Council Weighs Ideas To Make Ybor Safer

TAMPA - Get rid of the surface parking lots in Ybor City.

Charge business owners a special assessment to pay for increased police presence.

Force bars to close earlier.

Those were some of the ideas Tampa City Council members offered Thursday as ways to combat crime and other problems in the Ybor City entertainment district.

The council took no official action but spent plenty of time hearing from police and neighborhood representatives about problems in the area. The discussion was spurred by several crimes in Ybor City this past month, including shootings, robberies and aggravated assaults.

Tampa police Maj. Bob Guidara told council members that Ybor City is safer today than it has been in the past.

He acknowledged continued problems, though, particularly after midnight. Noise complaints, underage drinking and drug use are among the problems. Many of the problems tend to be around two clubs, Fuel and Empire.

The Tampa Police Department deploys about 50 officers to the area on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, draining resources from other parts of the city, Guidara said.

That irked Councilman Joseph Caetano.

'The city should not be putting 50 police officers down there and denying other neighborhoods police officers,' he said.

He suggested the city consider creating a special assessment in the district to pay for increased police protection. If created, business owners, rather than residents, would foot the bill.

Guidara said Mayor Pam Iorio and Police Chief Stephen Hogue are discussing funding options to provide more police officers.

Councilman John Dingfelder suggested the city's legal staff look into whether the city could require club owners - either all of them or the most troublesome ones - to close early. Under existing rules, businesses cannot serve alcohol after 3 a.m.

'I am always told nothing good happens after midnight,' Dingfelder said.

Tony LaColla, president of the Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association, encouraged the council to issue conditional wet-zoning permits to businesses in Ybor City.

'We can't tolerate this club-related violence,' LaColla said. 'We believe if a club is a nuisance, you have to shut it down.'

LaColla also has complained about surface parking lots, arguing that they invite loitering, drug use, fights and other problems. Tom Keating, head of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, agreed that something needs to be done.

Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena said she wants the city's legal department to see whether the city can get rid of the surface parking lots.

As it is, she said, many of the parking lots don't comply with city codes that require the lots to be landscaped, paved and have adequate drainage.