Parkland proposal reignites public naming rights discussion

For more than a decade, residents of the Indian Beach/Sapphire Shores neighborhood have clamored for more parkland.

And, yet, when a developer offered to maintain a piece of city-owned land it sought to reclassify as a park, the proposal divided the board of the area neighborhood association for one reason: the name.

In March, Louisiana-based developer Level Homes went in front of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection board to pitch their idea. They volunteered to provide maintenance for the land at the southwest corner of Corwood Drive and Bay Shore Road, a patchy tract with trees and a fence but not much more.

That land is adjacent to the Level Homes project Bellora, a 23-unit residential subdivision for which sales are scheduled to open shortly. As part of the offered deal with the city, Level Homes proposed the newly designated parkland — currently just city right of way — be renamed "Bellora Park."

"We thought it would be a good thing to do for the area," said Jeff Gersh, vice president of land acquisitions for Level Homes. "The intent was just to maintain and keep it nice and tight."

"This is not a park. It's nothing more than a glorified right of way." — Todd Kucharski

Despite a seal of approval from the parks board in March, the proposal was struck down Monday as the City Commission unanimously voted against an agreement with Level Homes. The board was concerned about giving up the naming rights for a piece of city property without getting something more substantial in return.

"They're enhancing the value, naming city property with the same name as a subdivision," Commissioner Susan Chapman said. "I have a problem with that — the maintenance may indicate they have some claim over public property."

Todd Kucharski, the city’s public works general manager, admitted the property is only maintained three or four times a year by staff. That’s because there’s not much there right now — in the past, former City Commissioner Dick Clapp led a discussion about enhancing the land as a park space, but funding wasn’t available, and the push eventually subsided.

Funding still isn’t available today, Kucharski said. Level Homes wasn't interested in enhancing the proposed park, and per the proposed agreement, the city would still have to pay for the maintenance of any improvements it installed itself — another stumbling block for the city, considering the current state of the land.

"This is not a park," Kucharski said. "It's a parcel of land that the city owns. It's nothing more than a glorified right of way."

When the city agreed to rename Eloise Werlin Causeway Park in July 2014 in exchange for a $125,000 private donation, commissioners also directed staff to establish an official policy for renaming public property. More than a year later, they’ve seen no such policy brought back to the table, another reason given for the denial of the Bellora proposal.

"To allow ourselves to slip into this one sets a precedent that may not be in the best interest of the city and its constituency as we move forward," Mayor Willie Shaw said.

"I don't know what we're getting out of this — other than some maintenance — but they're going to get the claim of the name of public property." — Susan Chapman

Some commissioners indicated they would be open to revisiting the conversation if the terms of the proposal were altered. Gersh said Level Homes was undecided at this moment if they would try again to float a proposal for commission consideration.

At the commission meeting, Indian Beach/Sapphire Shores Neighborhood Association President David Morriss spoke on his belief that Level Homes has been a good neighbor, and was offering to provide the service in good faith. Still, he admitted the board was split on the name — half of the members didn’t mind the name, but the other half favored a moniker reflective of the history of the neighborhood.

Although the issue ended up being a dealbreaker for the commission, Morriss suggested the name wasn’t that important, no matter which direction in which the city went.

 "I think people aren't going to say either one," Morriss said. "They're just going to basically say it's on Corwood and Bay Shore."