Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway
Corridor Advocacy Group (CAG)
Minutes
Regular Meeting at
URS Corporation - Board Room
7650 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway
Tampa, Florida
February 11, 2005
10:30 a.m.
Attending:
Jessica White, Senior Planner, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Chris Cook, Executive Director, Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful
Felicia Leonard, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator, City of Clearwater
The Honorable Bill Jonson, Vice Mayor, City of Clearwater
Tim Kurtz, Landscape Architect, City of Clearwater
Tristan Wolbers, Intern to Councilwoman Saul-Sena, City of Tampa
Mike Palozzi, FDOT/GEC (PBS&J)
Jane Burmer, Landscape Architect, URS
David Hey, Community Planner, Hillsborough County Planning Commission
Gena Torres, Senior Planner, Hillsborough County MPO
The Honorable Linda Saul-Sena, City of Tampa Councilmember
Jim Valentine, City of Tampa
Ebe Bower, Clearwater Regional Chamber
Brian Smith, Director, Pinellas County Planning & MPO
Vice Mayor Jonson called the meeting to order at 10:40 a.m. Introduction of attendees followed.
The minutes of the January 14, 2005 meeting were approved with no corrections.
Old Business:
1.
Designation Document Approval Status
Mike Palozzi referred to the minutes of the previous meeting, stating that everything was
pretty much status quo. The CCSH CAG hopes to hear from the Transportation Secretary by
the third or fourth week of March. The SHAC is scheduled to meet either the last week of
February or the first week of March, and it is hoped the group will know something by the
end of March.
2.
Sponsorship Subcommittee Report
February 23, 2005 has been selected as the new date for the sponsorship mixer with the
business community. It will be held at the Westshore Grand Hyatt beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Ebe Bower was able to compile an extensive list of people/businesses on the Clearwater
(Pinellas) side, and letters have gone out extending the invitation. For the Tampa side, thirtyfive letters of invitation have been sent out, those names having been obtained from Ron
Rotella of the Westshore Alliance. From this list so far, eight $yes# responses have been
received from some high profile businesses, such as Highwoods Properties, the Hunt
Construction Group, Trammell-Crow, IBM, etc. It is estimated that attendance will be
approximately thirty to forty people, in addition to members of the CCSH CAG.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena stated that the group should definitely have the draft brochure
available for the gathering along with a description of the different membership levels. Vice
Mayor Jonson has acquired State folders which contain flyers regarding the Scenic Highway
program and also a map. He also related that he had gone to the State Scenic Highway
website and found a link to the National Byways website through which a specific state s
scenic highways may be accessed. Once designation is final, the Courtney Campbell will
receive national recognition, as well.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena plans to actually call the people she feels should actively
participate in the gathering, as a follow-up to the letter of invitation. Vice Mayor Jonson
requested that Ebe Bower remind him to do the same on the Pinellas side.
3.
Brochure Subcommittee Report
Mike Palozzi reported that while more pictures have been added, there is still a desperate
need for more. He feels fairly certain that the picture of people on the beach is actually
Clearwater Beach, not Courtney Campbell Beach and the photo of folks fishing, which was
pulled from the DVD, did not reproduce well. So, a true photo of people on the Courtney
Campbell Beach is most definitely needed. Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked Jim Valentine if
the City of Tampa Parks Department had any $glamour# shots. He felt that while pictures
were available, he was not sure how recent they might be. Mr. Valentine stated that he
would check with Allen Frazier and also the Parks Department files. Councilwoman SaulSena asked if anyone had better copy ideas for the front page and she suggested that
copies be made for everyone to look at in the hope that someone may be able to improve
upon the current draft. Comment was made that the map for the brochure is excellent, and
the question was raised that if an organization contributed a certain amount of money,
would it then have a number designating its location on the map. The suggestion was made
to give that particular organization recognition on the Courtney Campbell website with a
hyperlink to that organization.
Councilwoman Saul-Sena asked Mr. Palozzi to explain what the acronym SHAC stands for
since there are some folks who do not know. The acronym stands for Scenic Highway
Advisory Committee, and is the statewide reviewing authority for all scenic highway
applicants around the state. It is comprised of a group of volunteers from different agencies,
such as the Federal Highway Administration, Florida Department of Environmental
Protection, and other state government agencies. They are managed or supported by the
DOT scenic highway manager. The committee looks over every application submitted for
designation, and they are the group that will review the Courtney Campbell application at
the end of February or the beginning of March.
