Temple Terrace Rejects Plan
By GEORGE WILKENS gwilkens@tampatrib.com
Published: Aug 4, 2005

TEMPLE TERRACE - A $300 million redevelopment project proposed to transform blighted downtown Temple Terrace into a lively ``lifestyle street'' of condominiums, cafes, boutiques, fountains and bike trails drew an overwhelmingly negative response from voters Tuesday.
They rejected the city's bid to issue revenue bonds to help pay its one-fifth share of the estimated $300 million project. A positive referendum vote would have triggered a 1-mill increase in property taxes. The vote was 57 percent against the bond referendum and 43 percent in favor.

Mayor Joe Affronti, elected last year on a pro-redevelopment platform, learned the results in an 8:40 p.m. telephone call.

``That's bad news. That's very disappointing,'' he said in an interview after the phone call.

``We did our best, we couldn't do any more, and we should be proud of what we did,'' he told supporters gathered at redevelopment headquarters.

``It's not dead. We'll move on,'' but plans are uncertain, the mayor said. ``We'll have to regroup and see what the next step will be. It's not dead because we've got to do something about'' the city's downtown.

The project discussed for years has been hotly debated in recent months.

City leaders, the chamber of commerce and some citizen groups were vocal in their support of the plan - canvassing neighborhoods, distributing yard signs and brochures, and creating a Web site.

Staunch opponents, such as Temple Terrace businessman and longtime resident Ken Tozier, mounted an equal effort, urging a negative vote in the referendum.

``I'm very pleased,'' Tozier said Tuesday night, adding that it had been difficult to gauge resident opposition. ``That's a loud message.''

Tozier stressed that he and other opponents are not against redevelopment, but say the plan proposed for Temple Terrace is too expensive for a city of 22,000.

``I would encourage both elected officials and city staff to try [to] find a better plan,'' Tozier said. ``And we'll help them.''

Redevelopment targets the area southeast of Bullard Parkway and 56th Street, site of an old shopping center the city bought.

Unicorp National Developments, of Orlando, was the only developer vying for the redevelopment contract.

The city retained John Stainback, a national expert in the public-private real estate industry, in hopes of negotiating a contract with Unicorp.

Unicorp's plan would create a mixed-use, walkable downtown, built in phases over a 10- year period. Marked by curbless streets, the area would provide space for outdoor art exhibits and feature an interactive fountain and other water elements in ``a celebration of the river'' that flows through the city.

The mix of retail and residential development also would include a new city hall and cultural center.

The proposed tax increase would have cost the owner of a $150,000 house with a homestead exemption an additional $125 annually.

* In a separate Tuesday vote, residents of unincorporated Temple Terrace Estates - just north of Fowler Avenue and east of 56th Street - again rejected annexation of their 249- home community by the city of Temple Terrace. An annexation effort there also failed in 1985.