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Closing Splits Council

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By MICHAEL H. SAMUELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

BEACH PARK - The future of a proposed redevelopment project on Kennedy Boulevard hangs on whether the city council decides to close a street known for cut-through traffic.

After a more than three-hour public hearing, the city council was split on eliminating Ward Street in the middle of the 6.3-acre lot across from WestShore Plaza.
Council members John Dingfelder, Charlie Miranda and Gwen Miller voted to vacate the street, supporting a majority of neighbors who attended the hearing and spoke about how keeping the street open with the new project would add to the number of cars speeding through their neighborhood.

'If you don't close Ward Street, it will have a monumental effect on the total neighborhood,' Miranda said. 'It will be dreadfully harmful to each and every one of you.'
Council members Tom Scott and Mary Mulhern opposed closing the street, stating that there was no public purpose for it and the city should not arbitrarily eliminate streets.

'It doesn't make sense to me,' Mulhern said.

'We don't have to do this,' Scott added.
Council members Linda Saul-Sena and Joseph Caetano were absent. A vote to resolve the issue is set for Thursday.

Although the council later voted 4 to 1, with Mulhern dissenting, to approve rezoning the property to allow for the redevelopment, it is contingent on the approval of closing Ward. If the council doesn't approve vacating Ward, the project will not be rezoned.

The project would encompass the Brazzeal Goodyear Tire garage and the Wachovia Building on Kennedy. A retail and office building will replace the tire store. The Wachovia building will not change.

The new building will include a fourth-floor grocery store, ground floor offices and restaurants, and either offices or fitness center on the second and third floors. There also will be a 1,000-space parking garage in the back of the property, said David Smith, a representative for St. Petersburg-based Porter Development.

'This developer has done the responsible thing and met with the community and listened to their requests,' Smith said. The No. 1 request of the neighborhood was to close Ward, he said.

Beach Park Homeowners Association President Emmy Purcell Reynolds said the neighborhood has never been as split as it is on this issue. She said it is important to close Ward because it will stop cars from cutting through the neighborhood. In addition, the new project will bring more cars to the area.

She said the developer has worked with the group on many issues.

'Something is going to be built there,' she said. 'Our residents have been clamoring for a grocery store.'

Jeff Shioleno, who lives with his wife, Holly, in a home behind the property, said this project benefits the neighborhood. Another developer might not build something they want.

'The growth genie has come out of the bottle in South Tampa and the West Shore district,' he said. 'I've lived here for 13 years. If Ward Street is not closed, my quality of life and peace and tranquillity will forever be impacted.'

The council is scheduled to vote on the street closing at 9 a.m. Thursday at City Hall, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd.

Reporter Michael H. Samuels can be reached at (813) 835-2109 or msamuels@tampa trib.com.

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