Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

This Thursday, commissioners will consider several changes to our Land Development Code including two proposals affecting traffic: one good change, proposed by our county transportation planners, and one bad change, proposed by developers (well, by their lawyers). Developers are loudly opposing the planners’ proposal, while the planners oppose the developers’ proposal. Who will our commissioners listen to: the developers or the planners? Citizens need to weigh in or our commissioners may change the rules to suit developers, making traffic around here even worse.

“Transportation concurrency” requirements are supposed to ensure that new development does not overwhelm our roads with too much traffic. Ideally, ‘concurrency’ requires a developer to either prove the additional traffic from his project won’t overwhelm the roads, or improve the roads so that they can handle the additional traffic. The planners’ proposal would add a few teeth to concurrency, while the developers’ proposal would knock a few teeth out.

The developers’ proposal (08-0364) would allow a developer to get “vested” against concurrency, by making some road improvements several years before he builds anything, and without completely specifying what he will build later. Once a developer got vested, he could change his plans to increase the intensity of his land use, and increase his project’s traffic demands on the local roads, without having to improve the roads to handle the increased traffic. If, in the years between his vesting and his building, traffic increased on the roads so that his project would no longer meet concurrency, he would get to build anyway, even though his project’s traffic would overwhelm the roads.

This is, after all, the point of getting vested against traffic concurrency: so that at a later date, when it turns out that what you want to build would doom the community to nightmarish traffic jams, you can just go ahead and build anyway with your “get out of concurrency free” card. Vested rights means we taxpayers must pay to improve the roads — either that or we pay with our time and gas money wasted in gridlock.

Citizens opposing Little Harbor’s attempts to further degrade Ruskin’s quality of life should oppose the developer’s proposal (it’s the same applicant: Bricklemyer, Smolker & Bolves), because this firm has amply demonstrated the evils of allowing developers to enjoy vested rights. Little Harbor was approved for way too many condos back in the ’80s, and now that they are finally getting around to building them, they don’t have to trouble themselves with the fact that lots of other development has been built since the ’80s, so that their development will now overwhelm the local roads. They just wave their vested rights in our faces and proceed to ruin the neighborhood.

We need less of this vested rights nonsense, not more.

The planners’ proposal (08-0396) is a sensible change that would require developers to provide adequate entrances/exits for new developments, and limit development wherever the developer could not provide enough access points to handle his project’s traffic. When a large subdivision has only one or two access points, they often have to use a traffic light to control the traffic at that point, but this slows down the traffic on the local roads and negatively impacts the surrounding community. In addition to the quality of life issue, there is a safety issue: without enough access points large subdivisions cannot safely evacuate in case of fire, hurricane or other emergency, and one big subdivision pouring out of one little gate can clog up the surrounding road system in a large evacuation.

If you can’t provide enough roads and driveways to handle your project, then you should scale down the project. Period.

Citizens opposing the new subdivision (The Reserve at Westlake) that would add 2 new roads in rural East Hillsborough — one through the Balm Scrub (ELAPP) Preserve and the other over Bullfrog Creek and its wetlands — should support the planners’ proposal, because if it is approved it should limit the housing that could be built in this sensitive area, which is the “hole in the donut” surrounded by environmentally sensitive land. The developer is proposing 1089 homes — way too much housing for the two roads. The reasonable thresholds proposed by our transportation planners would not allow this many houses on just these two access roads, so if this rule is adopted the developer would have to build less housing (or find other access routes which isn’t likely here) and in this rural, ecologically sensitive area, less housing and less traffic would be a very good thing. (See my update & sample opposition letter on that.)

Here’s my letter to our commissioners asking them to approve the planners’ proposal (08-0396) and deny the developers’ proposal (08-0364). (There are other proposals besides these two [all in this big pdf], so if you provide input, you should note those numbers.) Here are some comments from U-CAN. As our commissioners consider these measures that can help or harm our community as we grow, they should do so with plenty of input from all of us.

The first public hearing is Thursday, May 15, and the final hearing is June 12. Both are at 6:00 p.m. at County Center. You can speak to your commissioners about these Land Development Code changes at either hearing, or write to them. They may have their minds made up before the final hearing (yes, really!) so I encourage you to speak up as soon as possible.

One of your most basic needs is transportation. In order to get those wonderful things you want, see all there is to see, and get to work to afford all of that, you gotta find your way around town.

Unfortunately, the price of gas in Tampa Bay is as high as it has ever been, and in Forbes’ recent report of the Best And Worst Cities For Commuters, the Tampa area ranks #6 in worst commutes:

No. 6: Tampa, Fla.: Tampa commuters are victims of urban sprawl. As late as 2005, 25% of area properties were classified as investment properties; this rate was almost double the national average. What does this have to do with commuting? It’s a good sign that the city is spread out. While Tampa exhibits a very low population density, commuters are stuck in traffic delays 45 hours a year, and 7% take more than an hour to get to work.

