ampa Palms Blvd. has been labeled a failing road, and is getting repaved starting sometime next year, but bigger plans to reduce it to two lanes and add roundabouts have been shot down. (Photo Charmaine George)
Plans to convert four-lane Tampa Palms Blvd. — which circles through the Tampa Palms community — into two lanes have been soundly rejected.
After revealing its preliminary Complete Street Project plan at a Sept. 28 virtual presentation and Q-&-A session, the city received near-unanimous opposition from residents. They filled out hundreds of questionnaires for the city demanding that Tampa Palms Blvd. not be downsized to accommodate things like bike lanes, additional school pickup lanes for Tampa Palms and Chiles elementary schools, roundabouts and other safety features, some of which they felt could be accomplished with four lanes.
“I read in total disbelief what the City of Tampa has proposed for Tampa Palms Blvd,” said one questionnaire. “To quote former tennis icon John McEnroe: ‘YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!’”
Tampa planners heard the complaints and have decided to change course.
“We are preserving the four lanes,“ says City of Tampa chief traffic management engineer Vik Bhide, “and we will make (smaller) modifications.”
The $3-million repaving of Tampa Palms Blvd., currently funded in next year’s city budget, will go forward in two segments — the south loop (or Segment 1), which runs from the north intersection of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to the south intersection through Tampa Palms Areas 3 and 1), and the north loop, or Segment 2, which runs from the south intersection of BBD to Ebensburg Dr. in Tampa Palms Area 2.
Some of the modifications mentioned by Bhide include narrowing the lanes in an effort to lower driving speeds, and making improvements at some of the intersections by installing Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs), also known as pedestrian-activated warning devices.
Bhide also says that more pedestrian crossings will be introduced, and there will be an effort to address the traffic challenges around the schools during the busy morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up.
Roundabouts, which cost about $800,000 and aren’t funded at the moment, “are off the table,” as residents seemed extremely opposed to them.
Asked if he was surprised at the quick repudiation of the initial plans, Bhide said it was all part of the process.
“We tried to work with the community and what the community provides with their feedback,” Bhide says. “And we also rely on hard facts and data.”
That data, according to Cal Hardie, P.E., the City of Tampa’s capital projects manager, indicated that both segments of Tampa Palms Blvd. being repaved are great candidates for a “road diet,” due to the number of daily trips on the road.
Hardie said anything under 10,000 is considered a great candidate for reduction, and 10,000-15,000 is considered a good candidate, and Tampa Palms Blvd. currently falls in that range.
But, the residents were clear — “Do not take away any of our lanes!”
Game Nights hosted by As We Grow Counseling have been an effective way of improving the social well-being of children and young adults with special needs. (Photos: Charmaine George)
For 14 years, the licensed therapists at As We Grow Counseling have helped people of all ages in Wesley Chapel and the surrounding areas tackle relationships and personal growth.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Melissa Amaya started the practice in Seven Oaks in 2007, when her son, Ethan, was born. He has special needs and was often at therapy appointments five days a week, so starting her own practice gave her the flexibility to care for him.
Now that he’s older, Melissa has found another way to help him and others like him meet some of their unique challenges.
As We Grow Counseling is offering opportunities for kids and young adults, ages 4-21, with ADS, ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities and other unique needs to socialize and learn life and social skills.
“One of my son’s disabilities is autism,” says Melissa, “so I was trying to find a group to help him learn social skills, like how to start conversations with other kids and about unwritten social cues, and also life skills, like how to do laundry and go grocery shopping.”
When she couldn’t find such a program, she decided to tackle it herself, and began offering groups in June.
“I need to do what I enjoy and what comes from the heart,” Melissa explains. And she asks, “Who better to start these than someone who is a clinician and competent in this area, who also is a mom who has a child with special needs?”
Melissa earned a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree from Monmouth University in New Jersey, and then her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree with a specialization in Family & Child Therapy from Fordham University in New York City in 1997.
When she first went to college, Melissa earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and advertising. However, when she went to work in the pharmaceutical industry, she quickly realized she wanted to do work that was more meaningful to her.
She says As We Grow Counseling helps people in many ways throughout their lives. “You grow as a couple, as an adult, or even as a senior citizen, but you’re still growing and learning.”
As We Grow sees people of all ages for therapy, from kids as young as age three up to adults, including couples and individuals.
The practice currently has 20 clinicians who all work part time. Melissa says most are doing teletherapy, but some clinicians are beginning to return to in-person counseling sessions. They work during the day, in the evening, and on weekends, including both Saturdays and Sundays.
