SAFETY HARBOR - Around 1,000 years ago, the Tocobaga Indians called a chunk of Safety Harbor home.

These peace-loving Native Americans probably never would have imagined the war erupting now over the place they lived.

But alas, it is.

Some residents are in an uproar over the city commission's decision to consider selling off a 2,822-square-foot chunk of property on the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History grounds, where the tribes once walked.

The battle isn't being fought with hand-sharpened spears, but with barbs, the verbal kind.

But as in most skirmishes, casualties are almost inevitable.

In this case, at least two trees would perish to the chainsaw.

Commissioners are scheduled to decide whether to sell the 102-foot-long 371/2-foot-wide portion of land in the Spring Haven subdivision at a meeting on March 3.

The conflict started when Owen Pierce of 226 Short St. asked officials if the city could sell him the vacant property adjacent to his house so he and his wife could build a new garage where they could park their Cadillac and electric scooter.

City Commissioners Joseph Ayoub and Nadine Nickeson and former interim commissioner Keith Zayac supported the plan, saying it's such a tiny sliver it's of no real use to anyone but the Pierces.

But Mayor Andy Steingold and then Vice Mayor Kathleen Earle strenuously objected, saying the city should be trying to buy green space, not sell green space if already owns.

But Steingold and Earle were outnumbered and the city began accepting sealed bids.

They got three.

Stephen Ham, a software sales manager who lives near McMullen-Booth Road, bid $10,100. The Pierces bid $21,600. Jeffery Vogt bid $50,000.

Vogt, who could not be reached Wednesday, owns a residence at 333 Bayshore Blvd. as well as the lot next to the city-owned property in question.

In a letter to the city, he said he would agree to purchase the land if the city vacates an adjacent right of way.

Ham, a nature enthusiast, said he bid on principle, not because he wanted to own the land.

He said he was appalled because he thought the commissioners were rushing to sell the tract without much discussion or input from citizens.

"The sale was almost done on the spur of the moment," he said. Ham said if he had ended up with the property, he would have kept it in its natural state.

When a reporter broke the news to Owen Pierce that his was not the highest bid, he was philosophical.

"It's a turkey shoot," he said. "You could miss it very easily. What the heck. If we don't get it, well, my wife will get new carpeting."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4153.