The following letter was sent to Mayor Bob Buckhorn on behalf of of Skypoint:
777 N ASHLEY DRIVE, TAMPA,
FLORIDA 33602
Mayor Bob Buckhorn
City of Tampa, Mayor's Office
306 East Jackson Street
Tampa, FL 33602
306 East Jackson Street
Tampa, FL 33602
Dear Mayor Buckhorn:
I am the current Board of Directors President for the
Skypoint Condominium Association, located across from Curtis Hixon Park in
downtown Tampa. I am encouraged by your
renewed focus on enrichment and development projects centered around the
downtown area. Having lived at Skypoint
for three years, I believe in a thriving city center for a more efficient and
livable city.
On behalf of the residents of Skypoint we would like to bring
to your attention three concerns: the safety of our surrounding
neighborhood, parking, and noise.
SAFETY:
Last evening one of our long time residents was walking with
his two dogs across the Zack Street crosswalk with a walk signal. A vehicle traveling north on Ashley made a
right on red onto Zack Street and struck the resident and his dogs at slow
speed. Luckily there were no serious
injuries, but I think you can agree that the outcome of this incident could
have been tragic.
Turning Zack into a two way street has increased the danger
to our residents as they cross the intersections. We are asking that all streets that
immediately border our building be designated as no turn on red intersections.
A recent attack at the Ft. Brooke parking garage also
concerns me because of the increased number of homeless that appear to be
taking refuge downtown. There is a
perception that this increased homeless population has not been met by
increased police patrols. I also know
that many residents will not frequent local businesses after dark because they
are simply scared of being attacked. We
ask that for the safety of our residents and the vitality of our local
businesses that you please look into increasing patrolling of downtown either
on foot or by marked/unmarked vehicles.
PARKING:
The zoning for Skypoint was pushed through during the great
building boom of 2005. The city approved
our building with the bare minimum in terms of resident and guest parking. Directly across the street from Skypoint is
the underutilized Poe garage. We would
respectfully request that you consider granting Skypoint the use of a small
number of parking spaces on the top floor of the garage to alleviate our guest
parking problem. We would also like for
you to consider zoning the parking on Polk St. directly adjacent to our
building as a Skypoint loading zone that
can be used by the many contractors that service the building. Currently contractors have no approved on
site parking while servicing our residents.
NOISE NUISSANCE:
The CSX railroad is an important link between our port and
inland as well as east coast Florida cities.
We understand the value of this important transportation component to
the local economy. The noise produced by
the passing train is something that I understand can be mitigated by
establishing a "quiet zone" around both our building and our sister
building, Element. We would like the
office of the Mayor to assist us in designating the area adjacent to our two
buildings as a "quiet zone".
Skypoint is home to nearly 800 residents. As the first residential high rise ever to be
built in downtown Tampa we feel a certain pride and responsibility to our
community. We believe that by addressing
these three important issues you will improve the quality of life for our
residents and future residents, increase our property values, and give a boost
to local businesses.
When would you have time to meet with me to discuss these
items and how we can best work together to find a mutually agreeable solution?
I may be reached at 813.699.0755.
Respectfully,
Jeffrey S. Zampitella
President, Skypoint Condominium Association, Inc.
