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League Sprucing Up West Tampa

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By JOSE PATINO GIRONA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 23, 2008

WEST TAMPA - Big lawns aren't the scene in the urban core where most homes are built near the sidewalk, leaving just enough room on the front yard for hedges, plants and flowers.

The public right of way - the area between the sidewalk and the road - has grass patches that serve as an introduction to the homes. To Mike Vannetta and other residents, it didn't look ideal.

Vannetta and other homeowners formed the Old West Tampa Improvement League to help clean the area and make it uniform.

The 25 members pay $25 a month to have a lawn maintenance company mow the public rights of way twice a month along Albany Avenue and Union, Chestnut, Walnut, Pine and Spruce streets. The crew also cuts grass in the alleys and informs the organization about illegal dumping.

The volunteer group has started planting flowers at curbs to make the area look more attractive. At several corners, they planted flowers in planters made from oil drums. An 80-pound concrete bag was placed in each oil drum to keep it from being moved.

"We want to live in a nice neighborhood," said Vannetta, the group's chairman. "Everyone wants to live in a nice neighborhood."

Last year, Vannetta and his wife, Alice, moved to the neighborhood after living 15 years on Davis Islands. His wife didn't like living on an island with the storm threats.

Vannetta hopes the project can expand and residents and business owners join.

"Main Street is one of my priorities," said Vannetta, 56. "I would like to get some planting going on over there."
West Tampa developer InTown Homes initiated the beautification program. At first, it asked people who bought its homes to sign a landscaping agreement, said Teresa Caddick, an InTown Homes partner.

But the project needed to focus on a larger area instead of individual homes, Caddick said. InTown organized a meeting with its homeowners and helped orchestrate the current plan.

"As a pool, you can do a whole lot more than your one little area," said Caddick, who serves as the group's secretary and treasurer.

The organization was formed in April and has filed with the state to get nonprofit status. Caddick said if some residents can't afford the monthly fee, they can assist by volunteering.

"We want it to be very inclusive," Caddick said.

Bansrajh Mangroo has owned Low-Price Grocery, 2101 W. Chestnut St., for 21 years. He said the regular mowing and planting of flowers benefit the neighborhood and is attracting new residents and businesses.

He allowed the organization to place several planters with flowers in front of his business, which he waters every morning. He said he gets comments from people who admire the flowers or ask how they can get a planter in front of their business.

"If a tiny thing like that shows up my business, imagine if it was all over the neighborhood," Mangroo said.

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.

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