The City of Safety Harbor has done a great job so far listening to the public about what they want in the Waterfront Park. I looked at the 3 different plans (which can be found on the City's Web site) and each plan has good and bad things about them. I like Plan #2 the best, although I don't like the additional boat docks. The boat docks next to the pier will stop the manatees from coming and the docks that stick out from marina will be damaged if a major storm or hurricane comes through the area. I also do not want a restaurant here. This park is simply not big enough. There would not be enough parking to accommodate all of the restaurant employees and patrons, plus everyone who will be visiting the marina, putting boats into the water, and visiting the waterfront park. If the City needs more revenues to pay for the completion and upkeep of our expanded park system, I wouldn't mind a small tax increase as long as all of the additional revenues are dedicated exclusively to our parks. A small tax increase is better than trying to get revenues by squeezing in a restaurant that will bring in too much traffic and ruin our beautiful new park.

Thanks for weighing in, Joe!

What does everyone else think about the proposals?

I appreciate that these are just conceptual plans but I feel it is irresponsible to present plans to the public that include ideas that just can't be done. Responsible planning is all about working and formulating beforehand. Plans 1 and 2 completely remove the boat ramp. If you present plans to the public with the words "Existing Boat Launch to be Relocated", you should be following the definition of the word "Plan" and be "formulating beforehand"........You should be thinking ahead and have a relocation site in mind..... When I asked our City Planner Matt McLachlan where he would move the boat ramp, he said "I don't know". When I asked a steering committee member the same question at a previous meeting, his reply was "up the road". Up the road, is all private property. When I pointed this fact out, his response was "I didn't know that"..... This is not responsible planning.
Plan #2 has boat docks directly on top of underwater spring where the Manatees congregate . This is not responsible planning even at the conceptual stage.
A restaurant is just a bad idea, conceptually and in reality. Does the city need to be leasing (or selling as Joe Ayoub suggested to me) PUBLIC property to a restaurant to directly compete with our own local business's????? There is not enough room for parking, there will be dumpsters, noise, delivery trucks etc.
The beauty of the bay is what attracts people to the pier, hopefully they won't ruin it.

I too understand that these were preliminary concept and that work need to be done. I also appreciate the work so far that has been done. But there are issues that need to be addressed now before the next committee meeting.
I know that there is a need to try and bring in people to down town whether residents or out of towners.Putting in a retail/restaurant space in a is not the answer. To me this is the first step of over commercialization of this town. There are Florida destination books that tell of Safety Harbor being a quaint, serene little city in the Tampa Bay area. They even mention the Artists that own Whimsy(Sorry but I forgot their names).That’s what I love about Safety Harbor, a little town that everyone knows each other.

Thanks for the input Rob. A reminder that city officials have said some of the proposed amenities could be implemented earlier than others, such as the boardwalk and the passive interior park features. These proposals were merely jumping off points to start to get a sense of what the community wants to see down there.

cont...
I think to address what can be done to bring people to downtown lets ask ourselves what is keeping people away? There was a gentleman at the meeting that said he goes to downtown Dunedin on Sunday mornings to eat breakfast and look around in the shops. Why ?Why not eat and shop here? In all honesty I see his point. While there are a few good restaurants, most are ok .Most don't have the "wow" to bring people back and to tell others to come here. Same with the shops. To me ,downtown is perfect, nice and quiet. I think a 6 month or longer survey asking what is the good and bad of downtown and why. Why don't you like a certain restaurant? Gather the info and have a meeting with the downtown business and give constructive criticism. This would be a good first step to bring people to downtown, not another retail/restaurant that will compete with existing businesses let alone in a waterfront park. Lets support what we already have.

cont..
Another problem I have is with the kids splash pad. This should not be included in this park. What about the noise this park will make? So much for a quiet, serene park. What about the added maintenance costs? When A kid has an accident, and it will happen occasionally someone will have to shut down the park and sanitize it. Who will do it and at what cost? I brought my kids to the one in Oldsmar ONCE never to return.It was loud, trash everywhere along with dirty diapers and nowhere to sit. Maybe I went on a bad day. If you notice, the Oldsmar splash park is FAAAAR from the waterfront and from downtown. I think the city planners knew that it would be loud and placed it out next to the Forest Lakes Rec Center. Also the park now is a pay -to -use park. It wasn't at first. Could it be that the cost to maintain the splash park is more expensive that what was originally. If a splash park is truly needed put it with one of the existing parks that has playground equipment.

cont...
There is more work to be done. I hope the steering committees is listening to what the people want. The next meeting will be interesting. Lets not rush this, there is only one chance to do it right.

