Purpose

The general purpose of this corporation, a not-for-profit corporation, is to preserve the character of the community located within the subdivision of Don Ce-Sar Place, including without limitation, Blocks M and N described in the plat thereof as private property subject to the exclusive use and enjoyment by the property owners of the subdivision, to foster the well-being of the residents of the community, and to assist and cooperate with the City of St. Pete Beach, Florida, when consistent with the foregoing purposes.

Officers/Executive Board

Ed Chima, President. president@dcpoc.org
Kevin Hughes, First Vice President. 1stVP@dcpoc.org
Jon Stevens, Second Vice President. 2ndVP@dcpoc.org
Mary Beattie, Third Vice President. 3rdVP@dcpoc.org
Michael LoBianco Treasurer. treasurer@dcpoc.org
Kathy Garchow, Recording Secretary. recordingsecretary@dcpoc.org
Rebecca Purple, Corresponding Secretary. correspondingsecretary@dcpoc.org

History of the Subdivision:

In 1924, Thomas J. Rowe, born in Massachusetts in 1872, migrated to Florida and purchased 80 acres of land located on a barrier island in Pinellas County, Florida, known as Long Key Island, and lying between the Gulf of Mexico on the west and Boca Ciega Bay on the east.  On September 17, 1925, the Thomas J. Rowe Corporation filed a plat with the county thereby creating the subdivision known as Don Ce-Sar Place.  The subdivision consisted mainly of 299 50’ x 100’ residential lots along with a large tract lying on the Gulf labeled Block C where he would create in 1928 the historic Don CeSar Hotel, named for the chivalrous Don Ce-Sar in Vincent Wallace’s light opera “Maritana.”  The hotel quickly became a jazz age playground for the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Al Capone, Lou Gehrig and Franklin D. Roosevelt.  On July 9, 1956, all of the four communities comprising the entire barrier island (Pass-A-Grille, Don Ce-Sar Place, Belle Vista, and St. Petersburg Beach) were consolidated by the State legislature into a single municipality now known as St. Pete Beach, Florida.

History of the Don Ce-Sar Property Owners Corporation (DPOC):

The area comprising the subdivision, Don Ce-Sar Place, was an unincorporated township. A group of residents of the subdivision met in Alfred Spuck’s garage on March 24, 1949, out of their concern for the failure of the then inactive Thomas J. Rowe Corporation to enforce the deed restrictions.  The meeting was chaired by Miss Florence Brown who stated that “some people could hardly be blamed for wanting join the City of Pass-A-Grille” to the south in the absence of an entity in place to enforce the building restrictions.  A lengthy discussion ensued. George Edelstein moved that “we incorporate a protective association.”  The motion was seconded by Ralph E. Brasher and passed without dissent. Miss Brown was unanimously elected as president. The gathering also included Miss Grace Connor, Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Horne, Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Rosenthal, Mr. and Mrs. Norman MacLeod, Mrs. Ernest Koella, Mrs. Jack Socolow, Mrs. Myron G. Kelsey, Mrs. Richard Ward, F. A. Dixon, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bosco, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bosco, Mr. and Mrs. J. DeLaurentis, Mrs. Alva Thomas, H. Miller, Mrs. John Lazzari and Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lew.

A petition for the approval of a DPOC’s corporate charter subscribed by thirty-three residents was filed in the Pinellas County Circuit Court.  On April 2, 1949, a circuit judge entered an order approving the charter (Charter Number: 7-33,051).  The charter provided that the object of the corporation was “to improve the community known as Don Ce-Sar Place in every civic fashion, to enforce the building restrictions of the subdivision known as Don Ce-Sar Place, to foster the well-being of the residents of said community, and to promote good-will.”

Previously, Thomas J. Rowe Corporation had inserted into every deed granted by it certain covenants and restrictions for the mutual protection of the Corporation and property owners in the subdivision. On June 8, 1949, the corporation assigned to DPOC all of its rights to enforce the covenants and restrictions.  Presently, the City of St. Pete Beach is the entity regulating all construction within the subdivision.

History of the Consolidation of the City of St. Pete Beach