all competition hours over the past thirty years for the proposed Olympic period," he wrote Cosentino. "We have found that the probability of poor weather is (minimal)."

Still, Turanchik said Florida 2012, like each of the eight metropolitan areas pursuing the 2012 Olympics, must submit a detailed evacuation plan along with its bid to the United States Olympic Committee.

SHOOTING IN TWELVE OAKS: A 27-year-old man was shot in the leg while walking on Barry Road early Wednesday, Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said. Keith William Hazen was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to his right calf and released.

Hazen told deputies he was walking east on Barry Road, a residential street in Town 'n Country's Twelve Oaks neighborhood, about 3:30 a.m. when a small maroon vehicle with two men inside swerved alongside him, said sheriff's Capt. Roger Dixon. One of the men fired three shots at Hazen, one of them striking his leg.

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