Click here to read the letter from the City of Tampa.
With all the discussion concerning the proposed Wet zoning request at the 300 block of South Howard by the Whiskey Soho group that is currently occupied by SOHOSushi, Sangrias, The Dubliner, and more, several additional issues need to be more fully understood.
When
The Lime opened (with experienced restauranteurs), the City limited them to having to close at Midnight. Pretty tough for a planned sports bar concept. Remember some of the Bowl games going til almost 1 AM ? Additionally, when the same owners opened the
Daily Eats their hours were also restricted by the City. The Lime and Daily Eats have their own parking lot.
When
Strings and Rings opened (with an experienced restauranteur) at Platt and Howard, the City limited them to not being able to open on Sundays at all and to not being open after 8 PM on most weeknights and only til midnight on weekends. Considering it doesn't get dark until after 9 during the summer, this makes no sense. They have their own parking lot immediately north of the building.
When
Minor's Market opened almost two years ago, the opposition to their having a beer and wine license at their deli/market, led to an ongoing legal effort that resulted in a one year conditional license. The costs and frustrations of that eventually lead to an apology to John and Jenny Minor from one Council member but, unfortunately, contributed to this small business closing recently. They had a huge parking lot.
We have attended numerous meetings in the past where the issue of parking in SOHO has been discuessed. Once again this past
Friday we saw over 30 cars towed away by quick moving tow trucks with spotters helping to increase their catch. Rumor has it that many of the businesses are receiving as much as $60 per vehicle for anyone towed from their lot. No one has wanted to verify that - but it has not been denied either.
Similar problems in Channelside, led to creation of a forum/discussion group that has met with City leaders to address their parking/traffic problems and may be making some progress.
On September 12th, we hand delivered a letter to Mayor Iorio calling for a neighborhood forum to be held by the City to bring residents and businesses together to discuss the critical parking issue in SOHO. The danger presented by the inability of emergency vehicles to navigate jammed streets has been discussed by neighborhood associations and by Council Member John Dingfelder in small meetings on many occasions.
As of today, almost 3 months later, we have received NO response to our letter even though additional copies have been provided to the Mayor.
Many SOHO business leaders feel that the current City Administration ignores SOHO problems and concerns. It is no wonder that they have this attitude when some businesses are saddled with ridiculous hours and serious issues seem ignored.
We appreciate all of the comments on our site about the proposal for the wet zoning request on the 300 block (And we welcome even more comments). As the petitioners ask for the ability to stay open to 3 AM and with questions about parking still remaining , we have a hard time understanding how the City can approve this without a few explanations:
Why are Jim and Jeff at The Lime and Daily Eats so restricted in their hours ?
Why is Allan at Strings and Rings so restricted in his hours ?
We can't say anything more about Minors Market, because it is already too late. They have closed.
Concern about the lack of planning and attention by the City administration on issues affecting SOHO is becoming worrisome.
We ask the City to be consistent in how businesses are treated - regardless of sex, creed, color, or size of political contributions.
As always, we welcome your comments.
You can read our original posting -
You Can't Always Get What You Want - concerning the Campaign Contributions here. http://www.sohotampa.com/whiskeyblock.html
You can read the recent Creative Loafing article - The Money Men - Again by Wayne Garcia here.
http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A151016
Our original call for the Mayor to act on the parking problems can be found here:
http://www.sohotampa.com/towtrucks.html
