S. O'Brien St. Rezoning Delayed

Thursday evening City Council voted to continue the hearing on New Millenial Homes' request to rezone a portion of the southernmost block of S. O'Brien from IG (Industrial General) to PD (Planned Development). They'll have to try again on May 18th.

Council members Saul-Sena and Dingfelder took the lead in emphasizing that "cookie cutter" development won't pass muster. In other words, New Millenial will not be able to win approval for 5 houses with identical elevations. They also struck a blow against garages with houses attached. (You've seen these houses. The garage is the primary architectural feature facing the street-perhaps with a tiny covered stoop over the hard to find front door.)

Watching the tail end of the hearing being replayed this morning, it appeared to me that New Millennial Homes representative Anthony Galarza was no more prepared for Council than he was for the CAPT meeting in March. The varied pictures he sent to Jill Buford to pass around at the April CAPT meeting were not reflected in the site plan presented to council. When he showed Council the pictures they were not impressed, because they appear to be all garage. Councilman Dingfelder told Galarza that since they were asking for a PD they should look at asking for a waiver of setback requirements to allow building a porte-co-chere beside the houses. This would minimize the need to park cars at the front of the house, or worse yet, on the lawns.

Had to take the husband to the airport this morning so I missed seeing someone who must have spoken in opposition to the rezoning, as council members did refer to citizen opposition. I'll see if I can track that down and will post an addition later.

My personal feeling is that the driveways on the site plan do need to be extended down the side of the houses to at least allow tandem parking that puts two cars beside the house rather than in front. A porte-co-chere would be even better. Also, though I'm glad to see some houses coming in at what is now the lower end of the Port Tampa price range, a few cosmetic changes to building facades makes for a nicer looking neighborhood without increasing costs to the builder and ultimately the buyer. Props to Dingfelder and Saul-Sena for supporting requiring developers to build in a way that enhances the neighborhood.

Bottom line, New Millennial will have to work with City staff to come up with a site plan and elevations that are more acceptable to Council.

Pie and Chips

"Who doesn't like free pie and chips?" Gecko

I don't remember what search terms landed me at "Boy Stupid and His Brother Productions" but here is my favorite of some shorts and at least one award winner:Good Bad Music Video

Turns out the talented film maker's day job is in L'Angelus a Cajun/Country/Southern Rock Band.

Now you know why my lawn needs mowing and the dog hasn't been brushed all week. At least I made it a whole week without completing an online quiz.

Good Eats SOG: Gengiz Khan

While we in Port Tampa long for a place with Cafe con Leche, pastries, maybe a full menu and of course great atmosphere with shaded outdoor seating it will be a while before 1893 opens. In the meantime the husband, daughter and I find ourselves at Gengiz Khan Mediterranean Grill,on MacDill at Interbay. The husband has spent a lot of time in the Middle East recently and I ate more than a few meals in Jordan and Egypt in a past life so we absolutely love this place. The food, and the service, are both authentic. That means the food is great, the service, well let's just say it's unhurried and in three visits unfailingly hilarious. When the parents visited in January our party of five had a fantastic time, the whole two and a half hours we were there.

"I'd like the vegetable soup."
"We're out of that."
"I'd like the meat platter."
"We're out of beef, you can have it with just lamb and chicken."
"Wow, how many people ordered it tonight?"
"None."
"I'm sorry your custard took so long. We just made it."

Custard to order? That's an interesting move since it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get it to even think about setting up, which it didn't. The creamy mass on the plate was ugly as all get out, but my mother took one bite and rescinded her offer to share. We enjoyed spending a whole evening on dinner, as did a party of 8 who arrived before us and finished their meals after us. In the meantime,however, several parties of two left out of frustration with the slow service. It's a shame, their wait would have been amply rewarded. I haven't visited the kitchen but the daughter's keen hearing always tells us when the oven door opens to another loaf of the bread they serve with humus while you peruse the menu.

While we had no trouble with the daughter's falafel appetizer coming out with her grandmother's dessert, Gengiz Khan will have to work out some service kinks if they want to succeed. We're going back next week some time so I'll let you know if things have improved.

