TAMPA, Fla. — Liquor bottles, speeding cars, and illegal dumping — community members say that’s what has become of one street next to Robinson High School.

What You Need To Know

  • Community members are calling for West Rembrandt Drive, near Robinson High School, to be closed

  • They say trash, liquor bottles, etc. is found all around the school campus and the side street

  • The street is owned by the school district but needs approval from city council before it can be closed

  • The issue will be brought up at a city council meeting on August 26

Every two weeks Robinson High School’s PTSA Board President Ami Marie Granger Welch and a group of volunteers hit the streets around the school to clean.

Between lotto tickets, fast food containers, and face masks on school grounds, she says there’s a bigger problem — West Rembrandt Drive.

“We typically find a lot of liquor bottles, a lot of beer cans, which is kind of disturbing that people are driving and drinking,” she said.

It’s a small street owned by Hillsborough County School District.

On one side is Robinson High School, and on the other is a parking lot for Drivers-Ed and a grassy overgrown field, also owned by the district.

Many parents, students, and community members want the street to be closed permanently.

“I guess there’s no one watching to throw things out," said Welch. "There are mattresses; people drive way too fast down the street. We’ve got a blind exit on our campus where our kids come out."

As it turns out, the school district also wants the road closed. 

“We’d love to have the street closed,” said the Chief of Operations for Hillsborough County Public Schools Chris Farkas.

Farkas says district architects have plans to do major improvements to the school because of the age of the buildings and the massive population growth in the neighborhoods.

“If we’re able to have that street vacated it will allow us to make a real stadium for Robinson High School that has been in that same place for many, many years and allow our teams to have home meets and have more of a community atmosphere at Robinson High School,” he said.

The district will be taking the issue to Tampa’s City Council this Summer on August 26.

“This is where we live, where our kids go to school. We want it to be nice,”  Welch said. 

Even though the road is owned by the district, the closure of the road still needs to be approved by the city council after a hearing and a vote.