Groups & Special Events
While she believes that individual counseling can be effective for kids with special needs, she recognizes that they often already spend big chunks of their time at appointments such as physical, occupational and/or speech therapy, so she recognizes the benefits of the social and life skills groups.
“When we do the groups, they learn so much from their peers,” she says. “It’s a more comfortable setting for them.”
Groups are offered for children ages four to 19, broken down by age group, and kids with any disability can participate. There is one group just for girls, while other groups are mixed.
Jeanne Harrison (left) and Melissa Amaya
“It helps them with confidence building,” Melissa explains. “A lot of kids with special needs also have anxiety, which prevents them from fully interacting with their peers, getting a job, and even advocating for themselves at school — just to ask for help if they need it. These are skills they need everywhere in life.”
And then, to practice the skills they are learning in their groups, As We Grow Counseling now offers Game Nights and special “bonus” events.
Jeanne Harrison (left) and Melissa Amaya
These might be cooking classes, pottery painting or going to Pinot’s Palette or Main Event. A field trip to an Escape Room was held for October and an outing to Grand Prix Tampa for go-karts and miniature golf is planned for Saturday, November 13, and an outing to watch a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game is coming up on Tuesday, December 14.
While the special events require an advance RSVP, Game Nights do not. They are for ages 5-21 and include crafts, dancing, a movie, indoor badminton, corn hole, pizza and even visits from therapy dogs, when they are available.
Melissa heads up Game Nights with an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher, Jeanne Harrison, and the support of volunteers.
Upcoming Game Nights will be held Fridays, November 19, and December 3, at the Seven Oaks Community Clubhouse, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. The cost is $20 per child.
Parents are welcome to stay but can choose to drop their children off. Kids can come to all of the activities, or just the ones that interest them or fit their schedule.
The social skills groups have limited space and are generally paid by insurance. As We Grow Counseling takes all major insurance plans except Medicaid and also accepts the Gardiner Scholarship.
“There’s a huge need,” Melissa says. “The biggest hurdle I have is getting the word out to people.”
Shonda Brown is mom to Ahmari, an 11-year-old with high-functioning autism and ADHD. She recently noticed that he has struggled with some issues, such as feeling resentful of the differences he has noticed between himself and other kids.
“It’s a blessing to have found something in the midst of a storm,” says Shonda, who also has been a therapy patient of Melissa’s for several years.
Ahmari started middle school this year, which Shonda admits was a little scary, especially since she was exhausted from the daily phone calls she was getting last school year. But, her son’s involvement in the As We Grow programs has been beneficial.
“I just talked with his school counselor and she says he’s doing great,” Shonda says. “I haven’t gotten one call from a teacher, and he has six teachers now! He also has outstanding grades.”
She thinks some of the growth she’s seen is because, at Game Nights, he’s around both guys and girls of all different ages, and they are showing him maturity.
“He started off quiet and now he’s raising his hand and loves to sing and dance,” she says. “It allows him to be him in his own element without having to worry about any judgement.”
Shonda adds that she really appreciates the hour or two she gets to herself while Ahmari is at his skills group or Game Nights, whether she uses it to go grocery shopping or just sit in her car and enjoy the peace and quiet.
“It’s amazing,” Shonda says. “I hope Melissa can branch out to more parents. I don’t know where I’d be without (As We Grow Counseling) and without her.”
As We Grow Counseling is located in Seven Oaks at 2240 Twelve Oaks Way, Suite 101. To learn more about the opportunities for children with special needs, call Melissa on her cell phone at (813) 442-2971. To make an appointment, call (813) 838-4807. Or, to learn more about the practice, visit AsWeGrowCounseling.com.
Fire damage will keep Las Palmas closed until late spring, 2022.
One of the saddest pieces of business news we heard recently was that a 20-minute kitchen fire had closed Las Palmas Latin Grill, located in the same plaza as Five Guys Burgers & Fries and LA Fitness at County Line Rd. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
Owner/chef Ramses Garcia says that although there is no definitive time line for Las Palmas to reopen, he estimates at least 5-7 months. At our press time, Ramses said that the cause of the Oct. 11 fire was not yet known and that he’s thankful that no one was injured.
In the meantime, there is some good news, as Ramses announced on his Facebook page he will soon be serving his popular Cuban sandwiches (and other dishes) from a food truck.
“I have some good news…I have purchased a food truck to hold us until the insurance company decides when are they going to release funds for the cleanup and rebuild,” Ramses wrote. “The plaza landlord has given me permission to place the truck in the parking lot of the restaurant for the time being.”
