Independent Beer Hall's Grand Opening, Sat (12/5), 4pm-1am

FREE BEER/BBQ! All UC Tampa Magazine fans are cordially invited to enjoy a free beer and some BBQ at the Independent Beer Hall's (in Seminole Heights) official Grand Opening on Saturday (12/5/09), from 4pm-1am. Live music starts at 5pm! RAIN OR SHINE. See specifics here: http://bit.ly/IndieGO

Urb Your Enthusiasm - Nov/Dec '09 Issue of UC Tampa Magazine

In This Issue

URB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

WHAT IS TAMPA'S URBAN CORRIDOR?

PIZZAIOLO BAVARO RESTAURANT

THE INDEPENDENT BEER HALL

YOUR UNIQUE, LOCAL SHOPS & RESTAURANTS

NEWS & RUMORS

CHOOSING FAVORITES

STAYING CONNECTED

& MUCH, MUCH MORE

The Independent - Update (10/01/09)

PHOTOS: (Seminole Heights) The opening of The Independent beer hall has been delayed slightly, but they are hoping to have a “soft” opening within the next 14 days. Its new exterior sign (which was put up today), plus the recent opening of Ella’s Folk Art Café, are undeniable symbols that Seminole Heights' FloNeHi retail & dining district is coming into its own. (For the record, FloNeHi = FLO-rida ave, NE-braska ave and HI-llsborough ave.) CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES.

Neighborhood Watch Meeting - Wednesday

Neighborhood Watch Meeting
Seminole Heights United Methodist Church
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 7:45PM

After learning that a violent crime had been committed in our area, our neighborhood did a great job pulling together to keep our neighborhood safe. Now that TPD has captured Joseph Frye it is important to continue to stay alert to people in our neighborhood. Please take some time this weekend to talk with your neighbors about Neighborhood Watch to ensure they know who their Grid Coordinator is and how they can become involved.

This crime was a test of our Neighborhood Watch and now is a good time to review what worked and what needs to be improved. To that end, a meeting with TPD – Major Bennett and Capt. Newman – has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 9 at 7:45pm. This meeting will be hosted by Grid 58 and held in the sanctuary of the Seminole Heights United Methodist Church (corner of Hanna & Central Ave). Please make an effort to attend this meeting and offer your input on how Neighborhood Watch was successful and where we should concentrate on improving.

Seminole heights Foundation...501c(3) APPROVED

After some ups and downs and a few hurdles thrown in front of it, the Seminole Heights Foundation has been granted official 501c(3) status by the IRS. This means that you can make donations and write them off as charitable contributions. There are those in this community who have said they are interested in a multitude of projects, now you get a tax deduction and keep the money in your community!

Click to visit the Seminole Heights Foundation site

Digital Billboards...who needs street lights!

Ditgital billboard could soon light up your homes. It is buried in a settlement agreement that would allow these energy monsters. This is not an ordinance that can be modified at a later date these are legally binding agreements between the City of Tampa and the billboard giants Clear Channel and CBS Outdoors. City Council will revisit the issue on March 5th but the only time to speak out is before Council starts on the agenda. For information from other communities and talking points

City Council took up the issue of the settlement agreements between the City of Tampa and Clear Channel and CBS Outdoors on February 5th. As was said during the public comments and echoed by some members of City Council, the original settlement agreement was awful and this one was merely bad. I guess that is improvement. It has now been delayed until March 5th. It was good to see this process slowed or delayed. Councilman John Dingfelder made a good connection in asking what was the initial reason for the litigation by Clear Channel and CBS Outdoors. For Clear Channel it was the view corridors (Kennedy, Swann, MacDill) identified in the original agreement. For CBS Outdoors it was the fact that the original agreement had expired.This agreement would have gone far beyond the initial Clear Channel litigation. It also was beyond the CBS Outdoors litigation. The challenge is that it has so far only been delayed in a motion made by Councilman Charlie Miranda.

The big issue is digital billboards that change the message every 6 to 10 seconds. A huge distraction to drivers already struggling to stay focused on the road conditions. For urban neighborhoods it is the potential for horrendous light pollution. As one Council member stated we are not Times Square. Amen. I think that between now and March 5th City Council members need to hear lots of opposition to digital billboards in Seminole Heights and other central Tampa neighborhoods. Go look at the digital billboard at Dale Mabry & Waters and envision those lighting up 275 and the major roads running through our neighborhood.

