More lights coming to high-crime areas in Manatee. This neighborhood is first
Samoset is one of the oldest communities in Manatee County and has been left in the dark — literally — for too long.
Greg Patterson was shopping at the Samoset Grocery and Meat Market on Wednesday morning with his grandson. He lives in another part of the county but has family in Samoset he likes to visit, but only during the day.
“I won’t go at night,” he said. “Maybe in the early evening, but there is a different type of folks out there at night and the neighborhood is too dark. There are some places that you wouldn’t be able to see someone unless they were a couple feet away. It’s too dangerous.”
Some help for Samoset may be on the way, with county officials indicating they are willing to relax rules governing when lights are installed when there is a compelling public safety reason.
The county has long offered to neighborhoods the opportunity to become a lighting district and Samoset community leaders began that process in the summer of 2016. There are 15 such districts in the county.
The program requires a variety of one-time and recurring payments by affected property owners. It also requires that 67 percent of homeowners sign a petition, but only 20 percent signed the petition in Samoset.
“So we started thinking, what can we do different?” asked Jeff Streitmatter, project management division manager.
Though property owners were only looking at an average of $7.50 a month increase in utility bills, Streitmatter said it’s difficult to get a two-thirds majority in low-income neighborhoods where there are a lot of rentals and absentee landlords.
Ogden Clark, who runs the Neighborhood Wellness Strategy Program, said he has been working with the Samoset community for the past three years.
“The issues are the rental properties and locating the actual owner,” Clark said. “We were struggling in that we weren’t getting a lot of, ‘No’s,’ but no responses at all from the property owners. This is a neighborhood with very narrow streets. Walking around in the evening with very little light and asking people who may be committing crimes that, ‘Hey, do you want more lights over where you are committing crimes,’ doesn’t get the response you are looking for.”
So as a matter of public safety, not only for the residents of the community but as well as for law enforcement officers responding to calls the county is looking at changing its system.
Samoset will be the first community under the new pilot program where the county will eliminate the need for 67 percent approval and proceed with the lighting district if it’s in the best interest of public safety and in a high-crime area. County staff have also partnered with Florida Power & Light to reduce the overall costs. FP&L reviewed their needs and offered a 40-percent reduction, which would be around $2.50 in monthly assessments when broken down among property owners.
It does take county dollars to work through the program and offer the assistance. Chad Butzow, interim public works directo,r asked for that funding at the commission’s Tuesday workshop and received unanimous consensus to quickly move the pilot project forward.
“I think it’s a worthy program for the board to consider,” said County Administrator Ed Hunzeker.
Samoset is not only a high-crime area but more than a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. The project could include Community Development Block Grant funds, as well as Department of Housing and Urban Development dollars. While county staff didn’t offer a timeframe and a public hearing is still required, optimism from the dais, as well as the community are running high.
Dave Frishman, owner of the Samoset Grocery and Meat Market, said he does his best to keep his own parking lot lighted, “But you go down these side streets and it’s really dark. Certainly more lighting will definitely make people feel more secure, so I’m glad to see some money finally come into the Samoset community.”