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City annexes land of reluctant owners

After finding out the owners had contacted local legislators for help, the commission decided to move fast.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published December 7, 2005

LARGO - When the City Commission found out some property owners had no intention of joining Largo, they taught the owners a lesson.

They annexed them anyway.

At Tuesday night's meeting, commissioners voted 6-1, with Commissioner Mary Gray Black opposed, to annex a 90-acre area near 49th Street and Ulmerton Road.

For several months, the city's staff had been negotiating with business owners in a proposed annexation that some of the owners had opposed. Friday, Mayor Bob Jackson discovered the merchants had appealed to the Pinellas County legislative delegation to stop the annexation.

"They basically forced our hand," Jackson said.

He received a letter from state Sen. Mike Fasano saying the delegation unanimously passed a resolution asking thatLargo delay the annexation and that state officials oppose the action as well.

Steve Ross, assistant to the city manager, said he thought the city's negotiations with the property owners were progressing until he found out about the appeal.

The city's staff initially recommended that the vote be postponed until mid January, but suggested approving the annexation after learning about the property owners' appeal. The vote had already been postponed three times.

Thirteen of 25 parcels consented to the annexation, Ross said. But Evatone Inc. is one of a handful of businesses in the area that has hotly opposed it. Bill Babcock, vice president of administrative services for the manufacturing company, said Evatone could see an additional $100,000 in utility franchise fees and municipal utility taxes if it joins Largo.

"Those are significant numbers when you're trying to be a competitive manufacturer," Babcock said.

Babcock said that so farhe's heard no offers from Largo that would offset the costs and other annexation fees.

If forced to annex, Babcock said Evatone, which has been at the same location for more than 25 years, was prepared to leave Largo.

In other action, Pinch-a-Penny received final approval for a land use change that could allow the company to relocate its pool supply headquarters.

Commissioners voted 4-3 to amend a future land use designation to industrial limited on 33 acres near the Crossroads Mall site so Pinch-A-Penny's subsidiary company, Cepcot Corp., could build a new corporate campus at 150th Avenue west of 62nd Street.

Both Commissioners Harriet Crozier and Pat Gerard, who opposed the move, along with Commissioner Gay Gentry, said the project should require a development agreement before it's approved. The company asked for approval without one.

But Commissioner Andrew Guyette said there were other matters to keep in mind.

"We have to look out for the community as a whole. Economic development is a big part of what keeps this city going," Guyette said.

The project drew opposition early on from the city's staff and some commissioners who said an industrial use was incompatible with a proposed town center development on the adjacent Crossroads Mall property.

Pinch-a-Penny president John Thomas said his company plans to pair the Largo property with 14 adjacent acres currently in the county. County officials rezoned that parcel last month from residential to light manufacturing and industry.

The company plans to build the new campus on about 42 acres and donate 5 acres back to the community for a park.

Thomas said he doesn't hold any grudges for earlier roadblocks.

"Regardless of whatever obstacles were thrown in our path, they're in the past. The past is the past, and we're looking forward to being a part of Largo for years to come," he said.

Also at the meeting, former Commissioner Ernie Bach, who is running again for a commission seat, announced that he was stepping down as president of the Largo Civic Association, a group of residents and neighborhood associations. He said he wanted the group to sponsor a candidate forum and assailed city leaders for not giving the association and other groups the opportunity to run such forums.

Commissioner Black suggested a joint forum sponsored by the association and the Largo/Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce, but commissioners approved a candidate forum on Feb. 23 sponsored by the chamber alone.

[Last modified December 7, 2005, 00:33:18]