Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA)

Parks Photo Exhibit

Pier Advisory Task Force

DNA Adopts Waterfront Vision Statement

Text of Vision Statement for the Waterfront

Always Looking to Improve Downtown

BlueWays Trail Extends Into Downtown

The Next Urban Porch Parties

Shopping Incentive?
Treasurer's Report

Tickets are available for the September Urban Porch Party (UPP) at one of downtown St. Petersburg's newest retail outlets.
Messineo's Gourmet Market, 179 First Avenue North.
Wednesday, September 8, 6 to 8 p.m.
Tickets are still $10 for DNA members and $15 for guests.

At Messineo's, the price will include two glasses of wine or soda and appetizers, plus samples of prepared foods, baked goods, sliced deli, and cheeses.

Waterfront Parks Centennial Photo Exhibit

Part I of “Picture Your Parks,” one of many events celebrating the Waterfront Parks Centennial during 2010, featured two free workshops in January on photographic techniques, focusing especially on outdoor photography. The aim of master photographer and “Picture Your Parks” chair Jim Swallow was to encourage photographers and St. Petersburg history buffs to submit historic and contemporary photos of St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront parks to be set up as a traveling exhibit.

The exhibit, Part II of “Picture Your Parks,” began in April with a stop at Studio@620, 620 First Avenue South, and has continued through May, June and July with stops at The Pier, 800 Second Avenue North; the Pennsylvania Hotel, 300 Fourth Street North; and St. Petersburg City Hall, 175 Fifth Street North.

On July 31, the exhibit, which includes both still photos and a slide show, moves to the St. Petersburg Museum of History, 335 Second Avenue Northeast, where it will stay until August 9, at which time it will travel to Sunken Gardens, 1825 Fourth Street North.

The next stop is at the Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth Street North, opening on August 23. The final three stops will be at the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Museum, 2240 Ninth Avenue South; Renaissance Vinoy Resort, 501 Fifth Avenue Northeast; and the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, 11 Central Avenue. Dates for the last three locations will be announced later.

Part III of “Picture Your Parks” is a juried photo contest. Entries are being accepted now. See the Waterfront Parks Centennial website for more information.

Awards will be announced at the Waterfront Parks Centennial Celebration’s “Party in the Parks—A Centennial Celebration” an all-day event scheduled for Saturday, November 6, 2010, from 10 am to 6 pm., for the first time ever in all twelve of the downtown waterfront parks: Albert Whitted, Al Lang Stadium, Pioneer Park, Demens Landing, Spa Beach, North and South Straub Parks, Vinoy Park, North Shore Park, Elva Rouse Park, Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum, and Flora Wylie Park.

PIER ADVISORY TASK FORCE POSTS FINAL REPORT ONLINE

Following a 14-month review of The Pier, the Pier Advisory Task Force has released its report which was presented to the Mayor and City Council at Thursday's June 10 City Council meeting.

Following objectives laid out by the Mayor and Council in March 2009, the 20-member Task Force evaluated the Pier, Pier Approach and surrounding areas. In preparing its recommendations, the Task Force utilized public input received from the community and studied a vast amount of data to help the Mayor and Council take the project to the next phase.

The report can be found online on the City's website.

DNA Adopts Long-term Waterfront Vision

By Timothy J. Baker
Editor, the DNA News

A draft version of a long-term vision for the Downtown waterfront, earlier approved by the association's board, was presented to the DNA membership on July 8. It was approved unanimously. Now the board, led by President Marilyn Olsen, will seek to have the DNA vision become the official vision of the city.

An officially adopted vision for the waterfront would guide decisions about our waterfront parks and public institutions for years to come. Board members hope that city adoption can happen some time this year—the official centennial celebration of the founding of the first Downtown waterfront park.

It seems that at any given time, there is at least one major public discussion under way about the future of the Downtown waterfront—planning for a new or renovated Pier, debating a proposed baseball stadium, considering the future of Al Lang Field, looking for a site for a new Dali Museum, and on and on. Absent from all of these discussions is any sense that the city has an overall vision to guide such decisions.

(Click here for slide presentation)

DNA board members for years have discussed this lack of a vision, both internally and with various city officials. The topic has also come up every so often in City Council discussions. But, nothing has really happened. So, for example, it seems that discussions about the future of the Pier can take place independently of discussions about the future of Al Lang, without much sense that both are part of a larger whole—the entire system of Downtown waterfront parks and institutions.

In its current form, the Vision Statement consists of some general statements about how the waterfront should be treated in the future. It is the board’s intention that more specific goals, coupled with policies aimed at achieving those goals, be added.

Earlier this year, Ms. Olsen formed a small committee to come up with a proposal for an overall vision. The committee included Ms. Olsen, former DNA president and current secretary Timothy J. Baker, Planning Committee chair Tim Clemmons, and Waterfront Committee chair Peter Belmont. Mr. Belmont is also chairing the committee that was established to celebrate the centennial of the parks.

