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Enclave Pursuing Split From Old Seminole Heights Association

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By KATHY STEELE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2008

TAMPA - Geographically, the neighborhood is among the city's largest, and its association is one of the most active.

Before the city council, the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association has clout. Its members have packed council chambers for hot issues, including approval of a Starbucks and disapproval of apartment rentals to sex offenders.

The neighborhood is blessed with historical bungalows, shady streets and a watery jewel in the midst of one of its oldest enclaves - Lake Roberta in Hampton Terrace. Residents speak with pride of being the best of Tampa's neighborhoods.

But a crack has appeared of late in the neighborhood's unified front.

Wesley Warren, who lives along Lake Roberta, is spearheading a petition drive to persuade the city that Hampton Terrace should split off from Old Seminole Heights and have its own neighborhood or civic association.

Potholes, illegal dumping, speeding motorists, inadequate tree trimming and the lake's cleanup are problems that Warren says haven't drawn enough attention from the association.

He also is among a handful of vocal critics of an ad hoc committee that is exploring a local historical designation for Hampton Terrace, though he said that's not the motivation for the petition.

A Hampton Terrace association would better address that neighborhood's issues, he said.

"It's an ongoing problem," said Warren, a resident for more than 40 years. "A lot of people feel like they have not listened to us on a lot of issues."

Warren recently received a city database of more than 750 property owners to contact within the boundaries of Hillsborough, Nebraska and Hanna avenues and North 15th Street.

If 51 percent of property owners agree to form a new association, the petition would be reviewed by the city. Prospective members would meet to discuss bylaws.

"They are in the process of reaching out," said Shannon Edge, the city's neighborhood and community relations director.

The task won't be easy, however.

"Some of the property owners do not live in Tampa," Edge said.

Historically, such efforts have failed or issues within associations have been resolved, she said.

The Old Seminole Heights group, celebrating its 20th year, has more than 400 members, each paying $10 annual dues. A spring home tour fundraiser and Paint Your Heart Out volunteer project are among the events sponsored annually.

In August, Edge and the city's historical preservation manager Dennis Fernandez met separately with association members and residents to address concerns ranging from the lake project to the proposed historic district.

The city and Southwest Florida Water Management District shared about $316,000 in costs to clean up Lake Roberta, which was polluted by stormwater runoff and debris. Warren wants the city to let volunteers sweep out duckweed vegetation that recently bloomed on the lake.

Warren raised the issue of splitting Hampton Terrace from the association at the meeting with Edge. Later, at a specially called executive board meeting, association members discussed meeting with Hampton Terrace residents and a possible campaign to let residents know how much the association does to benefit the neighborhood.

The association also is reviewing a proposal for an outreach committee to focus on improved communication with residents, including the elderly and nonmembers.

"I think it's an excellent idea," said Warren, who is not an association member. "It's too bad they didn't do it two years ago."

Association Vice President Jeff Harmon, who lives in Hampton Terrace, concedes more should be done to reach everyone in the neighborhood.

"We're not communicating with the elderly," he said. "There may be a better way of reaching them."

The association has relied on fliers, letters, e-mail, and its Web site and newsletter, but that hasn't seemed to be enough, Harmon said.

Ill feelings about the ad hoc committee have prompted the loudest critics of a local historic district designation to create the Hampton Terrace Property Rights Organization.

The group said the committee appeared to signal a foregone conclusion in creating the district.

Supporters say local historic districts preserve history, stabilize neighborhoods and increase property values. But opponents say property rights are taken away and home repair regulations are too costly for seniors and low-income residents.

Fernandez reassured opponents that nothing has been decided. Because Hampton Terrace already is a national historic district, it was logical for the city's historic preservation commission to review a local designation.

Some residents who favor the district volunteered to help with research but Fernandez said, "It was really something in the works for the historic preservation commission for quite awhile."

A decision likely won't come until a review and public meeting in 2009, and only if there is consensus among residents would the issue go to the council for approval.

"It's required in the code that everyone is involved," Fernandez said.

Harmon said the Hampton Terrace disagreements highlight a need for the city to be clear on how to address such conflicts. There are questions about how the city would verify petition signatures or redraw neighborhood borders, he said.

"This could turn into a free-for-all if successful," Harmon said. "There does need to be a mediation process."

For now, the city is in "a wait-and-see pattern," Edge said. "We have to be fair to both sides."

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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