Safer entry to mobile home park gets support

Tarpon Springs will search its budget for money for a road extension so U.S. 19 will not be the only route to Stonehedge on the Hill.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 22, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- City commissioners will try to find a way to pay for a new entrance to a mobile home park, which has only one entrance in a busy stretch of U.S. 19.

Commissioners said Monday night that they will look at this year's budget to see whether a road extension that would allow a new entrance at Stonehedge on the Hill can replace another project. Otherwise, they said, they will make the $125,000 project a priority in next year's budget.

"I'd rather not wait a full fiscal year," Commissioner Beverley Billiris said.

But City Manager Ellen Posivach said that this year's capital improvement budget "is stressed to the hilt."

The entrance would require the city to pay for a 425-foot extension of Disston Avenue from just north of Sugar Mill Road to Parkview Boulevard. The homeowners would pay for another 65 feet of road and a gate at the back entrance of the development, which has 265 units.

Currently, the only way into Stonehedge is from U.S. 19. There is no light at the entrance, so people driving north and making a left turn into Stonehedge must cross three lanes of traffic.

"It is high-speed traffic, and there have been a number of accidents," said Walter Fufidio, the city's director of planning and zoning.

Another proposal was brought up 10 years ago, which would have extended Disston farther north so it would meet up with another leg of Disston. That proposal never went through.

Residents said they were pleased by the commissioners' support for the new plan. Even if the project can't be included in this year's budget, one resident suggested, the city might be able to provide some extra fill and employees to start work on the new road.

"We're not trying to short-circuit anybody else's project," said Glen Kurtsell, a member of the Stonehedge homeowners association board of directors. "What we're asking for now is seed money."

City staffers will look at options for paying for the road extension, and commissioners will discuss the issue at a meeting in December.

In another action Monday night, commissioners approved the purchase of a new fire engine to replace Engine 70 at the Tarpon Springs Fire Department. The current engine is a 1988 model. The new one will cost $289,232.

- Staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright