Compromise reached for center

By MELANIE AVE

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 11, 2000

CROSS CREEK -- The County Commission voted to allow a child care center and office complex on Cross Creek Boulevard near Brookron Drive.

The project, which earlier fueled a dispute between the developer and area residents, passed by a unanimous vote on Tuesday, following a compromise between the two sides. Developer Gene Thomason now has the go-ahead to build a 10,000-square-foot child care center and 14,500 square feet of office space near Arbor Greene and Cory Lake Isles.

"I welcome the agreement made here," Commissioner Chris Hart said.

A zoning change was needed to allow commercial development on land that had been zoned for 103 single-family homes. Thomason had wanted to build a self-storage unit on the 7.9 acre plot in addition to the child care center. But residents opposed the self-storage component, circulating a petition and flooding commissioners with phone calls.

So Thomason dropped plans for the warehouse and agreed to limit the types of businesses allowed in the office complex to professionals such as doctors, lawyers and accountants. He also agreed to place deed restrictions on the property to govern the appearance and size of buildings.

Those concessions made the complex far more acceptable.

"I think it's a great thing having this type of services so close," said John Hoffman, who lives in the Kingshyre subdivision.

Thomason's attorney, Keith Bricklemyer, said construction will begin soon on the Primrose child development center.

The offices will come later, said Bricklemyer, who met with residents several times to hash out a project they would support. "It wouldn't have gone through without our support," Hoffman said.

To assess the level of support, Arbor Greene residents passed around about 500 surveys in Arbor Greene, Kingshyre, Cross Creek, Misty Creek and Hunter's Green. Of the 135 returned surveys, about 90 percent of the residents said they were happy with the modified project. The remaining 10 percent said they would prefer to see homes on the property.

At a small meeting Monday night, Kimm Palermo of Arbor Greene said she preferred professional offices to the small homes that most likely would have been built there.

"I didn't want this at first but I'm okay with it now," Palermo said. "I'd rather have offices than low-income homes."

But unlike Palermo, Kingshyre resident Rita Young said she could not support commercial development. "I just think it can devalue property," she said. "Homes are so much better than businesses."

- New Tampa reporter Susan Thurston contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3473 or melanie@sptimes.com.

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