smiley
March 11th, 2005, 03:09 PM
City wants to protect cigar factories
Tampa wants the old buildings to remain true to their roots, even if not all of the owners want them to.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published March 11, 2005
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TAMPA - Cigar factories are as much a part of Tampa's cultural identity as Cuban sandwiches and Gasparilla.
City officials want to keep it that way.
They are working to protect 15 old factories from demolition or inappropriate redevelopment by making them local landmarks or creating a historic district in West Tampa, where most of the buildings stand.
Not all of the buildings' owners like the ideas. Five have hired lawyer John Grandoff to keep their structures from getting the designation, saying that it would interfere with their property rights and livelihood.
In the face of those objections, the city delayed action on the landmark effort for six months to try to negotiate with the building owners. After reaching no consensus, the city decided to exclude the five owners from the designation and set a public hearing for April 14.
Four of Grandoff's clients, though, could still end up in a West Tampa Historic District and would likely fight it. The district generally would be bordered by Cass Street on the south, Columbus Drive on the north, Habana Avenue on the west and Fremont Avenue on the east.
If the City Council approves the district, the building owners would face the same restrictions imposed by landmark status. They would have to follow architectural guidelines and get approval from a review board to change their properties.
The process began two years ago when Tampa received $22,000 from the state Bureau of Historic Preservation. The money funded a survey of the area that identified 761 properties that contributed to the historic character of the neighborhood.
The cigar factories are "integral to the history of West Tampa," said Annie Hart, the city's historic preservation manager. They're the very reason the neighborhood developed.
West Tampa already is on the National Register of Historic Districts, but that designation is more symbolic than regulatory. It doesn't provide any protection for buildings unless federal money is involved.
The advantages?
Local historic districts come with rules that govern building improvements, but they also offer tax advantages and typically result in increased property values, Hart said.
According to a study published by the University of Florida in 2003, properties in historic districts almost always appreciate more than in nonhistoric neighborhoods.
In Tampa, the Hyde Park Historic District went from "a depressed area with rooming houses and boardinghouses to a premier neighborhood with homes now selling for $1-million," the study said.
Hart credits increasing property values in Ybor City to its designation as a local historic district.
The same could happen in West Tampa, which offers easy access to downtown and the Westshore business district, she said.
Neighborhood meetings and public hearings on creating the West Tampa Historic District will begin in the next few months, Hart said. Its creation requires a recommendation from the city's Historic Preservation Commission and approval of the City Council.
Meanwhile, the issue of the historic district has been part of discussions for the West Tampa Economic Development Plan, which should be done this spring.
"Historic preservation is good, but it has to be balanced against the reality of doing business," said Jim Hosler, a planner with the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission who's coordinating the economic development plan. "It does add another level of consideration, another level of review."
It's understandable that people who have owned property in the neighborhood for many years would resist regulation, Hosler said.
"It wasn't what they were expecting when they began investing in the area," he said.
But he thinks the neighborhood can be preserved and developed at the same time.
"It's a tough transition period for them, but I think if they work with the city, the city will do everything it can to make sure businesses aren't chased away," Hosler said. "There should be ways that the city can grandfather in requirements or mediate the cost and time so existing projects aren't halted."
This old boardinghouse
Barbara Baker has owned the Morgan cigar factory in West Tampa since 1990. She rehabilitated the building, which now houses her sales promotion agency.
She is now renovating an old boardinghouse, formerly the Gold Nugget Tavern, where she wants to open an antiques shop and country store.
She supports making her cigar factory a local landmark as well as creating the district. But she sympathizes with people who don't want it.
While owners get tax breaks for improving a local landmark, following architectural guidelines and getting approval from governing bodies to make changes to a building is time consuming and expensive, she said.
For example, finding replacement windows that are hurricane resistant but that maintain the historic integrity of the building can be difficult.
But it's worth it, she said.
"I completely believe in historic preservation," Baker said. "There are so many buildings in West Tampa that could be absolutely gorgeous if some people would spend the money and take the time to fix them up."
Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com
[Last modified March 10, 2005, 09:34:05]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/11/Citytimes/City_wants_to_protect.shtml
Tampa wants the old buildings to remain true to their roots, even if not all of the owners want them to.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published March 11, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA - Cigar factories are as much a part of Tampa's cultural identity as Cuban sandwiches and Gasparilla.
City officials want to keep it that way.
They are working to protect 15 old factories from demolition or inappropriate redevelopment by making them local landmarks or creating a historic district in West Tampa, where most of the buildings stand.
Not all of the buildings' owners like the ideas. Five have hired lawyer John Grandoff to keep their structures from getting the designation, saying that it would interfere with their property rights and livelihood.
In the face of those objections, the city delayed action on the landmark effort for six months to try to negotiate with the building owners. After reaching no consensus, the city decided to exclude the five owners from the designation and set a public hearing for April 14.
Four of Grandoff's clients, though, could still end up in a West Tampa Historic District and would likely fight it. The district generally would be bordered by Cass Street on the south, Columbus Drive on the north, Habana Avenue on the west and Fremont Avenue on the east.
If the City Council approves the district, the building owners would face the same restrictions imposed by landmark status. They would have to follow architectural guidelines and get approval from a review board to change their properties.
The process began two years ago when Tampa received $22,000 from the state Bureau of Historic Preservation. The money funded a survey of the area that identified 761 properties that contributed to the historic character of the neighborhood.
The cigar factories are "integral to the history of West Tampa," said Annie Hart, the city's historic preservation manager. They're the very reason the neighborhood developed.
West Tampa already is on the National Register of Historic Districts, but that designation is more symbolic than regulatory. It doesn't provide any protection for buildings unless federal money is involved.
The advantages?
Local historic districts come with rules that govern building improvements, but they also offer tax advantages and typically result in increased property values, Hart said.
According to a study published by the University of Florida in 2003, properties in historic districts almost always appreciate more than in nonhistoric neighborhoods.
In Tampa, the Hyde Park Historic District went from "a depressed area with rooming houses and boardinghouses to a premier neighborhood with homes now selling for $1-million," the study said.
Hart credits increasing property values in Ybor City to its designation as a local historic district.
The same could happen in West Tampa, which offers easy access to downtown and the Westshore business district, she said.
Neighborhood meetings and public hearings on creating the West Tampa Historic District will begin in the next few months, Hart said. Its creation requires a recommendation from the city's Historic Preservation Commission and approval of the City Council.
Meanwhile, the issue of the historic district has been part of discussions for the West Tampa Economic Development Plan, which should be done this spring.
"Historic preservation is good, but it has to be balanced against the reality of doing business," said Jim Hosler, a planner with the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission who's coordinating the economic development plan. "It does add another level of consideration, another level of review."
It's understandable that people who have owned property in the neighborhood for many years would resist regulation, Hosler said.
"It wasn't what they were expecting when they began investing in the area," he said.
But he thinks the neighborhood can be preserved and developed at the same time.
"It's a tough transition period for them, but I think if they work with the city, the city will do everything it can to make sure businesses aren't chased away," Hosler said. "There should be ways that the city can grandfather in requirements or mediate the cost and time so existing projects aren't halted."
This old boardinghouse
Barbara Baker has owned the Morgan cigar factory in West Tampa since 1990. She rehabilitated the building, which now houses her sales promotion agency.
She is now renovating an old boardinghouse, formerly the Gold Nugget Tavern, where she wants to open an antiques shop and country store.
She supports making her cigar factory a local landmark as well as creating the district. But she sympathizes with people who don't want it.
While owners get tax breaks for improving a local landmark, following architectural guidelines and getting approval from governing bodies to make changes to a building is time consuming and expensive, she said.
For example, finding replacement windows that are hurricane resistant but that maintain the historic integrity of the building can be difficult.
But it's worth it, she said.
"I completely believe in historic preservation," Baker said. "There are so many buildings in West Tampa that could be absolutely gorgeous if some people would spend the money and take the time to fix them up."
Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com
[Last modified March 10, 2005, 09:34:05]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/11/Citytimes/City_wants_to_protect.shtml