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Archive for the 'Pasco County' Category

Phoenix’s new light rail system would look good here

Phoenix's light rail: A model for Tampa Bay?

Good question. Let me answer that question with another question: What is the single most obvious lack in the Tampa Bay region, which is the 19th largest metro area in the U.S.?

ANSWER: Light rail transportation.

There are lots of wonderful things to talk about when it comes to Tampa Bay – the beaches, the great airport, the Bucs and the Rays and the Lightning, to name just a few.

But one thing we don’t like to talk about very much is transportation. Getting around here can be tough – the roads are clogged with traffic, especially during the winter “Snow Bird” season. There are just three bridges (well, two bridges and a causeway) that connect the Pinellas side of the bay with the Tampa side.

What we need is some sort of light rail system. It will no doubt happen some day, but so far we have lacked the political will (and the financing) to get it done.

And that brings me to Phoenix.

Just like Tampa, Phoenix used to have street cars, but they went away sometime around 1950. Since then it has been cars, cars and more cars on the region’s streets. Like Tampa Bay, Phoenix has undergone huge growth in the past 50 or 60 years, and local transportation has failed to keep up with the demand.

Until now.

On Saturday (that’s Dec. 27, 2008) Phoenix unveiled its new light rail system with a big party that included everything from free train rides to live music (by, among others, Grand Funk Railroad). Nearly 100,000 residents turned out for the region-wide shindig.

The new system cost $1.4 billion and, for now, only runs the 20 miles between central Phoenix and Mesa. But the system will expand and grow to include many other areas in the coming years.

It took about 15 years to plan the system, and then another four years to build it. Financing it was tricky, just as it will be here if light rail ever comes to Tampa Bay. Still, the Phoenixites (Phoenixers? Phoenicians?) got it done with a special transportation tax along with federal grants and sales taxes.

Planners in Phoenix say the system should have a huge positive effect on downtown business, should lighten auto traffic significantly, and should encourage housing near the rail line and discourage sprawl. In other words, it will be more than just a transportation system; it should also change the face of the overall Phoenix community for the better.

Fares are $1.25 per ride, or you can get an all-day pass for $2.50.

If you compare the new Phoenix system with what could take place here in Tampa Bay, keep in mind the 20-mile range of the Phoenix light rail system; that’s about that same distance as downtown St. Petersburg to downtown Tampa. That image may disappoint those of us who live in North Pinellas County. But if they built a St. Pete-to-Tampa track and started service there, it would be only a matter of time before the service reached north into our part of the county.

Imagine a big circular route from St. Pete over to Tampa, out through New Tampa and then west to North Pinellas or even South Pasco, then down to South Pinellas again. Wouldn’t that be great?

If you want to learn more about the Phoenix system, go to http://www.raillife.com/.

Tags: light rail, phoenix

Maybe doggie dining wasn’t such a great idea after all

Back a few months ago I posted a blog entry about a new Florida state law that allowed restaurants to let diners bring their dogs along. There were a number of restrictions — the local communities had to sign on to the bill, and the restaurants had to have outside dining facilities, for example — but a number of restaurants signed on.

One of the local restaurants was Moon Under Water in St. Petersburg. Plenty of Moon Under Water patrons started bringing their dogs along for lunch and dinner. (The dogs had to stay on the floor, but still…)

Well, things got a little out of hand at Moon Under Water. Lots and lots (and lots) of dog owners started bringing their dogs. People and their dogs lined up out on the sidewalk, waiting for tables. Dogs urinated (and worse) on the sidewalks. Some dog owners were outraged that their dogs had to stay on the floor, so arguments weren’t unusual.

So on Jan. 11, Moon Under Water changed its mind. No doggies allowed anymore.

Tags: dogs, pinellas county, restaurants

Who took “affordable” out of Affordable Housing?

Many people have benefited very nicely as property values in Pinellas County have moved upward. But higher values also cause problems, and people who live in inexpensive housing often pay the biggest penalty.

One example that we see in Pinellas County is what happens to mobile home parks — and to the people who live in them — as prices move upwards.

Some of the most affordable housing in this part of Florida can be found in mobile home parks. Many of these parks were founded more than 20 years ago, and some of them are considerably older than that. Many of them started operations when the surrounding land was little more than orange groves.

But as development has grown up around them, the land that these parks occupy has become more and more valuable. Many of those park owners come to realize that the most profitable path is to sell the parks to developers, who can turn them into commercial developments or even into enclaves for upscale homes.

Residents of these parks, who may have lived there for 20, 30 or even more years, have little recourse. They usually own their mobile homes, but they rent the land that they sit on. If a park owner decides to sell, there is usually little that the residents can do but move on. If they are lucky, they may be able to find a vacant lot in another park, and pay to have their mobile home moved. But empty lot spaces are rare, and many of the mobile homes are too old to be successfully and safely moved, anyway.

The latest example of all this locally is Lakeside Mobile Home Park, a 28-acre site that sites at the intersection of Gulf-To-Bay and Belcher Road in Clearwater. That is one of the busiest intersections in North Pinellas, with around 80,000 vehicles buzzing by on either of the two roads every day.

The owner of the park has notified its 200-plus residents that they must get out by the end of 2006. The landowners say they are not selling the land to nayone else, but they are also not saying at this point what their plans are for the site.

Whatever happens to Lakeside, the people who live there will have to go elsewhere. And they are not alone. Every year, more mobile home residents in Pinellas County learn that they will have to move. Some end up having to move to less developed (and less expensive) areas of Florida, because they have been pretty much priced out of Pinellas.

It’s a tough reality for residents, many of whom are elderly, retired and living on fixed incomes.

Tags: affordable housing, mobile homes, pinellas county

Are lower taxes in Pasco County’s future?

Could property taxes actually be headed down in Pasco County?

That’s the way it looks, even though most property owners have experienced recent tax increases as the value of their properties has gone up.

So why should property taxes be headed down? Because the county’s tax base has been headed steeply up, driven by the continuing upswing in development. All that new construction has resulted in a much more valuable tax base, up an estimated 27 percent in 2006 over 2005.

Mike Wells, the Pasco County tax appraiser, says the tax base was $19.9 billion in 2005, but will be an estimated $25.3 billion this year. That is the biggest one-year tax base increase ever recorded in the county.

When the tax base has grown in the past, county officials have responded by dropping the millage rate, and many of them are predicting that another drop in the tax rate should be coming up, thanks to the expanding tax base.

County officials say that if the millage rate is not dropped, the broadened tax base should generate an additional $87 million or more in new tax revenues.

Tags: Pasco County, taxes