House with provocative political messages to become hair salon | News | suncoastnews.com

Nov 05, 2024

SPRING HILL – Ryann Halo has big plans for a piece of property along Spring Hill Drive.

The 34-year-old businesswoman said she has been working since her teens, building a chain of hair salons and giving her employees a chance to develop the skills needed to improve their lives and give back to the community.

She and her husband, Jerry Zampella, are acquiring a house that has a bit of notoriety because of political messages and flags flown by the previous owner.

Halo said that when she fixes up the building and the property, the business will be about empowerment and community unity, not political divisiveness.

She cautioned that it’s going to be a while before the location is ready to open as her latest salon.

Everyone who drives on Spring Hill Drive knows the house in question, with its polarizing political commentary.

Rezoning request

It was a pretty ordinary request for a rezoning, buried in the long County Commission agenda of Oct. 22, seeking to make a lot zoned for a single-family home into a professional office.

According to the engineer’s narrative in the agenda documentation, the application is for two residential lots merged years ago into one site, with a home and driveways on Comerwood Drive and Ainsworth Avenue, and with a frontage on Spring Hill Drive.

The properties on its block are residential.

A February 2023 image on Google Streetview shows a house with a plain yellowish exterior and a grassy yard.

An August 2024 image shows the addition of flagpole and flags with provocative anti-Joe Biden and pro-Donald Trump messages, and today there are anti-Kamala Harris messages painted on the building itself, along with anti-Harris flags.

Many people choose to express political views at their homes, and it’s protected speech according to the First Amendment. While some of the flags at the home feature asterisks instead of spelling out the “F” word to refer to Biden and Harris, one flag reads “F--- YOUR FEELINGS.”

Halo said her plan is to create a business called Halo Hair Salon on the .57-acre site.

The agenda documents don’t mention the signage and flags, being mainly concerned with issues of septic tanks, parking spaces, trip generation, setbacks, fences and more.

Numerous changes must be made to allow a commercial enterprise to operate on the site, and Halo has to agree to make those changes to open her hair salon.

‘This is the house’

When it came up at the meeting, County Commissioner Steve Champion chimed in, “Oh, this is ‘the house’.”

“Yes, sir,” said County Planning Director Omar DePablo.

Laughter followed, then County Commission Chairperson Beth Narverud said, “The house, the infamous house. It’s horrible. I hate that children have to see that.”

“My children actually read what was on the house,” DePablo said. “At least they didn’t spell out the word.”

He quickly added that — in Halo’s defense — it’s not her home yet.

“I’ll let her explain that,” he said.

The Planning & Zoning Commission had voted 4-1 to recommend that the County Commission adopt the rezoning resolution.

The Comprehensive Plan allows “office professional” uses in the residential area, if it meets certain guidelines, and the applicant has met those guidelines as well as addressed concerns about traffic and parking, DePablo said.

Allan Garman, representing Halo, said she is the purchaser, not the owner, of the property.

“We all know the house. In my mind, it was an atrocity long before someone painted words on the side of it,” he said. “It’s a chance to do something with it.”

Champion said he knows Halo and her husband, and that they’re great businesspeople and the business will complement the area.

“We need to do something with that house, no offense to the owner — I think I know him, too — no offense, it’s better suited, in my opinion, most everything on Spring Hill Drive should be commercial in the future,” he said.

He made a motion to approve the change. It carried 5-0.

“How soon before it gets repainted?” County Commissioner John Allocco asked.

Narverud wondered if they could do the repainting the next day.

Applicant speaks

The large space that the company acquires will allow her company to provide more and better services to customers and the community, she said.

“We’re going to totally remodel the whole thing,” Halo said.

They’ll take down the flags, too.

She’s also a motivational speaker about the stages of life and business.

Halo started the business in 2011 on her 24th birthday with no resources or experience, she said.

She’s been told that her personal story has inspired people from smaller towns. She had a challenging early life and began working at age 15, and at a hair salon at 16.

She said she had a clear goal, “To make a difference in our community,” and has contributed to various causes “in meaningful ways.”

She now has three locations, in South Tampa, Carrollwood and Spring Hill, each having previously been a salon.

She and her husband also own a pizzeria.

Her success is based on the teams she builds at the salons, Halo said.

The key to success is that her company invests in people and builds them up personally and professionally, she said. She also does business consulting for service industry companies.

“We also work closely with other small business and nonprofit organizations,” she said, pointing to a recent Halloween-themed event.

The new location will provide a lot of space for the business to expand, she said.

“I grew up in Hernando, started working in Hernando, went to Chicago for a couple of years, and then back when I got a chance to take over my first hair salon,” she said. “Now we’re one of the top 200 salons in North America.”

Website: salon-halo.com

Phone number: 352-666-4256

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