I'm seeing some thoughtful comments and strong opinions on this topic. You should all consider blogging about it on Safety Harbor Patch:

http://safetyharbor.patch.com/blog/apply

It would be interesting to hear what else you have to say!

I attempted to comment on this earlier but it didn't show up. I personally was thrilled to see the splash pad in all of the plans. We live in a city surrounded by water and there is almost zero water play available unless you have a pool at home or want to spend a fortune on the spa pool. The addition of a beach space is fantastic too. The Dunedin spray park is a great space and well maintained, I would expect that Safety Harbor would keep theirs at a similar level of excellence. I grew up here in Safety Harbor and have chosen to raise my family here as well and while I find that we excel at what we do, we still have some blank spots. I love the idea of the trails and the small band shell. It would be nice to take some of the burden off of the gazebo which is a lovely space but being located right on Main Street can be somewhat problematic and lack a sense of intimacy. I think that the boat launch should be left where it is, I can't honestly imagine where they would move it too. I think a restaurant or shopping would be too much down there, if they want a building maybe have a nature type classroom that could attract field trips and raise income that way. I would love to see it be a space that can please both families looking to cool off, people who want a quiet and scenic walk or run, and nature lovers alike. The space is large enough to accommodate everyone.

Thank you for sharing your viewpoint, Ricca. Glad you were finally able to post your comment!

I stood silent and watched others rant err speak, I am sure the steering committee put a lot of time and effort into this presentation. I don’t think they anticipated such acrimony. But from what I heard was that the majority of responders to the survey said “no commercial buildings” yet each concept had a building in the plans. The use of which has yet to be determined. Boardwalks, walking and biking paths, shelters (open air pavilions) along with shade structures do not seem to be a problem. I do believe the people want to see simplicity and serenity. I have said no restaurants, Ferris Wheels or giant water slides. I would rather see just an unpretentious simple park. Maybe it would be nice to have a playground for children with swings, slides and a sandbox. Can we just share the space with our aquatic and feathered friends without destroying it first? I met a gal from Boston on Main St. yesterday after the meeting she had just moved to Safety Harbor. She mentioned how Nantucket has become completely over commercialized. Do we want that for Safety Harbor?

Vote to Elect Robert "Bobby" Saltzman Candidate
for City of Safety Harbor Commission Seat #1
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I like the idea of a passive waterfront park, preserving the natural beauty of this precious piece of property. Maybe, a baseball diamond for the Little League, but no playground jungle gyms please! Although, the north side of the pier is very shallow for boating, the shoreline along the property offers the perfect spot for water recreation; specifically, a sandy beach where families can sunbath and wade in the water to cool off from the summer heat. The addition of covered picnic shelters and pavillions would also provide much needed shade for BBQs and family gatherings. Extend the bayshore bike path through the park to connect with Bayshore Drive and Philippe Park. A small Dairy Isle type ice cream stand could be constructed at the edge of the park to sell ice cream, snacks and bottled water to visitors of the park and pier, as well as sell bait and tackle to service the fishermen at the marina. The one-acre commercial area should be developed for outdoor plays and concerts. The Florida Orchestra performed in this very spot for many years and we sat on folding chairs and blankets. The Players of Safety Harbor (POSH) could share this outdoor stage, too - Good revenue making opportunity for the City. Leave the boat launch and marina as they are!

Commercializing our Waterfront Park by squeezing in a restaurant will ruin the new park. There is already a lack of parking to accomodate all of the boaters, the kayakers, the fishermen, and the people who visit the pier. Then you have to consider all of the new visitors who will come to the new Waterfront Park to visit the beach and the many new attractions. A restaurant will also have hundreds of employees and patrons who will need to park there when the restaurant is open. Plus there will be delivery and garbage trucks that will need to constantly be going in and out of there. Our new park will become a traffic nightmare requiring traffic lights to get in and out of this park. Add to this the traffic from South Bayshore which often backs up from Main Street past the entrance into the marina. A new restraurant will only ruin the small town feel that makes Safety Harbor so attractive to everyone who lives and visits here.

Robert, I feel that we have plenty of restaurants already in Safety Harbor. With the recent addition of Nantucket Bucket, we don't need another new seafood restaurant in our Waterfront Park to compete with them. Commercial businesses need to stay in our commercial districts along Main St., 2nd St. N and 2nd St. S. Our parks need to remain parks without commercial intrusions. Our Waterfront Park needs to represent our small town values. It would be a big mistake for our small quaint City to commercialize our beautiful new Waterfront Park.