E-mail sent to Largo Mayor and CommissionersWest Bay Drive Redevelopment Expansion ProposalMy husband and I live in the area proposed for the redevelopment expansion of West Bay Drive. We strongly oppose this expansion. We attended the May and June planning board meetings and the special meeting that was called by the planning board to address concerns of those that had spoken at the planning board meeting in May. We have lived in Largo for over 50 years. Three generations of our family have attended Largo schools. We sought homes in Roosevelt Groves when we were considering purchasing our home 18 years ago. We liked the trees, the quiet streets, close to schools and stores. In the 18 years we have been in this home, we have worked hard and managed to pay off our mortgage. We keep our home well maintained. We love our home! We are NOT part of - West Bay Drive. We are East Bay Drive. The businesses on East Bay Drive are doing well, even with the traffic congestion. The businesses on West Bay Drive have little or no business. You don't see persons walking on West Bay Drive, as was the intention when it was redeveloped. There are many empty businesses on West Bay Drive, but not on East Bay Drive. To say the West Bay Drive redevelopment is unsuccessful would be an understatement. Clearly, more work by the city needs to be done to West Bay Drive, which is where your focus should be. The new plans for the West Bay Drive redevelopment expansion call for multi-storied buildings, with too much density and intensity for this area. There is talk of the new buildings having bike racks so the people don't have to use their cars on the (proposed) lowering from 3 lanes to 2 lanes. This is ludicrous. The traffic on East Bay Drive is very heavy with 3 lanes. This area cannot handle greater density or intensity. At the last planning board meeting, the proposed expansion was compared to Clearwater/Largo Road. Those two communities are vastly different. Habit for Humanity has just finished its' 5th home in this area. The people of this area made it very clear at the planning board meetings, that we are all opposed to this expansion. The only person voting in favor of the expansion was an owner of a business on West Bay Drive, which is clearly not part of East Bay Drive! I was pleased to see Commissioner Murray at the June planning board meeting. He was able to hear, first hand, that our community is against this expansion. I am hoping to change my work schedule so that we may attend the City Commission meeting June 16th. If we are unable to attend, I hope this email makes it clear to you that we are against the expansion! Tom and Iris Merryweather
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