Palm Harbor

Palm Harbor is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2016 American Community Survey, the CDP had a population of 60,236. It is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of downtown St. Petersburg and west of Tampa. The historic downtown district of Palm Harbor, at Florida Avenue and Alt. US 19 and CR 1, has numerous festivals and craft fairs. In 2009, a bill that would have scheduled a referendum allowing Palm Harbor voters the opportunity to decide if they want to incorporate, but the bill died in committee. The area is home to John Chesnut, Sr. Park, located in the East Lake region, as well as H.S. "Pop" Stansell Park. The Palm Harbor Community Services District also manages several sport complexes in the community: Steve Putnam Park, Palm Field, and Sunderman Recreation Complex. The community activity center is located at 1500 16th Street, managed by the District's parks and recreation department. Palm Harbor Library is the only library in the state of Florida funded by a Taxing Service Taxing Unit (MSTU), and is the closest library to the nearest homes to borrow books. The closest libraries were Dunedin and Tarpon Springs, both of which were built at the time of the World War II. The library is located next to the Dunedin Elementary School, where students can borrow books to borrow for the day.

Culture

Palm Harbor is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of downtown St. Petersburg and west of Tampa. It is a largely residential community with several concentrations of commerce. The historic downtown district of Palm Harbor, at Florida Avenue and Alt. US 19 and CR 1, has numerous festivals and craft fairs. Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, a nationally regarded golf course and home of the PGA's Valspar Championship, is found on U.S. 19 just north of Alderman Road. Annually, the first Sunday in October marks when the "Taste of Palm Harbour" festival is held. The event is presented by the Palm Harbor Junior Women's Club with the proceeds benefiting their "Making a Difference" grants & scholarships program. It traditionally offers live music and the tasting of samples from over 20 local restaurants, many of which make seafood their specialty. There are rides and games for the children, with opportunities to dine on food from the many local restaurants and enjoy local artists and crafters displaying and selling their wares. There is also a large number of small shops and eateries along with a handful of historic buildings in downtown Palm Harbor. The town is home to a number of theme parks, including Disney World, Universal Studios, and St. Pete's Lakefront Park, which is located just a few miles south of downtown. The city is also home to the Tampa International Airport, a major international airport, as well as the Port of Tampa, which has a population of over 100,000.

Government

Palm Harbor is an unincorporated part of Pinellas County. In 2009, a bill would have allowed Palm Harbor voters to decide if they want to incorporate. The bill died in committee. In 1985, the County Board of County Commissioners enacted County Code 85-28, which set into place the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency (PHCSA) The PHCSA board is a volunteer panel elected by the voters within the district to oversee the funding of Palm Harbor Library, East Lake Community Library and Palm Harbor Parks & Recreation. It is a special taxing district to which tax was levied in the form of millage to provide for recreational and library services to the uninc incorporated community. It passed over the objections ofpinellas.com Commissioner Susan Latvala, who said she was appearing in both her official. capacity and as a Palm Harbor resident. The Legislature would have needed to first conduct a feasibility study to make sure cityhood made fiscal sense. It would have been the county's 25th city. It was the most recent local bill that would have scheduled a referendum allowing Palm Harbor Voters the opportunity to decide whether to incorporate, but the bill was not passed. It's unclear if Palm Harbor will ever incorporate as a city. The last time Palm Harbor voted to incorporate was in 1978, when a referendum was held to determine whether the community should become a city, and it was voted down by a vote of 2-1. The next time was in 1986, when the vote was held for a referendum to determine if the city should incorporate.

Recreation

Palm Harbor is home to John Chesnut, Sr. Park, located in the East Lake region. H.S. "Pop" Stansell Park is located to the west of Palm Harbor Boulevard and overlooking St. Joseph's Sound. The community activity center is located at 1500 16th Street, managed by the District's parks and recreation department. The White Chapel was originally constructed by Pinellas County in the late 1990s as a senior recreation facility, however lacked the funding to remain open and available to the community. The District received the property in 2004, and started youth, teen and adult programs, youth summer camps and community services. The chapel was completely restored and is the site for many banquets, weddings and community special events. Harbor Hall, the banquet facility built next to the chapel, also serves as a banquet and recreational space. The Palm Harbor Community Services District also manages several sport complexes in the community: Steve Putnam Park, Palm Field, and Sunderman Recreation Complex. The area is also the home to the White Chapel, which was under Pinell as County ownership previously, and was given to the Palm Harbor community services district in November 2012. It is now the site of many special events, including weddings and banquet events, as well as a community center and banquet facility. The district also runs several summer camps for youth and adults. The park system is also home to a number of youth and adult sports programs, such as baseball, softball, and soccer.