There are alternatives to driving, but they are not as easy to find as you might think. Here is an quick list of local transportation websites that may help you in your search for a better or at least cheaper way to get around.

Bay Area Commuter Services, Inc. (BACS) is one of the Florida Department of Transportation’s nine commuter assistance programs within the state. It is a private, non-profit organization founded and funded by the State of Florida Department of Transportation to promote transportation alternatives to the single-occupant vehicle in the Tampa Bay area and surrounding counties. The agency operates in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. Their stated mission is to enhance the region’s economic prosperity by actively influencing the reduction of traffic growth and air pollution by promoting commute options and developing new programs to help reduce peak hour traffic congestion for businesses and the community.

BACS helps publish the Tampa Bay Commuter. The TBC is a publication that encourages alternative transportation for commuting to work, such as mass transit, carpooling, and riding your bike. The Tampa Bay Commuter is independently published by 2Plus, Inc., a private non-profit corporation, in cooperation with Bay Area Commuter Services, and is supported by funds from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), grants, and through the Hillsborough and Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organizations. It does not reflect the official views or policies of FDOT or BACS.

Use the Tampa Bay Commuter to find ways to share rides (carpool) around the Tampa Bay area.

And then there is mass transit.

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is in charge of busing you through Pinellas county, which includes the tourist-friendly beach trolley. Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) runs mass transit for Hillsborough County. Three weekday buses travel between the two counties - PSTA’s 100X and 300X, and HART’s 200X.

You can also use the TECO Line Streetcar to get from south downtown Tampa to Ybor City. The USF Bull Runner runs five routes within the University of South Florida and over to the University Square Mall. All USF students, faculty, staff and visitors can ride the Bull Runner for free.

HART’s schedule is featured on Google Transit, but PSTA’s is not.

Finally, there is the promise of a regional transportation plan coming in the future.

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) - was created as an agency of the state on July 1, 2007 to plan, develop, finance, construct, own, purchase, operate, maintain, relocate, equip, repair, and manage multimodal systems in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota Counties. The authority’s purpose is to improve mobility and expand multimodal transportation options for passengers and freight throughout the seven-county region.

But we’ll see about that.

We told you about the south Florida governments clamoring to cut the state in two to form a 51st state, but we did not realize that this happens all the time, all over the country.

Oh, we know that in talks of adding states, Puerto Rico sometimes is mentioned, as is the District of Columbia.  But the talk of states splitting is apparently all the rage.

We were surprised to hear that just this year, an Athens columnist suggested splitting Georgia in two in order to solve the Atlanta-Alabama-Georgia-Florida water wars, which was seconded by a Valdosta newspaper.

We also hadn’t heard about an effort for northern California and southern Oregon to quit their respective states, creating the new State of Jefferson.  That effort has been going on since 1941.

Over the years, U.S. state secession proposals have come from more than 30 of the 50 states, including parts of tiny, tiny Rhode Island.

The only people who succeeded in seceding from a state to become their own state was Maine - they used be part of Massachusetts.

So I guess if you South Floridians wanna leave the rest of your state, you better get in line.

The traditional "Alien Visits Earth" story often has the intergalactic tourist inquiring about our Big Man On Campus:  "Take me to your leader!" the alien demands. 

Where would you start if that guy showed up here today?

When looking for leadership, it makes sense to look to elected officials - we literally chose these people to represent us.  And the biggest figurehead stateside is the President of the United States.  Unfortunately, George Bush has a job approval rating of about 22%, and hasn’t seen 50% for three years.  I’d say that’s a real lack of confidence in his leadership skills.  Good thing he is leaving soon.  As for his eventual replacement, it may only be slightly better. With the blessing from party "leaders," Presidential wannabees seem to be more concerned about making each other look bad, rather than offering solid ideas to lead the country forward.

Because it seems they are constantly campaigning, US Legislators, Governors, and State Legislators are focused on keeping the status quo, rather than taking any chances on pissing off the electorate.  In addition, back room deals are a-plenty, and many of these folks are simply making connections, and granting favors on your dime, in the hopes of parlaying it all into a great paying job in the private sector.

In Hillsborough County, to whom would you take the alien?  Jim Norman?  Brian Blair?  Pat Bean?  With exception of maybe Mark and Rose, your county commission would first want to know what the alien would be able to do for them personally.

You may have better luck with Tampa’s City Council, but you are just as likely to show up in the middle of some pissy foot-stomping.

Given the mixed results in politics, perhaps we should look for leaders in other areas.

