E-mail sent to all Largo City Commissioners I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for hearing the concerns of our neighborhood representatives June 16th, at the City Commission meeting regarding the proposed West Bay Dr. Community Redevelopment Expansion, and for voting "no" to including our neighborhood and East Bay Dr. into the redevelopment area, also voting to remove our neighborhood from the boundaries of such. I must say, I am confused and concerned with the actions of the community development department: Most of our neighborhood representative speakers attended the May 7, 2009 Planning Board meeting. At that time, the board voted to continue the case for vote at the June meeting. On approximately May 26th, everyone that had spoken against the redevelopment expansion received phone calls inviting us to attend a special meeting, to be held May 28th, with the Director of Planning to discuss the expansion. There were approximately 15 people/neighborhood representatives at that meeting. Once again, each of us expressed our concerns. At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Klute told us that the meeting had not been recorded. At the June 4th meeting of the Planning Board, the board voted "not to recommend to the City Commission that East Bay Dr. and Roosevelt Groves be included into the redevelopment expansion". Imagine our surprise on June 16th, when Mr. Klute recommended to the City Commission to vote yes on the expansion project. After careful consideration, we have come to understand that the Planning Dept. and the Planning Board may often work against each other. Unfortunately, many members of the community may not understand those actions. In this instance, while the audience at the June Planning Board meeting heard the board vote "no" recommendation to the city, the Planning Department was none the less, strongly encouraging voting "yes". It is situations such as this that confuse, confound, and concern citizens. Once again, thank you for voting "no" to the redevelopment expansion. - Tom and Iris Merryweather

Return to Home Page

Return to Current Edition

Contact us