Gov. Signs East Lake Annexation Bill

Friday the 13th turned out to be a very good day for residents of Palm Harbor's East Lake community who've been worried about being annexed into nearby cities. On Friday April 13, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill into law that protects the community of 31,000 from involuntary annexation for the next ten years.

State Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Palm Harbor and Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey have spent the last three years pouching to get  CS/HB 699 East Lake Tarpon Community Bill passed. This year, they found success.

During the Council of North County Neighborhoods (CNCN) meeting Monday, April 16, President Don Ewing received a round of applause when he announced that the governor had signed the bill.

Ewing told the crowd that he got so excited upon hearing the news, he called the governor's office and asked them to send a copy of the document.

"Friday the 13th, not a bad day, a good day," said Ewing.

"In 2022 we'll have to come back and revisit this to see if folks want to stay protected from annexation," he said.

Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala updated the audience about commission activity. Members of the legislature also attended the meeting. Sen. Jack Latvala, Rep. Peter Nehr and Rep. James Grant gave an update about the recent legislative session and answered questions from the audience. 

They also discussed how the redistricting maps will impact Palm Harbor's East Lake community. Rep. Peter Nehr will have people living on the west side of East Lake Rd. in District #48 and Rep. James Grant will have people living on the east side of East Lake Rd. in District #47. 

The lawmakers said that when creating the borders for districts, they tried to not split cities into multiple districts. However, Palm Harbor is unincorporated, so district boundaries were created along East Lake Rd. Rep. Grant said the same thing happened in Carrollwood, which is another community in his district. 

Rep. Nehr served as a chair of the Redistricting Subcommittee. He hosted public forums throughout Pinellas County to inform citizens about the process and to seek their input.

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