4.
Status Discussion of Trail Maintenance Issues
Ms. Felicia Leonard, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator, City of Clearwater stated that on the
Pinellas side there is access pavement on the western side of the bridge and she feels there
is room to place a physical barrier enabling them to run a bicycle trail up on the bridge. The
Tampa side will present more issues because the bridge is much bigger and there is no
access pavement. She sent a letter to Harvey Hunt on November 16, 2004 but has not yet
received a reply. Ms. Leonard invited Michelle Green, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator at
FDOT District Seven, to attend today s meeting, but apparently she was unable to do so. Ms.
Green will help follow up with Harvey Hunt, and Mr. Palozzi stated that he will be meeting
with Ms. Green next week. Councilwoman Saul-Sena thought it would be helpful to have
Michelle Green and the project coordinator for the Links Project attend the next meeting to
discuss how the FDOT can be helpful. Vice Mayor Jonson raised the question of how to get
some of these projects onto the MPO s long-range program. Mr. Brian Smith, Executive
Director, Pinellas County MPO, stated that the procedure would vary slightly on either side of
the bay because each MPO has its committees set up differently. He stated that the Pinellas
MPO is aware of this program, but the Bicycle Committee and the Pedestrian Committee
are both very active in many of the amenities that are talked about along this corridor.
Make the MPO aware at the policy level, but do not be too generalized. Working with the
support committees is recommended because that is where many of the recommendations
come from. Mr. Smith suggested that once there is a presentable product, go to those
committees and actually review it with them because there are projects which come
through those committees that get prioritized. Mr. Palozzi clarified that it would be
appropriate to take the goals, objectives and strategies developed by the CCSH CAG and
begin to introduce these to the specific MPO committees, and then as projects emerge from
the goals and objectives, begin to educate those committees on the projects. He stated he
would e-mail to Jessica White the latest version of the Vision Statement and the goals,
objectives and strategies, so it can be distributed.
New Business:
5.
Comp Plan Amendment Challenges
Ms. Gena Torres stated that discussions had identified the requirement to get the Courtney
Campbell Scenic Highway Designation into the Tampa Comprehensive Plan. This process
has opened up many questions. Mr. David Hey, Hillsborough County Planning Commission,
stated they have been working with Mike Palozzi to determine where the project fits into the
Comprehensive Plan. There are issues concerning the benefit for the City of Tampa, the
implications to the city with regard to cost, staffing and expectations. Since the process has
been initiated, they have a time limit in which to obtain the answers and propose the
amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. The guidance in the Scenic Highway Manual
states that there must be map, goals, visions and objectives into the local comp plans. The
question arose as to why they would reference the City of Clearwater and a project at the
Christian College in the City of Tampa s Comp Plan. Advice from Central Office is to do the
best we can. He feels that as long as the SHAC sees that an effort has been made to
include a reference by the locals that this is a key item for the region, that should be
acceptable. Vice Mayor Jonson pointed out that this is in the Regional Planning Council s
goals for the region as well, and several references to the Comp Plan have been found in
the documents.
Vice Mayor Jonson asked if there was any other business to discuss as a group. He reiterated that
the next meeting will be on Friday, March 11, 2005 and he encouraged everyone to attend the
reception on February 23 at the Westshore Grand Hyatt beginning at 4:30 p.m. He reminded
committee members that while the reception is primarily for business leaders, the elected officials
should also be invited.
Mr. Valentine followed up from the last meeting regarding available FDOT funds. He spoke to John
Simpson and was told that new funds will become available in July. Mr. Kurtz reminded the group
that upon completion of the Drew Street improvements by FDOT, there should be approximately
$150,000 worth of excess landscaping that will be available for placement on the Courtney
Campbell.
Mr. Palozzi referred to the effort being made on the Hillsborough side regarding the Comp Plan and
encouraged the same effort take place on the Pinellas side, since the SHAC will expect that. He
also wanted to clarify the name of the beach for the accuracy of the map. It was decided that it
would be referred to as the Courtney Campbell Causeway beach area. Ms. Leonard added that
the Pinellas side has conservation easement on the north side which could also appear on the map.
Next Scheduled Meeting:
The
meeting
Friday, March 11, 2005 at 9:30 a.m.
was
adjourned
at
11:45
a.m.