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Center laying groundwork for thrift store expansion
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET © St. Petersburg Times, published December 5, 2000 LECANTO -- The Key Training Center is considering building a larger thrift store near the one it owns in Lecanto, but the idea is in its infancy. There's no architect, no budget and no timeline for such a project. Officials do not know how large the new store would be, or even when it would be needed, said Mark Jacobs, director of development for the Key. But the organization, which uses revenue from its thrift stores and other fundraisers to help mentally challenged children and adults, wants to be ready to build the new store when the time is right, Jacobs said. For that reason, the group is asking for a zoning change on the 2 acres it recently bought at the northwest corner of State Road 44 and Commerce Terrace, which sits next to its current thrift store and garden center in Lecanto. "There's nothing in the immediate or foreseeable future on the drawing board," Jacobs said. "We bought the land with the intent to develop it, but it's not like the bulldozers are poised and ready as soon as this zoning decision is made. "We're just hoping to keep our options open so when the market conditions are favorable, we can expand our thrift store," he said. Under the current zoning for professional offices, the 2-acre property could not have a building larger than 3,000 square feet, county planner Lou Phemister said. If the county approved a zoning change to general commercial, a building as large as 12,000 square feet would be allowed. Key Center officials have not decided how large any new thrift store would be, Jacobs said. The county Planning and Development Review Board will hold the first of its two hearings on the requested zoning change Thursday. If the planning board recommends the change, it would go before the County Commission for two more hearings and a final vote. The neighbors who live further down Commerce Terrace already are concerned about the speeding cars that cut through their street. Some worry that a thrift store could bring even more traffic past where their children play. "It's too much traffic now," said a neighbor who would identify herself only as P. Stewart. "If they put a Key thrift store up there, it's going to be even more traffic." But Jacobs said the thrift store probably would have a driveway directly on State Road 44, so customers would not have to go down any of the neighborhood streets. "I would suspect the impact to the local neighborhood would be minimal, if at all," he said. Neighbor Nellie Smith, a registered nurse who sometimes cares for children with special needs, said she would support the Key's expansion plans because she believes in the group's mission. Another resident, Cindy Stewart, said the Key Training Center has been a good neighbor, although she also worries about the amount of traffic that comes down her street. At least a thrift store would have little effect on the neighborhood, she said. "It's better than a tattoo parlor," Stewart said, chuckling.
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