Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tribune article about Ballyhoo’s and Upper Tampa Bay Trail:
By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 18, 2012
Updated: January 18, 2012 – 8:39 AM
CITRUS PARK —
The Upper Tampa Bay Trail is a winding, seven-mile, recreational path that stretches from Memorial Highway through rural northwest Hillsborough County.
The trail, patched together in the past 15 years as land and funding has become available, meanders past rivers and farmland, housing subdivisions and oak-tree lined swaths of old-growth forest and eventually Ballyhoo Bar & Grill off Ehrlich Road.
For nearly a year, Ballyhoo’s owners say, they have been trying to get permission from the county to build a road over the trail, allowing patrons to pass from the restaurant’s main parking lot to an overflow lot when the recreational path is closed to the public at night.
So far, they’ve gotten nowhere.
“You would think that we were seeking an act of Congress,” said Carl Hinson, a Tampa attorney and co-owner of the restaurant. “I just don’t understand what the problem is.”
Hinson said the restaurant has been accommodating of trail users, allowing people to use its parking lot during the day when business is slower.
He said restaurant customers should be able to access the overflow parking lot without going onto Ehrlich Road.
“The reality here is that we were there before they were,” Hinson said.
This month, Hillsborough Commissioner Sandy Murman made an attempt to get the two camps together, asking county staffers to set up a meeting with the owners.
“They haven’t been able to work this out,” Murman said of her decision to intervene in the dispute. “So I put this in the public spotlight to hopefully get the parties together.”
Tina Russo, trail manager for Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation, said county staff is reviewing the situation and expect to meet with Ballyhoo’s owners.
She said the county also is concerned that a patio deck in back of the restaurant might be encroaching on the trail. County officials are conducting a survey of the restaurant’s property.
Stanley Kroh, chairman of the Hillsborough County Greenways Committee, said the county frequently receives requests for easements over the trail but seldom approves them.
“There’s always a huge concern about public safety,” he said.
In this case, however, the county might benefit from the road because it would provide more access to the trail for parks department trucks and emergency vehicles, he said.
The committee – it’s a volunteer board that advises the county commission on funding and planning for the countywide trail system – is reviewing the restaurant’s proposal and later will make a recommendation to commissioners, who ultimately will decide.
Kroh said at least two board members have expressed support for the proposal but said he didn’t know when the board, which meets monthly, will vote on a recommendation.
County officials are working on plans to extend the trail eight miles north from Peterson Road Park to Lutz-Lake Fern Road, the southern end of the 41-mile Suncoast Trail.
More than 300,000 people use the trail every year, according to county estimates.
