Residents Rally To Fight Apartment Complex Along Anclote River

TARPON SPRINGS, FL — The Friends of the Anclote River is hosting a rally Tuesday, May 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the Tarpon Springs City Hall to appeal to the city commission to save a parcel of environmentally sensitive land along the river.

The rally will take place just before the city commission's regular meeting.

The group is appealing to the commission to reverse its decision to allow development of the 74-acre property and asking the city to purchase it for a public park instead.

In January, the Tarpon Springs City Commission's voted to allow a Houston developer Morgan Group proceed with plans to build a 404-unit apartment complex on the Anclote River site, saying it had no choice but to approve the development because it met all the requirements of the city's comprehensive land use plan.

The Friends of the Anclote River and the Florida Suncoast Group of the Sierra Club are appealing the city's decision in Pinellas County Circuit Court, arguing that the property, which is adjacent to Pinellas County's 158-acre Anclote Islands Management Area, is home to a number of endangered species including bald eagles, gopher tortoises and great horned owls.

The group has also launched a petition drive and has been holding weekly estate sales to raise money for legal fees.

Resident Ann Joanow Samarkos, who launched the petition drive, said they hope to convince the commission to reverse its decision and allow residents to fundraise and apply for grants to purchase the property to preserve and use as a park.

The Morgan Group agreed to preserve part of the property for conservation but the property wouldn't be open to the public.

"We want people to be able to visit, walk through, enjoy, exercise at and kayak alongside the entire 74 acres," Samarkos said. "We do not want the pristine environmentally sensitive land to be destroyed, cleared, filled, concrete-paved nor built upon. If that happens, it can never be replaced."

This isn't the first time the Friends of the Anclote River have fought to preserve the site at 42501 U.S. 19 N. In 2008, the group successfully defeated a plan to build a Walmart Supercenter on the site.

See related story: Dunedin, Pinellas Move Ahead To Purchase Gladys Douglas Land