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Shopping center inches close to getting new sign
By SUSAN THURSTON
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA PALMS -- After months of debate over dimensions and location, the former Palm Lake shopping center will likely get a new sign along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. The Tampa Palms Community Development District voted 3-2 Wednesday to allow the center to erect a free-standing sign closer to the road. Supervisors Mark Fitzpatrick and Curtis Stokes opposed it. Representatives of the shopping center applauded the decision, saying the 14-foot sign would go a long way toward helping the plaza retain tenants and attract more customers. "We have worked with the center for almost two years to try to turn it around," said property manager Lynn Pearson. "Without visibility, the only way people know we're out there is with a sign on Bruce B. Downs." Pearson traveled from Lexington, Ky., to pitch the new sign. She told supervisors that many businesses in the center were counting on it to stay afloat. "Our tenants are thinking we are revitalizing the center," she said. "This is a mind-set thing for them." The center on Amberly Drive has been struggling for years. It lost its anchor and some small businesses, but recently began to bounce back with the openings of Lifestyle Family Fitness and the New Tampa Oyster Bar. To boost its image, owners changed the name to the Shoppes of Amberly. Tampa Palms supervisors nixed the sign proposal in June, but agreed to reconsider it if city zoning officials gave it their blessing. They also opposed increasing the size of the sign from 14 to 20 feet, as originally planned. Doug Roland, an attorney for the shopping center, said Wednesday the city has indicated that it will "look favorably" on the sign, provided the CDD agrees on the location. The Tampa Palms Owners Association already okayed the size, colors and dimensions. Plans call for moving the sign about 15 feet closer to Bruce B. Downs than the existing brick and wood sign. That would put it on the edge of the district's land about 45 feet from Bruce B. Downs. Center representatives said they hope to obtain the city's approval and have the new sign in place by the end of the year. The existing sign will be demolished. Supervisors Fitzpatrick and Stokes said they preferred that the center upgrade the current sign. They also feared that it would not meet city zoning rules, which ban billboards and signs that aren't on businesses' properties. Roland said the city would consider it an exception as long as it is in the best interest of the community. -- Susan Thurston can be reached at (813) 226-3463.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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From the Times |