Swamp their offices with messages of "no digital billboards" in our neighborhoods. Drive past your "favorite" neighborhood billboard, now imaging it converted to digital and sucking up enough energy to light yours and 12 other neighbors homes, and now image it is bright enough to be seen for 2 or 3 miles and glows 24/7! How many of these monsters will it take to wreck our community?
Mayor's Office
Pam Iorio, Mayor
306 East Jackson Street , Tampa, Florida 33602
Phone: (813) 274-8251 Fax: (813) 274-7050
Contact Pam Iorio

Gwen Miller, District 1 At-Large
315 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
Olivia "Libby" Wilson, Legislative Aide
(813) 274-7072
Contact Gwen Miller

Mary Mulhern, District 2 At-Large
315 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
Christina Voehl, Legislative Aide
(813) 274-7071
Email Mary Mulhern

Linda Saul-Sena, District 3 At-Large
315 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
Rhonda Y. Smalls, Legislative Aide
(813) 274-8134
Contact Linda Saul-Sena

Councilman John Dingfelder, District 4
315 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
Cynthia Sarff and James Reese, Legislative Aides
(813) 274-8133
Email John Dingfelder

Councilman Thomas Scott, District 5
315 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
Belinda Allen, Legislative Aide
(813) 274-8189
Contact Thomas Scott

Charlie Miranda, District 6
315 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
Mary Bryan, Legislative Aide
(813) 274-7074
Contact Charlie Miranda

Councilman Joseph Caetano, District 7
315 E Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33602
Thomas Nguyen, Legislative Aide
(813) 274-7073
Contact Joseph Caetano

Greater Seminole Heights Vision Plan--Oct 29th

This is the product from the "form based zoning" discussions to revitalize the commercial corridors in Seminole Heights (all of Seminole Heights: southeast, south, and old). It is important for neighbors to turnout. It is important for the leaders of ALL three neighborhood groups to be there. If our leaders aren't there and neighbors also don't show up we have no voice in the city's decision making.

****
Please join us for a Stakeholder Review and Open House which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 6:30 - 8:30pm (presentation at 7:30pm) at City Hall, 315 East Kennedy Boulevard, to review the draft Vision Plan and provide input on the Vision Planning exercises for this project. City staff will be presenting findings and documenting public comments.

For additional information regarding the Greater Seminole Heights Form-Based Code project, you can visit our web site at: www.tampagov.net/ldc or contact us at (813) 274-8405.

Thanks,
Samantha Fenger
Urban Planner II
Land Development Coordination
City of Tampa

The Urban Puzzle

(Illustration/Christophe Vorlet Graphic)

The above graphic accompanied an interesting article in the Boston Globe regarding neighborhoods and gentrification. Click on the image to link to the article. I think it is relevant to so many of the issues that face our urban core neighborhoods. In reading it you can hear some of the same challenges we face in Seminole Heights. Commercial redevelopment. Blight and renovation. Economic stratification and who was here first. Preserving what first attracted us to the area yet trying to move forward without changing that character. Bridging the diversity that too often seems to be a bridge to no where. The generational divides between those who have lived here for decades and are not so sure what to make of change. Throw into the mix that the bursting of the real estate bubble seems to have taken us backward rather than forward. Those that thought we had moved past the urban pioneer stage may find this set back more than they bargained.

Publix robbed

Police are searching for two armed men who robbed a Publix supermarket late Thursday night.
According to the Tampa Tribune the suspects entered the store through a rear loading door at 10:20 p.m. The men ordered employees to get on the ground and forced the store's assistant manager and cashier to hand over money from the safe according to Lt. William Ferguson of the Tampa Police Department.

In an update e-mail about the robbery to Christie Hess, OSHNA Crime Awareness committee:

Major Bennett asked that I send you an email, for you to disperse among your Seminole Heights email tree as far as it can go.

Major Bennett wanted to assure the residents of Seminole Heights that every available lead is being followed, and the TPD Robbery Squad is working diligently to locate the suspects. I'm including their descriptions in this email. Major Bennett personally went to the scene and met with management this morning - as he considers our "Publix" one of the sacred spots in the Seminole heights Community.

The Robbery occurred at 9-25 11:30 pm, at the Publix at 6001 N. Nebraska. No one was injured, thank goodness. TPD was on-scene in one minute, or less, and there are some strong leads to work with.

Two black males, both about 5' 9", one thin build about 170 pounds, the other, 250 pounds. They were wearing masks, so no facial descriptions are available. A dark SUV was described as being involved, but no other information on the vehicle nor suspects are available at this time. Alerts are being updated and Major Bennett will be keeping our Publix Manager, Chuck, updated as much as possible.

*Citizens are reminded to call Police at 9-1-1, or the Police Non Emergency Number 231-6130 if they see anything suspicious.

Thank You


Lisa TimmerNeighborhood Affairs LiaisonTampa Police DepartmentUniform District Two9330 N. 30th StTampa, Fl. 33612

Phone 813-931-6541Fax 813-931-6576

Bungalow Bistro Offers OSHNA Forum

The owners of Bungalow Bistro have very graciously offered to host a candidate forum for the upcoming Old Seminole Heights (OSHNA) board elections. The following letter was sent only to the current board since the Graham's did not have e-mail contact for all of the candidates and has since been circulated to all of the candidates. The date and time have not been determined.