Note: Gengiz Khan is closed Mondays.

What's Going Where Wednesday, Week 2

CAPT president Jill Buford presented a proposed site plan at the Civic Association meeting last night and no one in attendance liked what Centex Homes/Guyton Energy Corp. is proposing for this site across the street from the library.

As proposed, it appears the primary architectural features visible from Commerce Street will be car wash bays and gas pumps. Discussion after the meeting centered around neighborhood desires for storefronts facing Commerce with parking to the rear, and plenty of sidewalks to promote walking as a major way to get to any new businesses. More info will follow next month when Sue Murphy of Centex comes to speak at the Civic Association meeting. (May 23, 7:00PM)

Also on next month's schedule is Wayne McClain of Keystone Homes, developers of the Villas at Westshore (covered in last week'sWGWW). Construction is well along on this project at Prescott and Kissimmee so Port Tampans will be most interested in what he has to say about Keystone's proposed development of single family homes on Interbay, and mixed retail/residential proposed for Kissimmee south of the library. The current status of this location is not good, with boarded up buildings and vacant lots on one side, and very run down 4-plex apartment buildings on the other.

No Objection to Rezoning on S. O'Brien

New Millennial Homes representative Anthony Galarza did not attend last night's CAPT meeting, but he did send pictures and copies of the site plan for their property on S. O'Brien, adjoining MacDill AFB. The company plans to build homes similar to this one located on S. Morton St. which they built a few years ago. CAPT President Jill Buford said the board has no objection to rezoning the property from IG (Industrial General) to PD, so that five buildable lots can be carved out of the vacant property on both sides of the street. No one from the general membership disagreed with the board recommendation. City Council will hear the rezoning request on Thursday evening.

Civic Association Meeting-Casa Bella

Casa Bella representatives attended the Civic Association meeting last night, bringing pictures, and answers, this time. Last month we asked: How is Casa Bella mitigating encroachment into the wetland buffer, more specifically the mangroves, on the bay side of the property? As seen in this photo, approaching the property from the southwest corner (lower right of photo), stormwater filters and drains border the property along the west. These will be covered, and the area landscaped. The strip of natural area is lost, however, the strip of land between Casa Bella and Camden apartments on the northwest has been cleared of non-native plants and will be mantained in a natural state. The site plan, with Westshore on the right, shows the greenway trail on the south with the ends of neighboring streets encroaching at the end of each cul de sac. Spokesman Nicholas Husak indicated this will be landscaped in accordance with their agreement with the city. For a better look at the site plan check the Casa Bella web site.

Landfill Link and other Esoterica

I know, I know, I'd get a lot more hits if I titled this Landfill Link and other Erotica, but this is not that kind of blog.

The Link Every time I mention the location of some Port Tampa project in relationship to "the hill" at the south end of Wall St. between Wall and Manhattan I am reminded that I really don't know much about Port Tampa's official dumping history. (See my post about unofficial dumping.) I was delighted then when I noticed that Seminole Heights posted this nifty link to the City of Tampa Historic Landfill Assessment Program Find a landfill location on the map, then click away to look at current status, history, and pictures taken in 1998.

The Esoterica Dale Mabry Hitches, located just south of Home Depot, has the most interesting collection of SOG stuff I've seen in one place. A "Tampa Jai Alai, Bus Parking Only" sign adorns a door to the office and a super collection of vintage post cards is displayed just inside the front door. There is even a card of the wharf in Port Tampa.

Port Tampa Meetings This Week

If you haven't attended a Civic Association of Port Tampa (CAPT) meeting for a while, or haven't joined the association yet, this would be a good time to change your ways. The April meeting is tomorrow night, April 25th, at the Rec. Center on Lancaster, 7:00PM. Folks from Casa Bella, New Millenial Homes, and the proposed 1893 restaurant will be there.

New Millennial is asking for a zoning change from IG (Industrial General) to PD (Planned Development-residential) so they can build houses on the southernmost block of S. O'Brien St. The lots border MacDill and aren't deep enough to meet the 50x100 dimensions for the RS50 designation.