Ramses doesn’t have an exact date for the debut of the food truck, but said it is already registered with the DBPR (Department of Business and Professional Regulation) and the Division of Hotel and Restaurants.
“I’ll keep you posted of updates as we get close to open,” Ramses wrote. “I’m really trying hard to have this done as quick as I can. I probably look at 15-20 trucks before I picked these one. The truck is in “the bag” and soon ready to serve those awesome Cubans we make for the best customers in my world… my Tampa peeps!”
One of his customers, Cynthia Havard, started a GoFundMe page to help Ramses rebuild, and if you want to help out, CLICK HERE.
Also at our press time, Las Palmas was either leading or in second place among our readers’ Favorite Latin Restaurant and in the top-10 for Favorite Restaurant of any kind in New Tampa, so obviously, a lot of people are unhappy that it has had to close, even if it’s just temporarily. — GN
With its restaurant open for a year already, Florida Ave. finally opens what may be the state’s largest craft brewery!
I honestly don’t know if Florida Ave. Brewing Co., located in the former location of Sports + Field on S.R. 56, is now the largest craft brewery in the state, but it’s not for lack of trying to find out on my part.
The long-awaited Grand Opening and North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting of Florida Ave.’s brewery at its 34,000-sq.-ft. S.R. 56 location was held on Oct. 8, where CEO Anthony Derby and his family (and partners, including company president Joe Redner) unveiled their huge (for a microbrewery) brewing warehouse, complete with gigantic, stainless steel beer kettles — big enough, Derby says, to produce up to 50,000 barrels per year of Florida Ave.’s huge variety of beers.
Pasco County District 2 Commissioner Mike Moore called it the largest family-owned brewery on the west coast of Florida. But, when I tried to do some research of my own into the largest craft breweries in the entire state of Florida, the largest I could find was the unrelated Florida Beer Co., which is based in Cape Canaveral and reportedly produced nearly 33,000 barrels of its variety of beers in 2018. I couldn’t find similar numbers for 2019 or 2020, but while Florida Ave. likely won’t get close to producing its 50,000-barrel capacity this year or next, it certainly could challenge Florida Beer Co. for the largest craft brewery in the state sooner than later.
Either way, it’s been a long and difficult, more-than-two-year journey for Anthony, his mom (and company CFO) Toni and the rest of the Derby family just to get the brewery open, even though the adjacent restaurant and its huge outdoor patio and indoor private event spaces have been open and successful for more than a year.
Anthony says the Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of the delays for the brewery, as many of the important pieces of equipment, especially in the canning line (top left photo on next page), as the machines and parts had to come from Italy, where everything ground to a halt in 2019. Once the equipment finally made its way over here nearly two years later, Florida Ave. had to get it all put together, up and running and inspected by multiple agencies before the brewing process could begin — which wasn’t until May of this year. Derby says it takes at least two weeks to actually make beer, but the equipment all had to be tested again and again in order to re-create the beers that Florida Ave.’s Seminole Heights factory — which produces about 7,000 barrels per year — has been brewing for years and has been providing for the restaurant since it opened last year.
Anthony admitted that there have been a lot of challenges but he is confident it will all end up being worth it — and he thanked both North Tampa Bay Chamber president Hope Allen and Moore for their help in getting the project to this point.
Moore said that when he first heard about the project in 2019, he said, “Do you have a time machine? If not, can you get it open by tomorrow?,” and called Florida Ave. a “beautiful asset to the county.”
Florida Ave. Brewing Co. currently employs more than 120 people at the S.R. 56 location alone, with about 20 other employees out in the field. And yes, now that it is officially open, you will soon be able to tour the state-of-the-art Florida Ave. brewery.
What About The Food & Beer?
Even though I haven’t been able to give you the full story about the brewery, I’m just about officially out of space to tell you about all the great beers, hard seltzers and full liquor bar, the comfy bar stools and the delicious chef-created food at Florida Ave., but some of my favorite dishes appear on this page, including the Korean bibimbap beef bowl, the Chinese-style sticky ribs, the specialty burgers, the crab cakes and sesame-seared ahi tuna appetizers and the perfect Florida Ave. wings.
Florida Ave. wings
sesame-seared ahi tuna
Zucchini
Korean bibimbap beef bowl
steak Argentine flatbread
Other menu items we’ve enjoyed include the house-made cheesesteak egg rolls, the steak Argentine flatbread (although photographer Charmaine George says the mushroom truffle flatbread also is excellent), the BBQ chicken sandwich and the 12-oz. NY strip steak. We even loved the sautéed veggies and the crispy Brussels sprouts, the hand-cut fries and the loaded fingerling potato side dishes. There’s also a great kids menu with everything from burger sliders to mac & cheese to cheese quesadillas and more.
