It's No Day At The Park

By STEPHEN HAMMILL The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

KEYSTONE - Amid a countywide budget crunch, talk of park closures has residents worried.

Last month, two petitions surfaced entreating neighbors to contact Hillsborough County commissioners to prevent the closing of three parks: Lake Rogers Park and Northwest Equestrian Park in Keystone and Eureka Springs Park next to Vandenberg Airport, east of Tampa.

Keystone's Beverly Peterson authored one of the petitions. She claims "someone with knowledge" informed her that County Administrator Pat Bean would propose the closings in June.

"I've heard the rumors," District 2 County Commissioner Ken Hagan said, "but what I have heard is they may cut some positions."

In April, Hagan's office began receiving calls from concerned residents fearing for the parks.

"There are going to be changes," Hagan said. "We've got to find $87 million. … Maybe there's a widespread concern throughout the parks system, but we've been focusing more on big-ticket budget issues - like our transportation system."

No plans exist to close down those or any parks, Bean said. However, "it could be the case that they [parks department officials] say they just can't afford to keep these parks open."

In that event, of the three parks mentioned in the petitions, Bean said Eureka Springs might be the first to go.

Hagan said he met with Bean on April 28 to hear her recommendations for budget cuts.

"I specifically asked her about this," he said. "I'm quite certain she would have told me if it was something she was going to recommend."

Marc Thornton, director of the county's Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department, said he won't know what cuts would have to come until the county delivers specific numbers to him - "not until the end of May or early June."

"Pat [Bean] hasn't told anybody what any cuts are going to be," Thornton said, "so we haven't made any decisions on any cuts."

A first step, he said, might be to reduce hours or close some parks one day per week.

"There may be changes on how we staff them," he said. "We believe we could keep a lot of them open with fewer people."

Peterson, a horse owner, frequents the Northwest Equestrian Park near her home. The park lacks any fencing or restrooms.

"We've offered to keep it clean," Peterson said. "It's such a beautiful spot. If it goes away, it's gone forever."

The parks won't be closed, said Forest Turbiville, section manager, regional parks/conservational services, with the parks department.

"They possibly would be run more like ELAPP sites," he said.

ELAPP is the county's environmental land acquisition and protection program. Bean recently put a stop to a voter referendum on extending ELAPP beyond 2011.

"We've recently added 4,000 acres through ELAPP, but the operational dollars to manage that acreage was cut," Thornton said.

"I think it's a great program," Bean said, "but there's another question: If we're having to cut back on staff, will we be able to continue to take on new properties?"

Peterson said when she found a petition titled "Save Our Parks" last month at a feed store in Fox's Corner, naming the same three parks she had heard about, it was too much for her not to act.

She began posting her own fliers in early April, and on April 24 she addressed residents and board members at a meeting of the Keystone Civic Association.

Turbiville asked Peterson to remove the fliers. She agreed, on the condition he publicly state the parks in question would not be closed.

In an April 29 letter to Peterson, Turbivillewrote, "I want to reiterate that it is not the intent of the County's Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department to close either Lake Rogers or the NW Equestrian Trails site.

"While it is possible that the parks' budgets may be reduced, our department still plans to keep both areas open and maintained at either their current level of service or perhaps a more basic level, depending upon the outcome of upcoming budget hearings."

Peterson said despite assurances, she fears the county could sneak park closings under the wire.

"They tell you what you want to hear," she said. "Mr. Turbiville stated that it would be 'valuable to us' to remove the fliers. What does that mean?"

Thornton said he recently talked with staff at Lake Rogers Park to assuage them about the closure rumors.

"Lake Rogers is probably the lowest cost per acre we have," Thornton said. "It would be nearly impossible to close it."

Lake Rogers Park includes picnic shelters, nature trails and camp sites, plus fishing and canoeing on its two freshwater lakes.

The final decision may not rest with Thornton - or with the county at all.

Though located in Hillsborough County, both Lake Rogers Park (272 acres) in Keystone and Lake Park (600 acres) in Northdale are owned by the city of St. Petersburg.

Lake Park, along North Dale Mabry Highway, features boating, fishing, picnic tables, a BMX (bicycle motocross) track, a radio-controlled car track, horse trails and an archery range.

Earlier this year, semiretired freelance writer Jack Kelley commented on why he enjoys the park, saying he rides his bicycle through Lake Park four or five times a week, about eight miles a day.

"It's close and convenient for so many of us," he said. "I see a lot of mothers with small children out here."

The park is part of his routine and part of the area's personality, he said.

"Horses, bicycles, playgrounds - we take so much of it for granted," he said. "I think it would hurt the whole community to see it go. It would be a loss to Tampa."

In January, Florida voters approved Amendment One, raising the homestead exemption amount for many homeowners. The end result spells a reduction in tax revenues for all local governments.

"We couldn't sell it [the parks] unless we bring Hillsborough County in," said Bruce Grimes, director of the city of St. Petersburg's Real Estate and Property Management division.

Indeed, the lease agreement allows Hillsborough the chance to make a bid, should St. Petersburg decide to sell. Grimes said the city has no plans to do so, "but you never know when somebody could blow us away with an offer."

In a worse-case scenario, the lands would go to the highest bidder, possibly a private developer, at which point housing and commercial projects could replace the parks.

"That just means more houses, more cars, more sprawl," Keystone Civic Association board member Steve Morris said.

Hagan said if it should come to that, the commissioners would rush to bid for the properties, regardless of the state of the county budget.

"We have a board that's very passionate about our parks and recreational facilities," he said.

Mike Kelly with the county's real estate department said any purchase dollars for Lake Park or Lake Rogers Park would come from ELAPP.

Kurt Gremley, acquisition manager with ELAPP, said, "It would be our hope that there would be sufficient funds for it, but we just don't know. If it became available, however, it would be a high priority for the program."

There's confusion about how ELAPP funds can be applied, Bean said.

"You can't do that," she said. "Those parks are not environmental lands."

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com.