The committee prepared the draft statement that was approved at the June 8 membership meeting.

Text of Vision Statement for the Waterfront

Below is the text of the draft waterfront vision statement that was approved in June by the Downtown Neighborhood Association Board of Directors. It will be presented to the DNA membership at the July membership meeting (7 p.m. Thursday, July 8, at the Sunshine Center, 330 5th Street N.)

Introduction

A string of Downtown waterfront parks and related public facilities give identity to the City of St. Petersburg, announcing to all that it will attract residents and visitors alike through the beauty of its natural setting, rather than through industry or trade. Indeed, this was the very issue that the city’s founders debated in the early 20th Century, when the first parcels of land were acquired for the purpose of supplanting early industrial uses with the green of a park

During the past century, change has come to these parks, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad, and the city’s attention to them has waxed and waned. Overall, though, the City has been a good steward of this great resource, and in recent years public use has been higher than ever. The gorgeous panorama presented by the waterfront lures numerous special events; has brought major investments in new residential buildings and cultural venues; and has nurtured a lively street life. Downtown’s public, commercial and residential realms are knit together at Beach Drive, which is lined with residential high-rises that are anchored by cafes and restaurants that offer outdoor seating to take advantage of the park and water views.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association believes that the City of St. Petersburg should be open to positive changes in the park system, while being careful to avoid injurious changes. To accomplish this, a clear vision for the future of the Downtown Waterfront is needed. While each individual park or facility is important, the overall vision must address the whole as a unified system, with the recognition that this whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.

Goal

It is the goal of this document to provide a framework for making future decisions about our system of Downtown waterfront parks and facilities.

Objectives

• Preservation and Enhancement: As the most significant collection of public spaces and facilities within the city, the Downtown waterfront parks shall be eternally preserved and continually improved.

• Environmental Stewardship: St. Petersburg shall manifest its commitment to the waterfront environment through best practices for building construction and operations, water conservation, landscaping, marina operations, and marine habitat restoration.

Within the waterfront parks, priority shall be given first to pedestrians, and then to cyclists and public transit, with significant reductions in automobile traffic and parking.

• Balanced Uses: The waterfront district shall have a balance of active and passive places and facilities such that both residents and visitors are frequently drawn to it for a variety of uses and activities.

• Downtown Connections: The waterfront parks shall be integrated with Downtown, both physically and visually, through such means as pedestrian connections, view corridors, transit routes, and appropriate edges.

Always Looking to Improve Downtown

By Marilyn Olsen, President DNA

Beach Drive reflects the careful planning and foresight of all those who contributed to Vision 2020 and the new Land Development Regulations (LDRs) that set the rules for new buildings. The setbacks that preserve a human scale along the waterfront parks, the pedestrian orientation that promotes a sense of community and the predominance of locally-owned businesses that provide a supportive environment for entrepreneurs; all coexist with the new residences that provide the significant tax base that generates funding for projects such as the Mahaffey Theater renovation and the Pier project that continue to benefit the entire city.

But clearly, Downtown is more than Beach Drive. At the same time that those living in the neighborhood value the ability to walk to favorite dining, cultural and entertainment destinations, they recognize the need to balance the dense development with open spaces and appreciate the lush green streetscapes that make 2nd Avenue North toward the waterfront a destination, the screening along the alley between Beach Drive and 1st Street North an inviting connection and even helps to camouflage vacant lots or temporary parking lots. Most Downtown residents invest heavily in landscaping around their homes, and many volunteer to support the parks. Rightfully they expect other property owners to at least meet code requirements.

Median improvements along 2nd Ave North, between Beach Drive and 1st Street

An ongoing area of concern has been the continued existence of temporary parking lots in our neighborhood. The LDRs appropriately eliminated stand- alone surface parking lots as an approved use in the Downtown Center (DC) districts where the clear intent was to provide active uses by concealing parking areas and requiring streetscape improvements that reinforce the pedestrian scale of Downtown. Surface parking lots decrease adjacent property values, create visual blight, reduce public safety through diminished pedestrian activity, and harm nearby retail and dining venues. Elimination of temporary parking lots, however, was omitted. Correcting that situation has been a focus of the DNA.

In late 2009 we were successful in getting an amendment approved which prohibited new temporary parking lots east of Third Street in DC zoning districts. That still left three existing lots: the Tropicana block between 1st and 2nd Streets, north of Central Avenue; the Bankers lot between 2nd and 3rd Streets north of 4th Avenue South and the lot on the north side of 2nd Avenue North between 2nd and 3rd Streets, where the "temporary" parking use has been allowed since at least 1995. In response to unaddressed code violations, we continued to advocate for their discontinuation.

In March, City Council approved a City Code Amendment which sunsets these three existing temporary parking lots east of Third Street after June 18, 2017. Until then the use is extended "provided the required site improvements are maintained in good condition." Those standards now include: "A landscape feature &hellip at all street corners. Each corner landscape feature shall be a minimum of 100 square feet and shall be densely planted with trees, tall shrubs, low shrubs and ground cover …."