Casa Bella is coming back to talk about sidewalks and other Greenway and waterfront access issues.

1893 is going to need community support for some rezoning, parking issues, and once the doors are open, to keep it open through our patronage.

Wednesday night at 7:00PM join the Friends of the Library at the Port Tampa City Library. Digitizing the old Port Tampa City records and a sign to alert motorists to the building's location will be be discussed, as well as new business.

Pie and Chips

Because, as a little reptilian spokesmodel says "Who doesn't like free pie and chips?" Here are a few interesting things I've stumbled across this week that made me laugh out loud.

Ali G Interviews Noam Chomsky, in case you think Ali G only interviews athletes. (Discovered via 3quarksdaily)

James Webb on the Colbert Report Best selling novelist, Vietnam vet, Naval Academy grad, and former Republican, Democrat Jim Webb is running for the US Senate in Virginia. (Discovered via Born Fighting: Webb for Senate.)

City Responds Swiftly to Illegal Dumping Complaint

Curious about the New Millennial Homes site on S. O'Brien, I wandered over there after the last Civic Association of Port Tampa (CAPT) meeting and took a few pictures. At the end of the street are some concrete barriers that seem to be made primarily for disguising illegal dumping, as seen in this picture. I have to admit I sat on the info, just stewing, for a couple days before contacting the city. Once I did submit my complaint, via tampagov.net the code enforcement folks responded immediately via e-mail then some time this week hauled the stuff away. That's about 18 days from my complaint to the stuff being gone. Of course 18 hours would have been better, but hey one e-mail from someone who doesn't even live adjacent to the property and it was taken care of. A code enforcement officer even called once to explain there would be a delay to get the right personnel and equipment to get behind the barriers. When she said "delay" I was thinking weeks, not a few days. If you see trash accumulated on a public right of way report it at tampagov.net. We don't have to let our neighborhood get dumped on!

SOG News You May Have Missed

Thursday-The Tribune's Dulcinea Cuellar reported on the upcoming Sale at the Jail. Scheduled for 9:00 AM on Saturday, May 6th, Port Tampa residents can bring stuff to sell but cannot leave anything that doesn't sell behind. Call (813) 766-1620 for more information. The old jail is located next to the fire station on West Ingraham Street, between Kissimmee and Juanita.

Also in Thursday's Tribune, and technically not SOG since both locations are on Gandy-on the north side of the street at that:

Starbucks Gets OK on Gandy and Road Project Claims Shell Station. The gas tanks are already out and the station will come down in preparation for the Gandy Blvd. improvement project which is scheduled to begin this fall. City council approved the Starbucks rezoning request for a store and outdoor seating to be built on 19,000sf of parking lot at Publix (the one near Target at Gandy and Dale Mabry). The owner of Jammin' Java, at Gandy and Himes, opposed approval.

Military (Army anyway) Myths Part II

Army families have been in the news a lot lately, for the sad likeLeather and Honor, and the silly sign controversy, and the press just doesn't seem to be able to get any of the stories completely right. So, a few corrections of some details that really aren't all that important. They do make me wonder though. If reporters get the easily researched little details wrong, how well can they do with the bigger more difficult things?

Myth #1-Funerals with full military honors include a "21 gun salute." Wrong, wrong, wrong. Twenty-one gun salutes are reserved for heads of state and are fired from artillery pieces. The three rifle shots fired in unison by seven honor guard members at a military funeral are actually a "volley of musketry," or in more common parlance, a "rifle volley" or "rifle salute." The Washington Post seems to be the only paper to get this right consistently, but with Arlington National Cemetery nearby they should.

Myth #2-A Private is a Private is a Private and a Sergeant is a Sergeant is a Sergeant. It may seem that Sergeant (SGT) and Sergeant First Class (SFC), or Private (PVT) and Private First Class (PFC)are interchangeable. In speaking one would refer to both the SGT and SFC as "Sergeant Smith," and PVT or PFC Smith as Private Smith, but in writing a distinction should be made at least in first reference. The SFC is two pay grades above the SGT and has commensurately greater experience and responsibility. Quote the SFC who is serving as a platoon sergeant on the unit mission and she carries a little more credibility than the SGT. (By the way, platoon sergeant is a job description, not a rank, and Staff Sergeant SSG comes between SGT and SFC. No way am I going to try to explain the other services.)