But of course, for most of you, the stars of the show at Florida Ave. Brewing Co. will be the beers. My favorites are the most basic — the lager, Dead Parrot light lager, and the brown ale, but I also enjoy the “You’re My Boy, Blue” fruit beer, the Rollin’ Dirty Irish red ale and Jannah likes the Key lime hard cider, the tangerine splash and other fruit-flavored beers and hard seltzers at Florida Ave.
Based on both the crowds we see there whenever we go for dinner or to watch a Lightning game there, as well as all of the votes it already has received in this year’s Reader Dining Survey for Favorite Restaurant and for Favorite Bar in Wesley Chapel — a lot of you already enjoy the place, too.
So please, do me a favor — please visit Florida Ave. Brewing Co. and tell anyone who works there that you read about them in the New Tampa Neighborhood News!
Florida Ave. Brewing Co. is located at 2029 Arrowgrass Dr. and is open every day at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner. Happy Hour is Mon.-Fri., 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m.For more information call (813) 452-6333 or visit FloridaAveBrewing.com. Reservations are accepted for parties of eight or more only.
It was back in August when I saw the announcement that Skipper’s Smokehouse — the recently reopened, venerable restaurant and music venue in North Tampa — was going to host a Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers tribute band in honor of what would have been the late rocker’s 71st birthday.
Gary Nager
Editorial
I told Jannah, who is as big a fan of Petty’s music as I am, that I was buying tickets right away — after all, if we can’t ever see Gainesville’s favorite son in person anymore, we might as well go spend an evening sharing our love for him, his band and his music with a few hundred other people at the first live show we’ve attended at Skipper’s since it reopened.
The show took place on Oct. 16, four days before Tom’s birthday and twelve days after the fourth anniversary of his passing from what has been ruled an accidental overdose of the prescribed painkillers he took in order to be able to keep performing for his legion of fans.
When I bought our tickets online, I didn’t realize that the show, which started at 8 p.m., was actually a twin bill — prior to the Petty tribute by the Broken Hearts Band, the Stevie Nicks Experience (SNE) tribute band opened the show with a full 90+-minute set of tunes by Fleetwood Mac and from Stevie’s solo career. Considering that Nicks and Petty became close friends as part of the Los Angeles rock music scene in the mid-to-late ‘70s, the combination wan’t surprising, but it did make for a long night, especially considering that I was on deadline with this issue.
Even so, both bands performed their tribute hits admirably. The SNE got the fans going by rocking out on “The Chain,” “You Make Lovin’ Fun,” “Landslide” and pretty much every recognizable song by Fleetwood Mac and Nicks herself. Although the fans were very receptive to the performance, there were only a few hardcore Nicks lovers dancing to the music and honestly, the set was probably at least 15-30 minutes too long because most everyone in attendance was there (us included) to celebrate Petty’s birthday, not Fleetwood Mac.
The SNE closed their set with the Petty-Nicks duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with Broken Hearts Band frontman Shawn Scheller coming out from backstage to sing Tom’s part, but his microphone seemed a little off for the song, which made me (and Jannah) a little nervous about how Scheller and his band would sound when it was their turn to take the stage.
But, we were wrong. Scheller and the Broken Hearts sounded perfect, from “Jammin’ Me” to open the set to “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and, of course, “American Girl.”
The crowd was much more raucous and the dance floor more packed for this second set, but there were very few people under age 50 in attendance and the Skipperdome offers very little seating for attendees, so people with bad knees (like me) were begging for more places to sit during the show. The much sadder thing for us, though, was that the magic we hoped to feel by sharing our love for a true Rock & Roll Hall of Famer somewhow wasn’t there.
Although Scheller & Co. were pretty spot-on with most of their renditions, the performance overall felt more like listening to Tom Petty Radio on Sirius XM in my car than it did a Petty concert, which is what I guess I wanted it to feel like. Yes, I got to sing along with most of my Petty favorites, but I do that whenever Jannah and I go to karaoke bars, so I left feeling a little empty.
The show was a too-real reminder that while his music lives on, Tom himself is sadly gone forever and it seems that no tribute band will ever make me feel the way Tom, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and the rest of the Heartbreakers did.
But, speaking of Tom Petty Radio, yours truly will be a guest DJ on the channel’s “The Last DJ” show, where Petty fans get to pick and introduce their five favorite songs by Petty, The Traveling Wilburys, etc.
Because he has such a legion of devoted fans, my “Last DJ” segment won’t air until early 2022, but I’ll give you a heads-up once that date is actually announced.
