Tarpon narrows plan for growth

The city will consider a more modest plan for extending its service area than was originally discussed.

By MATTIAS KAREN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 27, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- The city could see its boundaries move farther east in the future, but not as far as city officials originally hoped.

The Tarpon Springs City Commission is scheduled to consider next week whether to extend the city's planning and service area to cover 625 acres east of the existing city limits. If the proposal is approved, the city's service area would include the land immediately north of Lake Tarpon, stretching along an invisible line extending north from George Street.

This area would also be eligible for annexation -- as long as the city gets the approval of a majority of the residents in that area.

"Eventually, we think they're going to want to (annex)," Mayor Frank DiDonato said.

The proposal is an extension of an existing interlocal agreement between the city and Pinellas County. The current agreement was adopted in 1989 along with the city's comprehensive plan and expires Sept. 30. The new agreement would last until 2010.

The proposed area is much smaller than the City Commission had originally envisioned. This spring, DiDonato announced a plan that would have stretched the city's eastward annexation boundary all the way to the Hillsborough County line. The southern boundary also would have been extended, from Klosterman Road down to Bee Pond Road.

But after discussions with Pinellas County planning officials, Tarpon Springs agreed to scale down its proposal. Despite the change, DiDonato didn't seem disappointed with the latest version of the potential annexation area.

"I think expansion will take care of itself over time," he said.

Currently, state statutes regulate annexations by cities in Pinellas County. Those statutes do not regulate which areas can be annexed, as long as the area's residents agree.

But there is some discussion of holding a referendum to ask voters whether the county should be able to write its own rules for annexation. No referendum has been scheduled, but the planning council has already drawn a map showing which areas each city in Pinellas could annex under a new county-controlled system.

Should a referendum be passed, the new annexation map will show exactly which areas can be annexed by which cities, said David Healey, executive director for the Pinellas County Planning Council.

Because the county's 24 cities are starting to bump into each other, and some unincorporated areas border three or four cities, "it's only logical to draw some lines as to where annexation can occur," Healey said.

But the County Commission must vote to put such a referendum on the November ballot.

Either way, the situation for Tarpon Springs will be much the same. If a referendum passes, it would override the interlocal agreement, but would encompass the same annexation area. Extending the interlocal agreement, Healey said, is more of a safeguard in case a referendum isn't passed.

The difference between the two is that the county annexation map would prohibit Tarpon Springs from annexing any area east of George Street and south of Klosterman Road.

With the interlocal agreement, annexation of those areas would be possible only if the city amends its comprehensive plan, which makes it much trickier, said Gordon Beardslee, the county's general planning administrator.

That is good news to Walt Blenner, president of the Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber spoke out against Tarpon Springs' wish to annex areas south of Klosterman Road, including valuable real estate such as the Westin Innisbrook Resort.

Blenner said, however, that he thought Tarpon Springs would have had a hard time persuading that area to be annexed, because its residents are "fiercely independent."

Healey said the annexation map was based on estimates of how far out cities can provide law enforcement and fire service, as well as water and sewer services.

"While Tarpon Springs ultimately may grow beyond that boundary, that seemed to be a logical representation of how far they can stretch," Healey said. "Each community, it's fair to say, wanted more than they got."

- Staff writer Mattias Karen can be reached at (727) 445-4243 or northpin@sptimes.com.

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