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Contractor Steve Plice is known to get things done and to fight for his community.
By JON WILSON
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 5, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- Steve Plice didn't mean to get so thoroughly involved when he moved to Jungle Terrace in 1995.
"I thought, "Here's a place where nobody's going to bother me and I can just live my life,' " said Plice, 53. "Three months later, trouble's at the door."
It came in the form of a county initiative to extend Belcher Road down 71st Street N, where Plice lives. The threat was more traffic through the neighborhood, crushing the quiet life.
Plice, a contractor, got busy researching and rallying residents. The project was stalled, but the message the budding neighborhood leader took away was clear: Keeping quality communities requires vigilance.
"That got me started," said Plice, who is now president of Jungle Terrace's neighborhood association. "I guess in my career I've gotten involved in a lot of issues, but they all have some real direct connection to my neighborhood."
He cited the water shortage issue as an example. "Water's broad, but what I'm mostly concerned about is will I be able to water my lawn?"
Within his neighborhood, and at times beyond, Plice has a reputation as a person who gets things done for his community and raises the issues important to it.
He successfully helped fight off a proposed Salvation Army probation office the neighborhood thought would be detrimental. He was a leader in protesting the post office's placement of curbside mailboxes, at one point threatening to sue the Postal Service. He started a "computers for the community" program to help spread the world of cyber communication.
Later he was instrumental in setting up an Internet list service so Jungle Terrace residents could communicate with each other online.
And to put his effort alongside his water conservation voice, he created a swale in his yard to retain water long enough for it to seep underground.
"I think he's fantastic," said Mort Sherman, a longtime neighborhood activist who is president of the Crossroads Area Homeowners Association. "He'll go back into the detail of an ordinance, or a detail of a code, or something fundamental, and see where there's a misfit."
As an example, Sherman pointed to a Romano's Macaroni Grill proposed for Tyrone Square Mall. Plice unearthed information showing the restaurant site was approved with less parking than codes required. The upshot was an appeal to City Council, rejected last month.
But the city has promised to review the way it applies its codes.
STEVE PLICE
Married, two adult children
Age: 53
Occupation: Contractor
Interests: His neigbhorhood, local politics and environmental issues.
Last book read: Timeline, by Michael Crichton
Quote on community: "It's where you feel respected and where your opinion counts. If you are getting satisfaction from the sense that your activities are building a better world around you, then you live in a community."