My understanding is that there would be an effort to have a moderator not connected to OSHNA to maintain neutrality.

Personally, I think it is great that a business owner is taking such positive interest in the residential community. It looks like a win-win both for their business and our neighborhood. The Graham's had moved from the neighborhood but still own and operate two businesses in Seminole Heights. Both are attractive additions to our commercial district.

Thank you Elizabeth and Michael for your continued interest in residential areas of our community.

Giddens Park in the Big Picture

Long long time ago...kind of reminds me of a certain Don McClean song. The City of Tampa launched the Greenprinting Initiative. A partnership of the city, the Mayor's Beautification Program and the F.E. Lykes Foundation to target 10 city parks for upgrades at the rate of 1 per year. The project was to be seeded with funds from the foundation which offered $75,000 for each park.

The first up was supposed to be Southeast Seminole Heights' Giddens Park. As the program draws to the end. The first hasn't been finished. The second in Tampa Heights was to center on Lake Robles and Robles Park but it is still in the design stage. Third is Curtis Hixon Park, a downtown Riverfront park. Now the city of Tampa has likely spent over the last 20 years more money on that piece of land than all the other urban core parks combined. And the plans of Mayor Iorio will make it so if it isn't already.

"It's functional," Debra Evenson, the beautification program's executive director, said of the fountain. "But it can't be turned on until final inspection. ...it's not 10 parks in 10 years, but we've done a lot more than we expected to do. Curtis Hixon is the final end of the foundation's commitment." as reported and quoted by Kathy Steele of the Tampa Tribune.

My question: If it was 10 parks in 10 years and the final product is at best 3 parks-maybe, how have you done a lot more than you expected to do? What sort of Orwellian talk is that?

A correction

In my July posting on the Hampton Terrace debate, I took issue with the the Creative Loafing article about the HTPRO spokespeople residing in the neighborhood (see the link).

This morning at Starbucks Gail confront me and challenged my assertions and challenged me to make a retraction. I will gladly accept that challenge, if what I post is shown to be inaccurate I have no problem retracting anything. So I again went looking in regard to the property owned by Gail Davis.

For whatever reason the property appraiser's site does not pull it up under her name but when I search Mohawk I did find the homestead under her and her husband's name.

Gail consider this my retraction.

Seminole Heights Publix Update

The following was posted at the request of Chuck, the Publix manager and a Seminole Heights neighbor, to share news about our neighborhood Publix.

Just wanted to drop a Publix note letting you know that this March we began our fourteenth year with the new store. We had forty years with the old store, so fifty five years of Publix in Seminole Heights!

I am very honored to be your neighborhood manager and continue to strive to make you proud of our little store.Some updates of things that have recently happened and are coming up:

1) The big yellow generator outside is large enough to run the entire store in the event of an emergency(hurricanes!). This will be very helpful to everyone if TECO has a major outage, plus good for Publix. We threw away $65 million in Groceries when the storms hit a few years back. This should be a win/win for everyone.
2) The locking wheel carts are helping make sure you always have a cart available when you come shopping, plus they don't end up in your yard. We are finding them very successful and hope you haven't noticed any difference in your shopping experience with them.
3) We will be getting a new hot case in the Bakery which will include empanadas, croquettes, pizzas, and pasties similar to what you find if you shop at the Hillsborough Publix. This should be in within the next four weeks.
4) We are getting a dedicated Publix Tea case in the Deli department. By taking the Tea to the Deli, we will have more room to expand on the Greenwise milk in the milk case. I get many requests for this and will have it happen soon. This includes carrying half gallons of the Greenwise milk, plus Publix buttermilk.
5) We have two new Limited Edition Ice Creams and one yogurt that have just come in. They include Key Lime Pie Ice Cream, Its Your Birthday ice cream, and Lemon Sugar Cookie yogurt, an award winner from the American Ice Cream panel. Look for these in the ice cream section.

So some updates of what is going on with your local store. If you have any questions or comments that I can assist with, please do not hesitate to call me at 813-238-7720.
It truly is a pleasure working and living in Seminole Heights!
Thank you!Chuck Kaelin
Your Neighborhood Publix Manager

Amendment 1: Useful Info

Now that Amendment 1 has passed. There will be questions about portability and the additional homestead exemption. I have already sent this to my customers who bought/sold in 2007. I wanted to make sure it got out to the general Seminole Heights community. The portability is retroactive to January 1, 2007.
Check out the Florida Department of Revenue’s (DOR) Web site ( http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/sb4d.html ). If you sold a homestead in 2007 and qualified for homestead exemption on a new home as of Jan. 1, 2008. As a homeowner you have only one month – until March 1, 2008 – to apply for property tax portability and the homestead exemption. The portability application and other pertinent forms can be found at the DOR Web site.

I will add other information as it becomes available on my website: www.atHomeintheHeights.com