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Westshore Wants To Use Road Fees To Fund Transit

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 26, 2008

TAMPA - A business alliance in the West Shore district is pitching a plan to fund a network of buses that would circulate in the business district.

Under the plan, a portion of the road improvement fees paid by developers in the West Shore district would be diverted to transit.

"Assuming it passes, this could be a significant source of funding," said Ron Rotella, executive director of the Westshore Alliance.

The alliance has filed a formal request with the city and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council to amend the business district's long-range growth plan known as a Development of Regional Impact.

Under the growth plan's provisions, developers who build at West Shore must contribute fees to offset road improvements within the district, which has boundaries of Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, Himes Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard.

Attempting To Ease Congestion

The Westshore Alliance wants to use some of those fees for mass transit, from lunchtime shuttles and circulator buses to a transit hub connecting travelers to buses, light-rail trains and airport shuttle vehicles.

Rotella has met in recent days with city and transit leaders and received tentative support. The alliance's request was filed Jan. 17.

"The West Shore community needs to look to the future and the future means some sort of transit," he said.

Many of the area's roads, including Kennedy Boulevard, West Shore Boulevard and Dale Mabry Highway, have little or no remaining right-of-way for widening. Given that scenario, the business group's board voted a couple of months ago to turn to transit to ease congestion.

A similar effort last spring to start a lunchtime shuttle was scrapped after businesses, not developers, were asked to fund the service. West Shore workers also had a problem with the idea, and in a survey said the 12- to 15-minute window between buses was too long to wait.

No decision has been made as to what kind of transit would operate at West Shore. One idea being floated is continuous circulator buses to connect workers to lunch spots and visitors to hotels, shopping and offices. The funds could offset the cost of buses, shelters, drivers and sidewalks.

Then, depending on the size of the fund, additional money could go toward an eventual transit hub, likely south of the airport and north of Interstate 275, Rotella said.

Transit And Pedestrian Projects

Currently, the district has about $2.5 million set aside for road projects.

"What we're saying is we want the impact fees to pay for transit and pedestrian improvements in addition to roads," he said.

The city and the planning council have 30 days to review the alliance's request and suggest changes.

If no objections are made, the matter will be referred to a public hearing at Tampa City Council. If approved at the local level, it will then go to the state's Department of Community Affairs for final adoption.

David Armijo, executive director for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, said it might be a year or two before circulator buses actually start running in West Shore.

The alliance's action is significant, he said, because it signals a partnership between HART and the business community at a time when transit funding is in peril. If voters approve Tuesday's referendum to slash property taxes, HART will be forced to cut operating expenses in the next fiscal year by 10 percent.

At this point, the agency isn't sure how much it can contribute toward the circulators. Given the potential for funding, though, the agency is hopeful some kind of transit plan will come to West Shore.

Mayor Pam Iorio, a longtime supporter of transit, also backs the idea.

Last year, she unveiled a similar plan in which some of the fees developers pay for road improvements are diverted to transit. That plan will be introduced to the city council in about a month, she said.

"There are only so many road improvements you can make and then you run out of right-of-way," Iorio said. "What we're doing is to make use of those transportation impact fees by putting them toward transit."

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or at rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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