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Historical District Opposed

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By KATHY STEELE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 12, 2008

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - A decision on a local historical district may not happen until 2010 but already opponents say they want to stop the process before it reaches the city council.

Recently, the Hampton Terrace Property Rights Organization sent letters asking residents to sign and return a form stating they vote "no" for a historical district. The group plans to give the results to the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association, the council and the city's Historic Preservation Commission.

"The train has left the station neighbor and is not stopping unless we do something about it," the letter states.

Supporters say local 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.

Volunteers who began gathering historical data on Hampton Terrace nearly two years ago say their work is being mischaracterized.

"Let the committee do its work, finish it, present it to the entire neighborhood," committee Chairwoman Ann McDonald said. "If neighbors say, 'No, we don't want any such thing,' the neighborhood association's board will not in any way endorse it."
Hampton Terrace received the largely symbolic designation of a national historical district in 1999. Boundaries generally are Hanna and Mohawk avenues and Ninth and 13th streets, but lines zigzag through the neighborhood, leaving out some houses.

The city anticipates expanding and drawing more uniform boundaries for a proposed local district. If approved by the council, local guidelines would be written into city code to govern construction or major exterior alterations to structures as a way to preserve the neighborhood's character.

Until recently, the goal was to bring the proposal to the city in 2009. That has been pushed back a year because the preservation commission has two Ybor City-related projects: one to review design guidelines unchanged since 1986; and another that focuses on the cultural history of northern Ybor and is funded by a time-sensitive grant.

"That's something we have to do or we pick up the tab on it," preservation commission manager Dennis Fernandez said.
Seminole Heights also is engaged in a two-year community planning project to find a consensus on the entire neighborhood's development.

"We thought it was better to let that play out and not have a dual front," Fernandez said.

Volunteers with the association's committee are nearing completion of a visual survey detailing architectural styles in Hampton Terrace, including types of windows, roofs and building materials for 1920s bungalows, World War II-era concrete block and other homes.

The history that unfolded within those homes also is of interest.

"We have slowly been gathering social data about the neighborhood," McDonald said.

Volunteers are looking at how often a home was bought and sold, the occupations of its owners and the number of children. Research has identified Pullman porters and stevedores who would hop trolleys connecting Tampa's early suburbs and downtown.

But the sticking point between supporters and opponents comes back to property rights.

Wesley Warren, who opposes the district, said the property rights group wants to reach every household in Hampton Terrace.

"We're constantly finding people who did not know about this," he said.

But not everyone got a letter from the property rights group, which hasn't disclosed its membership or how many letters it sent.

McDonald said she was excluded and has heard other committee members also did not receive letters.

The number of letters is "irrelevant" and there was no reason to contact known supporters of a historical district, said property rights group member Nancy Walsh.

Letters generally went to residents who were not reached by a door-to-door canvas of the neighborhood.

"We set out to show the neighborhood association that the neighborhood doesn't want" a historical district, she said.

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

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