Myth #3-Everyone serving in the Middle Eastern theater of operations, or simply "in theater," is "deployed." Deployment usually refers to temporary duty away from a unit's home station and is indefinite, but normally not longer than 18-24 months. Many units are based permanently in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Uzbekistan, but the personnel rotate out just as they have been doing for 50+ years in Korea, Japan, and Europe. This is a distinction that does matter, because the establishment of units permanently based in theater predated official pronouncements that this would be a "long war." I think most media outlets missed it.

What's Going Where Wednesday

Henceforth Port Tampa will cover new building developments on Wednesdays. If you have questions about a notice you see posted, a new building, or the demolition of an old building, post a comment and Port Tampa will research and report. Here we have a rendering of the front elevation of the townhouses Keystone is putting up at 4859 Prescott (just across from Thomas Townhomes). These three bedroom 2 1/2 bath units are priced from $389,900.

Gaspar Properties'
Hemingway townhouses are going in 2 blocks west of Keystone's development and are priced from $359,000. I'm willing to bet the Hemingway will have a water view from the third floor. I toured a Thomas Townhome, one block east of the Gaspar lots, in January '05 and could see the St. Pete skyline from the master bedroom.

Just another way to avoid really working...

I write a "how to" column for Military Spouse magazine, published bi-monthly and available nationwide at bookstores near military installations, on bases, and by subscription through Military Spouse Magazine.com. (Pardon the shameless self promotion.)

My latest piece is done, and a fine bit of work it was on "how to change a lock." But I'm now supposed to be working on a feature about "Military family support on the web." I should be doing one on how to avoid the time sucking, motivation destroying, lures of the online quiz. Below is Port Tampa's "Creature Nemesis."

Port Tampa's creature-nemesis:

The Dreaded BLOWFISH

'What creature will become your nemesis?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Home Buyer Sanity May Be Returning

Long time Port Tampa residents have been shaking their heads in wonder for over a year now. New construction of bigger houses, with more luxury options, priced 3-4 times higher than the surrounding properties, were an oddity at first. Then construction started on a dozen or so in-fill projects, all with big price tags. Finally Inland started selling homes in the South Tampa Square development at the south end of Wall St. and the "starting from" prices were all 520K and up. Perhaps they were just feeling around for their highest price point, or maybe the overall market is softening, but a quick check of Inland Homes, Now Selling! reveals a retreat from those dizzying heights. Prices are now listed at $460,900-$482,900. This sudden bout of sanity can only help the neighborhood. When the For Sale signs quit sprouting we don't need foreclosure notices to take their place.

Interbay (Port Tampa) Relay for Life Needs Team Captains

What is relay?Relay For Life is a community gathering where everyone can participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people will camp out at the Port Tampa Recereation Center on May 19-20 and take turns walking or running around the baseball field. The relay is an overnight event where each team has a representative walking at all times during the event-because cancer never sleeps.

That's a paraphrase of the American Cancer Society's brochure. I know from personal experience that it's a super experience from the hundreds of luminaria that will be lit to honor those we've lost, to the survivors that we'll honor during the Survivors Lap. If you are reluctant to participate because of the fundraising commitment check out the online fundraising option. I always start with hitting up my family and friends who are breast cancer survivors. Sadly it's a fairly long list, but happily they are here to contribute rather than have luminarias lit in their honor.

You can sign up by clicking here and visiting the Relay for Life event web site. Need more info? Call Heather Winberry (813) 254-3630 ext. 306 or email heather.winberry@cancer.org

If you'd like to participate, but don't have a team to join, don't hesitate to call Heather so she can put you in contact with a team looking for members.

