Reader: City Devalued My Property By Downzoning
To the Editor:
Those who cannot learn from their mistake and rectify it are doomed to repeat it.
—Santayana, 1900s
I am disappointed and angry at (interim) Mayor Andy Steingold. In January 2006 he declared he was voted in to limit development.
Is the 25/35 ft amendment what you, the residents, investors wanted? I don’t thinnnnk sooo.
Is the 25 ft moratorium what you the residents wanted? If your two-story house burns down, Steingold wants you to build only a single story replacement. I don’t thinnnnk sooo.
Now we are going to my major problem. I have a house/lot along with three other property owners on South Bayshore Boulevard, just north of the museum, south of Harbour Pointe. These lots have been zoned ROS (Retail-Office-Service) since 1992 when the city developed the comprehensive redevelopment plan.
In January 2006 Steingold along with commissioners Nadine Nickeson and Kara Bauer voted to reduce the zoning heights on this property to single family, 25 ft. height. This basically killed any chance for development on this property, thus devaluing our property value for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
At the same meeting Steingold voted to “upzone,” increase the heights, of various other properties in the city.
As far as I can tell these lots are the only lots to be down zoned/downvalued in the city, ever…
Let’s look at what the downzone is:
From “ROS” commercial/residential three-story height, Steingold voted to change my zoning to LDR-1 (Low Density Residential), single family dwelling, 25 ft. max height. There are 5-6 other zonings in between that and ROS.
You as a Safety Harbor resident can say, “So what, I don’t care about Turkali’s property. I don’t care that if his house burns down, his property is relatively worthless on the market, because of Steingold’s vote for LDR-1, 25 ft.”
Where do you the resident and William Turkali, the wronged resident, go from here? You the resident should be concerned because I am going to take the same action that you would take. Some time in the future I will pursue a lawsuit against the city, unless you the resident call every commissioner and the city manager and have them pull the LDR-1, 25 ft. from the planned amendments to the comprehensive redevelopment plan.
I have asked the city (commissioners and administration) to reevaluate the LDR-1 zoning and leave the property at ROS, to no avail.
At the Dec. 19, 2006 meeting I again asked Steingold to get together with the other commissioners and pull the LDR-1.
Steingold did not give me an answer on that request accept to say that the reason he voted for LDR-1 was because LDR-1 was my previous zoning, Steingold either had a mispeak/mistake/or he lied, because my property had never been zoned LDR-1.
After the meeting of Dec. 19, 2006, I talked to him again and proved to him that I did not have an LDR-1 zoning — “ever.”
Then Steingold says he also voted for LDR-1 because of the many people who stood up at the meeting. I have those meetings on DVD for anyone to look at. Not one person objected to my request to pull the LDR-1.
Again a Steingold mispeak/mistake/or a lie, you decide.
I have tried to ascertain the reasoning behind the downzone. Did anyone in administration evaluate and decide the best future use for the property from the city’s point of view — for increased tax revenue, for future office building and employment? The answer is… “No, No, No.” This was a political agenda item on the part of Steingold, who had no plan for the betterment and improvement of the city and has no interest to this day.
There is a lawsuit that can be pursued by me against the city. It states that if my property has been devalued by a downzone or any other action by the city, then I am entitled to compensation from the city for that devaluation. A compensation that Steingold is willing at this time to make the the residents of Safety Harbor pay with your tax dollars.
A statement made by one of the commissioners at the January 2006 meeting would seal your fate (residents payment) in a court of law. (This is not verbatim but very close, I have it on DVD)
The commissioner says, “I will vote for the LDR-1, 25 feet, at this time, then when someone buys and combines all four lots (i.e., a developer) we can then upzone the property.”
As you are asking yourself, why would these commissioners force us to sell at a reduced value at LDR-1 and then upzone for a developer, who would then recoup our money that we had strived to save for many years, in my case I bought my property in 1983. I ask myself that same question many times each week. Why would Steingold vote to devalue my property by three to four hundred thousand dollars and give that money to a developer?
I have provided documentation to all of the Pinellas County Commissioners and sat down and talked to all but two. They were all very understanding of my downzoning problem and advocates for my future actions.
I cannot pursue legal action until the comprehensive redevelopment plan has been approved by the Pinellas County Commissioners. That will not happen for a few months, but you the residents have time to have the LDR-1 pulled, it is not final — “yet.”
William M. Turkali
Safety Harbor
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