What about the business world?  Well, corporate leaders make more headlines for outrageous salaries or getting caught in scandals rather than for any real leadership efforts.  I have to agree with Bill Lane when he says there are no Jack Welchs or Lee Iacoccas anymore.

Media?  They can’t even keep their own house straight.

Sports?  Bill Belichick is the latest star, and he is a cheater and a classless sore loser.

Embarrassing, isn’t it?

Perhaps I’m too cynical.  I’m sure there are several great examples of leadership right here in the bay area.  Who do you admire for putting community ahead of self?

In the meantime, should the curious alien land in my back yard, I’ll offer him an iced tea and a sandwich, make sure to keep the television off, and tell him my wife will be home shortly.

We have said before that Buddy Johnson is not fit to be the Supervisor of Elections.  He continues to prove us right.

He’s not real good with the money stuff:  Thanks to his banker’s generous lending policy, the guy has property all over the Tampa Bay area, yet he seems to have trouble paying his taxes on time.

He not real good with bad employees:  Buddy Johnson has a history of letting people go with big severance pay on the condition of silence.  To be fair, that practice is county-wide and like the Tribune, we would like to know what’s up with that.

He hires and promotes questionably:  Johnson hired his boyhood Little League teammate Jim Reed in 2003 at $50,000.   Reed got five raises or promotions within 19 months, and left the office this week making $125,000.  Reed is wisely bailing on Johnson to move to Virginia to be with his wife, former Managing Editor of the Tampa Tribune, Donna Reed.

At least he is competent at the election stuff, right?  Uh, nope.  He has non-citizens registering to vote, and mistakes in nearly every election are well documented, too.  Not to mention his attempt to collect illegal contributions for his own campaign.

Still, through all of that, he is undeterred, and is running for reelection as Supervisor of Elections this year.

I suppose he still has his connections.  For instance, his campaign treasurer is also his banker.

There is no way that even county Republicans can get behind this guy for reelection.

So the question is will they find someone to run against him in the primary?  Or will they just concede the race to Phyllis?

Commissioner Brian Blair says that those Hillsborough County students who want to honor a "Day of Silence" need to just shut up.  Errr.. need to NOT shut up.  Or something.

Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) will be renaming the "Southern Transportation Plaza" after former mayor Dick Greco.  It’s only fair, since that Dick promised the city would be on the hook for the boondoggle that is the streetcar system.  A bronze likeness of him sitting on a bench will be moved to the "Dick Greco Transportation Plaza" in May.

Your Hillsborough County Commissioners don’t know everything about everything, so back in the day, they created several "citizens’ boards" and councils, and depend on them for recommendations in regards to various areas of government nosiness.

For instance, the Affordable Housing Advisory Board makes recommendations on issues affecting affordable housing development.  There are bunches of boards, such as CHILDREN’S SERVICES, CODE ENFORCEMENT, HISTORIC RESOURCES, HOSPITAL AUTHORITY, LAND USE APPEALS, PLUMBING BOARD, PUBLIC LIBRARY, WATER CONSERVATION, and so on, and so forth…

Usually, those who serve on these boards must have some experience with the subject at hand, so they know what the heck they are talking about, and Commissioners get helpful advice.  Every now and again, the county puts out a call for volunteers to apply to serve on these advisory committees.

For years and years, the General Manager of Busch Gardens has had a seat on the Hillsborough County Tourist Development Council.  Makes sense, since they probably bring more tourists to town than any other place.  But a funny thing happened on the way through the process this time around.  Turns out some guy named Alligator Bob got the gig, and Busch Gardens is left out on the Serengeti Plain.

Alligator Bob Young runs Alligator Bob’s Ecotours (and gator jerky meat snacks emporium), and asked for votes from commissioners who are fellow members of the county Republican Executive Committee.  He was voted in 6-1.

Alligator Bob knew he was up against the big corporation, and was shocked when he learned that he got the position:

"I really didn’t think I stood a chance in hell of getting it," Young said with a laugh. "I’m feeling good now."

It seems that the current GM of BG simply assumed he was a shoo-in, and didn’t bother to let some of the commissioners know he was interested in serving.  In fact, it looks like BG GM Donald Mills didn’t even introduce himself:

"[Alligator Bob] asked for my support at the last Republican Executive Committee meeting," said commission Chairman Ken Hagan, who said he did not know Mills is general manager at Busch Gardens (emphasis added).

Of course, that’s a quote from Ken Hagan - there is no telling what he ever really knows.

Dan Ruth says that Ken and the rest of the commission should have just known who the guy is, but I’m siding with your HCBOCC on this one.  The vote was six to one - it’s not like it was close.  If Busch Gardens wanted the volunteer post, then perhaps they ought to have let commissioners know.  And assuming Donald Mills has at least the slightest bit of intelligence, you might conclude that Busch Gardens really doesn’t care either way.