|
City forms plans for East Gateway
By LESTER R. DAILEY
| Article published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 |
|
 |
CLEARWATER – The East Gateway District is the gateway to the downtown core and Clearwater Beach, but it has a few rough edges. In 2005, a task force was established to identify the problems of the area and possible solutions.
In 2006, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency launched an effort to establish a five-year plan to improve the area, and on May 13, the City Council, acting as the CRA, reviewed parts of that plan and decided to proceed with it.
“Unfortunately, the East Gateway isn’t like Las Vegas,” Shelley Kuroghlian, president of the Clearwater Neighborhood Association and spokeswoman for the East Gateway Association, told the council members. “What happens in the East Gateway doesn’t stay in the East Gateway; it spills over into other areas.”
She added that the crime rate must come down if the district is to reverse its downward spiral.
The East Gateway District is bordered on the north by Drew Street, on the south by Court Street, on the east by Highland Avenue and on the west by Missouri Avenue. In 2002, the city’s CRA district was expanded to include 201 acres of the East Gateway.
The goals of the plan include establishing better economic growth and housing, integrating the area’s Hispanic residents into the larger community and improving the safety and security of the area. But most of the discussion at the May 13 session centered on the plan to reduce crime in the area by assigning two CRA-funded police officers to it.
“The CRA money can only be used within the CRA district,” City Attorney Pam Akin warned. “(The officers) can’t go someplace else.”
Police Chief Sid Klein explained that the officers would be assigned to the Community Problem Response Team that patrols the west side of the city. Klein said that, by themselves, two officers wouldn’t make much difference, but by assigning them to a team, there would always be two officers on duty in the East Gateway.
“I think we can make a difference and we’re ready to go when you make the commitment,” Klein told the Council members. But he cautioned them that two extra police officers will not be a panacea for the district’s woes.
“Just the police presence alone is not going to solve this,” Klein said. “The other components of the five-year plan will need to be implemented if there is to be success.”
The first two years of the plan will concentrate on public safety concerns. Increased policing, better lighting in dark areas, infrastructure designs that eliminate hiding places for criminals, and traffic calming are among the measures being considered. A Spanish response option will be added to the Police Department’s non-emergency phone line, and city officials will meet with officials of the St. Vincent de Paul Society to discuss the possible relocation of the society’s soup kitchen, which attracts vagrants to the East Gateway.
Meanwhile, employees of the city’s Planning Department and Building Division will try to expedite the revitalization of the area, and other officials will try to improve the appearance of the district by enforcing existing zoning laws and encouraging residents to improve or redevelop their properties.
In years three through five, neighborhood and merchant’s associations will be formed, the Cleveland Street Streetscape will be extended into the East Gateway and a new bus shelter will be added on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard. Creative financing will be used to acquire and rehabilitate run-down apartment complexes.
|
Article published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Copyright © Tampa Bay Newspapers: All rights reserved. |