We appreciate the support of City Council and City Staff. We all hope that the plans which have been approved for these sites materialize long before 2017. Perimeter landscaping is no substitute for vibrant development. In the interim, we encourage the property owners to respond to the extension they have been granted by striving for the landscape quality and maintenance standards of the neighborhood to improve the pedestrian experience and support adjacent new businesses and residences.

BlueWays Trail Extends Into Downtown

The City of St. Petersburg in recent years has put much effort and money into extending the system of paths and road lanes that serve pedestrians and bicycles, instead of automobiles. Most recently, the Pinellas Trail was extended eastward along 1st Avenue North, ending at Demens Landing, and then northwards along the Waterfront from there.

The overall effort is named City Trails, which has gotten considerable notice. It seems, at least, that a lot less publicity has gone to a subset of that effort, called BlueWays, which is aimed not at bicyclists and pedestrians, but at small water craft such as canoes and kayaks.

St. Petersburg, after all, has a lot of shoreline and a lot of recreational boaters. To date, the city has identified ten separate BlueWays, each of which offers boaters a "unique environmental, historic, and/or scenic vista opportunity," according to a brochure published by the city.

All of the BlueWays offer parking and launch ramps, for easy access to the water. To date, only one of the trails is actually marked, although more could be marked in the future.

The Downtown Waterfront BlueWay twists its way between Demens Landing, at the foot of 1st Avenue Southeast, and Coffee Pot Park, at 30th Avenue North. The trail is listed as 8.8 miles long, with an experience level of novice to intermediate.

Here's what the city brochure says about this trail:
"This BlueWay provides paddlers with a unique opportunity to experience the serenity of coastal waters while also accessing the wonderfully active Downtown St. Petersburg. Near the north end of the BlueWay, it is common to find manatees, and a wide variety of fish and shorebirds. About 3/4 miles south of the northern launch is a bird rookery, Pelican Island, that is home to a large population of pelicans and numerous wading birds; please observe from a distance, however.
"Continuing to the south, paddlers will approach North Shore Park and Downtown St. Petersburg."
The map at right shows the route wending its way from Demens Landing, around the head of the Pier, into and out of the Vinoy Basin, along North Shore Park and into Coffee Pot Bayou.
On the landward side, the Pinellas Trail runs about the same route. So, here are two great ways to see Downtown, on foot or in your canoe or kayak.

The Next Urban Porch Parties

The Urban Porch Parties sponsored by the Downtown Neighborhood Association keep rolling along. At the last party, we enjoyed wine and hors d'oeuvres under the umbrellas at Cassis, the new French brasserie on Beach Drive.

Next up will be the Old Northeast Tavern at 201 7th Avenue North. Okay, it's not exactly in the neighborhood, but it's close, and they have good beer. Actually, the reason for this location is that we have invited our neighbors from the Historic Old Northeast neighborhood to attend, so this party will be a bit different from the others.

Following that will be a UPP at Messineo's Gourmet Market, 179 1st Avenue North. This is the new food shop that is taking the space formerly occupied by the Atlanta Bread Company. So, mark your calendars:

Old Northeast Tavern — 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 11.

Messineo's Gourmet Market — 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 8.

Shopping Incentive?

Here's the story that city parking officials tell:

In early June, a Downtown visitor got a $35 parking ticket for overstaying a meter on Beach Drive. But, he also got a notice that first time offenders could have a ticket waived if they could show that they spent $25 shopping Downtown.

This driver brought his ticket to the Municipal Services Building, but had only $20 in receipts. So, officials told him they couldn't waive the ticket. The driver promptly crossed the street to Schokolade, the chocolate shop at Central Avenue and 4th Street. He bought some sweets, returned with another receipt and got the ticket waived. Not a bad deal!

This unusual "amnesty" program began in early June, as part of an overall tinkering with the rules for parking Downtown. Probably the most noticed changes will be different rates for meters, and different hours during which the meters will be in effect. For example, the meters on Beach Drive are now in force only until 8 p.m. They used to be enforced until 10 p.m. Under the new rules, someone can park a car at one of the meters at 6 p.m., pay for two hours of parking, and then be home free for the entire evening, since payment is not required after 8.

These new rules may make it easier for someone to, say, have dinner and then go to a movie without worrying about getting a parking ticket. On the other hand, that space won't be available to anybody else for the entire evening.

A possible downside for Beach Drive businesses is that those metered spaces may become desirable for people attending special events at Vinoy Park, or even for someone going to Tropicana Field. Park on Beach Drive, and walk a few blocks to the free shuttle.

Another new wrinkle is that special low rates are available for monthly parking passes in the Southcore garage and the Baywalk garage. Parking is restricted to after 11 a.m., and the spaces are on the garage roofs. The rates and hours are tailored to attract Downtown service employees, who often have difficulty finding reasonably priced parking.