CLEARWATER - Under pressure from city leaders, Pinellas County commissioners are reopening a controversial debate on whether developers in downtown and Midtown St. Petersburg should pay for the traffic created by their projects.
Commissioners had agreed to let the "no fee zones" in St. Petersburg, Safety Harbor and Pinellas Park expire at the end of the month, leaving new projects in those areas subject to the same impact fees paid elsewhere in the county.
On Tuesday, commissioners unanimously decided to hold a special public hearing on Oct. 29 to let city leaders make their case to keep the no fee zones.
But several commissioners said they have no plans to change their minds.
"I can't imagine anything that will compel me, in my mind, to change my position," said Commissioner Bob Stewart.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said he was pleased by the commission's decision to have a public hearing, but it did not change his underlying concern: preserving the no fee zones in downtown and Midtown, an economically struggling area.
"It just doesn't make sense when you're at the beginning of making great progress in Midtown to start telling people they're going to have to pay a tax if they want to develop there," Baker said.
St. Petersburg leaders had accused commissioners of being "arrogant" and failing to consider the implications of ending the no fee zones. They want them extended until December 2005 and threatened to take legal action to maintain the exemption.
Commissioners approved allowing the no fee zones to expire at the end of the month based on a recommendation by the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Commissioner Ken Welch, who represents a district that includes St. Petersburg, asked for the special public hearing.
Welch had agreed with fellow commissioners earlier this month, but said he later learned that MPO members were told the commission would consider the issue during a public hearing on Oct. 19.
Instead, the county accepted the MPO recommendation on Oct. 5.
Welch, who is up for re-election this fall, said city officials, members of the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP and the Downtown Partnership had planned to attend a public hearing.
"It's simple fairness, hearing from constituents," he said.
County Administrator Steve Spratt said a public hearing was not required because the zones were set to expire and the commission did not plan any changes.
Although Welch persuaded fellow commissioners to hold the public hearings, few said they would consider another vote.
"There was no misrepresentation by this commission," County Commission Chairwoman Susan Latvala said.
St. Petersburg City Council member James Bennett said he hopes the county and city can set aside their differences and work toward a compromise.
"We're adults," he said. "We need to play together better."
Times staff writer Carrie Johnson contributed to this article.