Palm Harbor Library

Palm Harbor Library opened April 1, 1978, funded by a Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU), and is the only library in the state of Florida. With 10,000 volumes the library moved to historical Palm Harbor Methodist Church on 12th Street in Old Palm Harbor in December of 1980. By 1982 the library volumes had doubled to 20,000 and served over 2,000 families within the community, and also acquired a new service of accessibility through the donation of a large print section in memory of Lea Gibbons. The Palm Harbor Library officially opened at its new and current location on Nebraska Avenue on July 5, 1988. The Florida State Library opened up a grant for public libraries of $200,000 to be included 1984-85 budget. The grant was vetoed by Governor Graham on June 30, 1983, due to funding and denied tax raises by legislation. In February of 1985 Senator Curt Kiser proposed a bill to create a Special District Status for the Palm Harbor Fire District, which was approved in June. This allowed Palm Harbor to tax themselves for various services such as a library, which led to the development of the MSTU. The library continued to run on community donations and fundraisers and their semi-annual book sales. It is currently located on the second floor of a home on 1205 Omaha Ave donated by Bill Honey, which is located in the heart of Palm Harbor. It has a collection of more than 1,000 books, and is home to the local chapter of the American Library Association.

Geography

Palm Harbor is located at 28°52N 82°4514W (28.083926, -82.753947).According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 26.6 square miles (68.9 km²) Palm Harbor has a unique "hilly" geography which is uncommon in Florida. The town has a population of 2,816. The CDP is located in the central part of the Florida Panhandle, near the state's southern border with Georgia. It is located on the Florida Turnpike, which runs through the town. The community is located near the intersection of I-75 and I-95. The U.S. turnpike passes through Palm Harbor on its way to the state capital, Tallahassee. It also passes through an area known as the "Florida Turnpix" which is a peninsula of the same name. The area is known for its hills and is known as one of the most scenic places in Florida, especially in the southern part of Florida. It has an area of 17.4 sq miles (45.0 km²), of which 9.2sq miles (23.9km²) is land, and 34.67% is water. Its population is 2,082. It was the site of Florida's first post-bellum settlement, in 1881. The city's name is derived from the word "palm", which means "hollow" or "hill".

History

Palm Harbor was once home to the Florida State Headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. Donald Kersey allowed the organization to use his 13 acre property just north of Tampa Road on US-19 beginning in 1977. The land was sold in 2006 with a large strip mall built on it with a subdivision behind that structure. No remnants of this exist in the present day town and many locals wish to keep it that way. The name Sutherland is a shortening of Southern Land and Development Company, the group which originally platted the community in 1888. Sutherland was thought to be named after the Duke of Sutherland, who visited these parts after landing at Tarpon Springs in 1887. Although the KKK activity began to wane in the 1990s according to several locals who lived in the town during that time, the building was burned down on four separate occasions and the Palm Harbor Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution condemning the group and the actions of Mr. Kersey. The Orange Belt Railway reached Sutherland in 1890, the name was changed to Palm Harbor in 1925. It sat high on the bluff overlooking Sutherland Bayou and the Gulf of Mexico. The town was once known as "Curlew", with the Curlew Pioneer Cemetery, established in 1869, and the curlew Methodist Church. In 1881, Henry B. Plant opened the San Marino Hotel in what later became Palm Harbor. The Gulf View Hotel also opened around that time. In 1888 the Sutherland Post Office opened. The larger one becoming Southern College in 1902.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 59,248 people, 25,461 households, and 16,906 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,276.6/km² (3,306.8/mi2). There were 28,044 housing units at an average density of 604.2/ km² (1,565.2-mi2) The racial makeup of the C DP was 95.83% White, 0.97% African American, 0,19% American Indian, 1.28% Asian, 0.,02% Pacific Islander, and 1.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.45% of the population. The median income for a household in theCDP was $45,404, and the median family income was $52,925. About 4.3% of families and 5.5% of residents were considered below the poverty line, including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 6.5 per cent of those age 65 or over. The CDP is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which runs from New Jersey to New Jersey. The Turnpikes are one of the busiest highways in the state, with more than 1.5 million vehicles per day. The city's population has grown to more than 60,000 people, and it has a population of 1.2 million. The New Jersey State House of Representatives is located in the city, and its seat is in the town of Bergen.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Palm Harbor, Pinellas County, Florida = 55.6. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 50. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 50. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Palm Harbor = 6.3 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 61,366 individuals with a median age of 46.3 age the population grows by 0.52% in Palm Harbor, Pinellas County, Florida population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,535.11 residents per square mile of area (1,364.90/km²). There are average 2.27 people per household in the 25,744 households with an average household income of $54,198 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 11.20% of the available work force and has dropped -5.96% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 16.88%. The number of physicians in Palm Harbor per 100,000 population = 272.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Palm Harbor = 52.1 inches and the annual snowfall = 0 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 109. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 246. 91 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 49.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 27, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Palm Harbor, Pinellas County, Florida which are owned by the occupant = 69.79%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 23 years with median home cost = $141,370 and home appreciation of -19.92%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $11.27 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,523 per student. There are 17.1 students for each teacher in the school, 705 students for each Librarian and 447 students for each Counselor. 9.03% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 18.87% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 9.53% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).