Garden Mourning

I've been moping around since Christmas. The husband bought me a lovely Sago Palm from a local, that is SOG, nursery that is open only on Saturdays. I finally planted it yesterday. Granted, I had the excuse of needing to move the sadly misplaced Dracaena which occupied the Sago's spot, but that doesn't truly explain my tardiness. I would walk by it and say "I'll plant you tomorrow." I said those words, but I lied them. Sad though I was at seeing this dinosaur of the plant world still in the black plastic nursery container, I couldn't bring myself to dig about in the garish orange mulch our builder used. I can't fault him. He used some top notch talent in designing our landscape and irrigation system, but insisted on the awful dyed mulch to appeal to buyers of houses he didn't yet have under contract.

For all its fine qualities I have trouble taking any pleasure in this yard. I miss my mid-Atlantic garden of ten gardening seasons. Yes, I mean ten years, unheard of in a military family. We couldn't sell our suburban DC house, at least not for any more than we had in it, the first time we left so we rented it out for three years. I was able to return to my garden, and the triumphs and mistakes that came with it. I spent more hours eradicating English ivy than I care to admit. Honeysuckle, nandina, mint, mimosa trees. Catalogues called them exuberant, or easy, I knew very well they could be trouble, but I wasn't going to marry them-we were only going to date for a while.

Then a five year drought broke while the renters were in charge. With absolutely no attention the perennial border filled to bursting with daisies, the "dwarf" heather bolted to three feet tall and clematis climbed up the coach lamp pole cascading down in luminescent blue. By the time I returned to it, the rhododendron planted to screen the electric meter screened the entire side yard from the street. Sadly, I lost a Japanese Maple to a marauding beaver but its remaining twin grew into a lovely specimen, ready to receive an understory of blue quilted hosta divided and moved from another part of the yard. The front yard redbud was spectacular in its purple spring garb and glorious shade shielded our house from the afternoon sun. I don't miss the house at all, it was never my dream house, but I grieve for the garden.

Now that the Sago is in the ground, the Draecana moved, some liriope divided and moved, a day lily moved and the entire front border weeded I finally feel I can move on. Missing a couple hundred tulip bulbs and asiatic lilies is no excuse for neglecting what I do have. A butterfly garden will rise out of the neglected patch near our mail box. I will make a point of enjoying the hibiscus. I will flirt with orchid addiction. I will grow enough basil to eat pesto every night. I'll neglect my family in favor of trips to plant sales and gardens. I'll covet the antique plants of my neighbors and find myself knocking on strangers' doors to ask for cuttings or divisions. I'll trade home cooking for plants. I will love and grieve again, because I am a gardener.

Is Port Tampa ghetto?

Was making the rounds on MacDill AFB this morning with Relay for Life coordinator, Heather Winberry of the American Cancer Society, and found myself having to rise in defense of our neighborhood. We were talking to people about the Interbay Relay for Life coming up in May at the Port Tampa Recreation Center when someone asked "Why are you having it there, it's so ghetto?" Which led me to wonder what hallmarks of ghettodom are present here in our neighborhood.

Crime? A review of stats shows we live in one of the safer neighborhoods in Tampa. I took the time to compare the 4 grids which lie either entirely, or partly, in Port Tampa with Davis Islands and the Beach Park/Culbreath Bayou area and find we have a few more problems with vandalism, they have more drunks behind the wheel. We run neck and neck for low score in all other areas.

Substandard housing? Ok, the rental units visible from Interbay and Westshore, our two main streets, certainly aren't "upscale" and could use some attention to landscaping so I'll give the speaker the benefit of the doubt. When seen from a car just passing through they do have a ghettoesque ambience, if one has never seen real blight. I would direct his attention to block upon block of abandoned row houses in Baltimore, a city in mid-renaisance.

Abandoned buildings? We do have more than our share. But the old city hall/library just came down and CAPT is active in identifying properties in need of attention from code enforcement. Think a property is getting a little long in the tooth? Blink and someone will tear it down to build something new. It won't be too long before over half the single family homes in Port Tampa will be over 2000sf and built since 2003.

