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Resident urges Largo to press Duke Energy for plan to remove old utility poles
Summary
Longtime Largo property owner Christine Hughes urged the commission to ask Duke Energy for a removal plan for short utility poles left after grid upgrades, saying the poles blight neighborhoods and depress property values; city staff said utilities remove lines in sequence and Assistant City Attorney Odzer cited a 180‑day removal window per utility.
Christine Hughes, a longtime Largo and Pinellas County property owner, told the commission on Feb. 17 that short utility poles left behind after Duke Energy’s grid-improvement project are an eyesore that lower property values and asked the city to seek a formal removal plan from Duke.
“I stood in my driveway and I had six double poles just by standing here,” Hughes said, identifying her property near 3rd Street Northwest north of City Hall and describing the poles as “ugly” and disproportionate to small homes in the neighborhood.
Hughes asked the city to formally request from Duke Energy a schedule for removing the old poles in the grid-improvement project areas that include Largo, Bel Air and Bel Air Bluffs. She noted some communications lines on the old poles may still be active and acknowledged removal requires coordination among multiple providers.
City staff explained the typical process: when Duke installs a new pole, each utility on the pole is given an opportunity to transfer its lines to the new pole; utilities generally work in sequence and return later to remove the old pole once all lines have been moved. Staff cautioned that the work can take weeks or, in some cases, months for all providers to complete.
Assistant City Attorney Odzer told the commission that under the statute he reviewed, each utility that is put on notice by the primary utility has 180 days to remove its lines. Staff said they would follow up with Duke Energy to determine where the poles Hughes identified are in that sequence and when removal is expected.
The commission did not take formal action at the meeting beyond directing staff to follow up; no vote on the pole issue was recorded.
What happens next: City staff will contact Duke Energy and report back to the commission with the company’s timeline and any steps the city can take to accelerate removals.
Why it matters: Residents said leftover short poles create visual blight and may depress property values; resolving the issue requires coordination among multiple utilities and adherence to statutory notice periods.
