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Rowdies Owners: Team Will Still Play Next Year

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

Residents who live in the Twelve Oaks subdivision, about a half-mile from the proposed stadium site, attended the Hillsborough County Commission meeting to voice their opposition.

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By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2009

Updated: 01/13/2009 04:34 pm

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Rowdies still plan on playing professional soccer next year despite today's setback in their attempt to get county approval for a stadium in Town 'n Country.

Team president Andrew Nestor said the team plans to rent a stadium when it begins play next year in the United Soccer League while continuing to look for a permanent stadium site. Nestor said stadiums at the University of South Florida or University of Tampa could possibly provide a temporary home for the team.

"At this point we've already come to the conclusion we're not going to have a stadium built by April 2010," Nestor said, referring to the start of the USL season. "(Renting) has been a contingency plan all along, but from a long-term perspective, to make sure the team is a viable operation going forward, we're going to have to have our own home."

Nestor and other team owners thought they had the perfect site, 15.3 acres at the southwest corner of Waters Avenue and Benjamin Road. The site had access to Pinellas and Pasco counties via the Veterans Expressway and includes 8 acres already owned by the Laxer family

But team owners had to withdraw their application after a majority of commissioners signaled they wouldn't support a stadium at the site.

Commissioners cited the effect on nearby neighborhoods from cut-through traffic, inadequate parking and noise from amplified concerts. Team owners acknowledged they would need to stage concerts to pay the bills.

"There is no way with the distances I'm looking at that this is not going to be an inconvenience to the community," Commissioner Mark Sharpe said.

Commissioners urged Rowdies ownership to look at other Hillsborough sites. But team President Andrew Nestor said four other sites suggested by the county's parks department lacked access to high-speed traffic corridors and would put the stadium too far away from Pinellas County.

"I'm pretty surprised [by the vote] seeing as how we're not asking for a handout and we're doing a project that's good for the community," Nestor said.

Nestor said the group will take a look at a 300-acre site suggested by Commissioner Jim Norman near Interstate 4. The site is owned by the Tampa Water Department.

The decision was a victory for the Twelve Oaks subdivision, a 900-plus home community about a half-mile from the proposed site.

"Noise and traffic were the overriding issues," said Rosemarie Middleton, president of the Twelve Oaks Civic Association. "I think the commission agreed the location was the most important issue, and the location was not suitable for a stadium that size."

Rowdies ownership had hoped to have the stadium built in time for the team to start exhibition play late this year and join the United Soccer League's First Division in 2010. The First Division is a notch below the nation's highest division, Major League Soccer.

Because the application was withdrawn, the owners could reapply for stadium approval but are unlikely to change commissioners' minds unless they make substantive changes to their plans.

The Waters Avenue site includes six parcels totaling about 8 acres zoned for manufacturing and agriculture-manufacturing. The owners were asking to rezone the land to the planned development category.

The Rowdies promised to comply with county noise rules and to end all amplified concerts by 11 p.m.

The Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission had warned that concerts at venues the size of the planned stadium usually draw complaints from neighbors.

A special zoning hearing master and the county's planning and growth management departments had recommended approval of the rezoning, but with conditions. The hearing master and planning department expressed concerns the stadium wouldn't have enough parking.

The original Tampa Bay Rowdies played from 1975 to 1993 and were a successful franchise throughout their early years, playing outdoor games at Tampa Stadium as part of the North American Soccer League. After the league folded in 1984, the team played in several other leagues.

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