Bad schools? Westshore Elementary and Monroe Middle are both A rated. It won't be long before the rising tide lifts Robinson High's boat. In the meantime, send my kid to an undercapacity school over an overcrowded one any day. As a teacher I know even the best schools leave many kids behind, and with the IB program and aeronautical academy Robinson has a lot to offer the motivated student.

Pervasive lack of safety? Not at all, and I sure wish we could get our money back from ADT. Our stay-at-home, retiree, neighbors who know right away when something is amiss are the world's best crime prevention network.

How about lack of civic involvement? Don't say that around the dedicated CAPT, Friends of the Library, or Port Tampa Women's Club members. They'll soon have you attending meetings and helping with a civic improvement project.

Ghetto?! I was so angry I could have...well then, that would have played into the violence stereotype.

Art Museum Wish Lists

I have no formal training in art. Any appreciation, or knowledge, I have can be directly attributed to my father being in the army and my mother loving museums. We lived in a lot of different places so there was always a new museum for Mom to drag us to. One I loathed as a kid, and now tour whenever I can, is the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fok Art Gallery in Williamsburg, VA (currently closed for renovation). My admiration was increased beyond measure a few years ago when I had a brief window of time to find and buy a stuffed sheep of obscure antique breeding to be named Wellington II in honor of I, who went tragically missing. Once apprised of the sheep mission, security and gift shop personnel were very understanding of the mad woman who parked in the wrong area for free gift shop entry. But I digress.

On her recent visit to Tampa my mother wanted to visit the Tampa Museum of Art, primarily for the Maurice Sendak exhbit on display through April 23rd. I had told her of all the controversy swirling about the museum relocation, the abortive attempt at building a new museum, and my disappointment in the museum's permanent collection. She said I'd been spoiled by treating the National Gallery in DC as if it were my hometown museum. Now I know she was either baiting me, or is heading down the path to dementia, as she knows very well my favorite art museums are the Chrysler in Norfolk, VA and the Nelson-Adkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Both are smaller museums with collections either started, or reinvigorated, by donors with both money and an eye for art. I don't have the former, and the latter is highly personal, but here is my wish list for the Tampa Museum of Art:

1. Someday, after the collection is improved, a new building on the river with room for outdoor sculpture. I rather like the much maligned "Exploding Chicken" work and think it could be the centerpiece of a fun sculpture park.

2. A major, permanent, installation of Florida folk or outsider art.

3. No more purchases of antiquities! Absent a donation from a phenomenally wealthy benefactor, the pieces a museum this size can assemble are just not all that impressive. Better to sell off these acquisitions and choose a different niche where the museum can be an important repository if not the premier collector. (see 2 above, but some other genre would be ok).

That's it. Not too much to ask.

Miles for Moffitt Saturday

Nothing keeps a fat person focused on marathon training quite like registering for a race a month. So, this Saturday will find me waddling on at the five mile inaugural Miles for Moffitt race at USF. Of course it was the excitement of the Gasparilla Distance Classic race expo that sucked me into registering for this in the first place. I am most certainly not ready to run 5 miles, however, if there are some recovering Moffitt patients who aren't quite done with their chemo I might be able to pull off an "at least I wasn't last" finish. If you'd like to do something moderately fun, but exceedingly rewarding, come out for the 5 miler or the 1 mile fun run/walk. Registration/packet pick up starts at 6:30AM Saturday, the 5 miler starts at 8:00. The organizers promise signs to parking once you near the USF campus. I certainly hope so. Just for kicks I counted the number of times I've ventured North of Kennedy this year and it's only been six times if you don't count trips that took me completely out of town (like to Minnesota not Pasco County).

Tampa Strip Club Owners Take Note

The Women's NCAA Final Four is coming to Tampa in '08. Just an observation from the Boston experience. If you own a business that caters to the male 18-40 demographic, don't count on the championship sporting event bounce your business usually gets. If you exclude the male band members and cheerleaders from the particpating schools you have to look long and hard for a male who isn't encumbered by wife, daughter, or both. Stores catering to tall women should do very well. Go Terps!