Kathy Steele - Another S.H. Gem
When I think of all that's great about Seminole Heights (and there's plenty to think of), I often overlook our resident reporter at the Tampa Tribune.
Here's her latest piece -- this time on the Electric Fence issue. In the article, it states car dealers say they need the electric fences to do business ... I say that's the biggest reason to NOT allow electric fences.
TAMPA - Electrified fences wiring off car lots and auto repair shops on Nebraska and Florida avenues would not be a pretty sight, residents say.
But business owners say they would be a thing of beauty, keeping their goods out of the hands of thieves and their employees safe. They lobbied the city council recently for an ordinance making the fences legal citywide.
http://centraltampa.tbo.com/centraltampa/MGBPODA40UE.html
Thanks Kathy, for helping to keep S.H.'s issue in the publics' eye.
21 comments:
Just shows you how whacked the "owners" are. A thing of beauty.......are they kidding? Well guess if prisons or DMZ boarders are your idea of beauty it might be pretty to you. Personally, I am old fashioned and prefer landscaping and attractive architecture. Silly me!
How are the fences hurting anyone?
They would help the business owners be able to do buisness instead of moving to lower crime areas.
Our area isn't so high-crime that these things would make a difference. They're not going to prevent car theft any more than bollards and chains. They certainly won't prevent burglary any more than a security system and a normal fence. A determined vandal can lob rocks or eggs right over the top of them. It's a knee-jerk response to a problem that isn't really in our neighborhood. There are much higher-crime areas.
As to how they hurt, the requirements that are proposed allow a fence up to 10 feet tall and require a dual fence where the electrified fence is installed. The businesses in our area that would be most likely to implement these are the car lots whose single chain-link fences are a sight restriction, imagine now two fences in similar locations. The old fences have been a contributing factor in at least one fatal auto accident in the past year. They also send a message about what sort of community this is. We are not a war zone, or Guantanamo or Ft Knox here. In my opinion, the types of businesses in our neighborhood that would install these are more than welcome to move somewhere else with "less" crime
So where is the evidence of this "high crime?"
Where are the police reports? Has any one of these lemon sellers or fence installers provided evidence of the need for this crap or is it all anecdotal?
Personally I think they are all full of shit and just want a new toy to cut insurance rates.
I think the bigger push was from the fence seller/installer from South Carolina that proposed the ordinance - it was all self serving.
not even a word about today's seminole heights neighborhood garage sale, huh?
Well I actually would have put the Garage Sale up, but since I was so strongly chastized for putting up "events" and for being self unfunny, and self serving, I quit posting!
Most of it is not crime at all, but vandalisim. The majority of these lots are fly-by-night crooks afraid of angry clients coming back to get their revenge.
couldbesherry - your posts are appreciated and event notifications are always welcome!
couldbesherry: you need to stop being so friggin sensitive. You know that the people depend on the blog for information regarding events in the area so just ignore the morons who complain and put the event postings up. GEEZZZ, doesn't anyone have any common sense in this neighborhood???
Keep pushing the busineses out of here and you will have nothing left but vacant lots.
Yes they do get broken into on a regular business and most don't make the money needed to hire security like Wal-mart can.
Since you want to keep them from protecting their business, why don't you pay for the security?
After all, you are paying their taxes right??
You do own their property right??
Or at least you think you do.
If this is such a horrible area that you need a ten foot electrified, barbed fence to protect your goods, take the hint and get the hell out!
Anonymous@1:10 PM...I would say that businesses that require this sort of security are not a fit in this neighborhood, nor require the support of customers from this neighborhood and should be able to do businesses in areas where they would either feel safer or have more freedom to install whatever legal security system they choose. If this business exodus that you suggest happens, and we have additional vacant lots then businesses that feel quite safe operating here but have parking issues(Cappy's, Merino's, etc..) might have more options to solve those parking problem which wouldn't be such a bad thing.
If you believe that owning property and paying taxes entitles you to put anything on your property, then I suppose you wouldn't mind your neighbor placing a 10 foot electric fence around his yard with high-powered spotlights facing out and raising pigs on the inside. Right? :-)
I lived next to a pig farm when I was stationed in Korea. ugh. Can't think of much worse.
On the other hand, if you support the concept of zoning, then you support limits on such things (wisely, in my view) and can see why a double metal fence with a 10-foot electrified inner run might look more like a prison than a used car lot.
As another poster alluded to, if a business thinks this sort of fencing is appropriate for a commercial corridor through a residential area, they really have no concern for their neighbors. If they move away that's probably not a bad thing.
Having said that, commercial businesses that DO care about how they impact their neighbors are welcome, regardless of what they sell.
I can see the dustbowl coming to SH.
If this were Hyde Park, with businesses overflowing, thats one thing.
We are trying to attract businesses not scare them off.
Well, there are businesses and there are businesses. I am amazed the wanting to attract businesses we can actually support and utilize makes us all bad. Perhaps you do not remember when Hyde Park was unattractive and had very few neighborhood friendly businesses.
I remember Howard Ave being the center of auto repair for south tampa until the neighborhood associations started demanding changes and damn look what all that effort created - so can we justify pushing out all of the neighbor unfriendly businesses - H*** yeah!!......on the down side the parking is overwhelming the south tp neighborhood so we need to learn from that playbook and do it right.
Ummm sure..
And what will you have when the businesses get pushed out?
Vacant lots.
Because no one recognizes seminole heights as an upscale neighborhood yet.
It is getting there but it needs some work.
Let people live and make money.
The car lots aren't doing anything wrong by working.
Most, but not all, of the carlots sell bomerang cars. Cars that are sold and come back. Crappy cars, overpriced for people who can't get credit elsewhere.
So half the car people could move along and all of us would be all the better for it!
.......and the hookers didn't really bother any of us - we're not their customers so why bother them - we're not considered an upscale neighborhood so why not have a little bit of "color" on the corner - who do you think you are Hyde Park?!?!?!?!?!
The carlots that charge 25% - 30% interest to "buy here pay here" don't bother us so why should we not demand that they keep their lots cleaned up, stop dumping used oil in the alley behind their building, keep their loud speakers down, take their barbed wire down, not put up double electric fences, keep their test drives out of the neighborhood and better yet keep the car haulers from flying through the sidestreets ripping trees limbs off as they go?
They don't bother us so why bother them. I would much rather have a vacant lot as a potential engine of change verses a car lot who does business the same ole same ole because they have been here for years. We don't let the residential slumlords off the hook so why should we do the same for businesses - regardless of weather they "serve" the neighborhood or not?
If you look at any revitalized "urban" neighborhood when the old businesses start changing from status quo to residential friendly business that is the last link in making a consistantly strong neighborhood and that catches fire once it starts.
Slumlords seem to get off pretty easy here off Nebraska on the east side of the neighborhood. I have had to complain and complain about a neighboring apartment house and the bugger landlord still won't clean up his act. We have a long way to go all around before the eastside gets as much respect as the westside of neighborhood.
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