Welcome to Save East Lake
A non profit organization filing as a 501(c)(4).
We are an association devoted to preserving our community’s traditions and appearance by representing it before the legislature and administrative agencies in zoning, traffic matters and environmental matters.
We formed due to repeated annexations by the city of Tarpon Springs of our land and tax base. Now Tarpon Springs developer Pioneer Homes is aggressive leveraging the city by purchasing County properties and attempting to forcibly annexing them.
You may be aware of the proposed development by George Zutes and George Stamas, owners of Pioneer Homes in Tarpon Springs.
As is the case, developers ask for the moon to maximize their profits at the expense of other homeowners and residents in the area.
Pioneer Homes purchased 43.5 acres of land on adjoining parcels located between East Lake Drive, Highland Avenue, George Street and Keystone Road.
By having purchased another smaller parcel which touches the McAlpin property which was annexed by the City of Tarpon Springs in 2017, this now gives Pioneer Homes the right to have these parcels voluntarily annexed as well.
ANNEXATION HEARING
“Proposed Annexation into Tarpon Springs”
“Proposed Amendment to the Future Land Use Map”
“Proposed Rezoning of a Parcel”
- UPDATE!
On December the 10th 2019, the Board of Commissioners voted to annex two more parcels of East Lake into the City. The vote also changed the density from a maximum of 21 agricultural estate homes to 88 homes in a suburban development. With this vote our tax base shrinks even more and traffic on Keystone road will increase dramatically. Another very sad day for East Lake.
Why Does Pioneer Homes want the City to Annex this land?
Multiple reasons including:
- Tarpon Springs maximum zoning is residential 1-acre lots. By being annexed, this will automatically double the density allowed for development. UPDATE after City meeting; the city votes to quadrupling the density by allowing two homes per acre or 88 homes.
- Surrounding property owners are residents of Pinellas County and have no voting rights in the City of Tarpon Springs. The City Commissioners will likely ignore us and allow more of our tax base to be stolen by the City. As our tax base shrinks, our property values go down and our taxes go up. Should we let these developers laugh all the way to the bank and make extra profit on our backs?
On November 4th 2019 Pioneer Homes submitted their final site plan and development agreement which you can download and view!
What are we doing?
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- We have retained legal counsel including two attorneys and two land use experts.
- We have had two large scale neighborhood meetings. The second one had one hundred residents meet with our legal team at the Cypress Run Golf Club House.
- We are going to start a fund-raising & PR campaign with yard signs, and political placards to show Pioneer Homes and the City of Tarpon Springs how much and how many of us are against this.
- We have official support from the Cypress Run HOA and the Council of North County Neighborhoods (CNCN)
- Audubon of Clearwater is aware of the situation and is monitoring several protected species on this property including Bald Eagles, Swallow-tailed Kites, Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills. There are also a large amount (estimate 25-40) Gopher tortoises on this property so a 'Take' permit will be required before they can begin construction.
- We have retained legal counsel including two attorneys and two land use experts.
More than one-hundred neighbors in North East Lake have signed up for the email list. Join us, we send a bi-weekly email unless something urgent comes up we promise not spam your inbox.
Join by emailing me ([email protected]) or by filling out the form on the left column to stay informed of ways you can help stop this annexation.
Our neighborhood is zoned agricultural with 2 acre lot minimums for a reason.
Email or call us with questions:
Save East Lake, Inc.
[email protected]