One by one, the [tag]mom-and-pop motels[/tag] with neon signs and [tag]plastic flamingos[/tag], [tag]vintage beach cottage[/tag]s and small [tag]seaside shops[/tag] that for decades beckoned budget-minded families and tourists to [tag]Pinellas County beaches[/tag] are closing their doors. Although some have tried to tough it out, more and more are being forced out as property taxes soar and deep-pocketed developers come calling with visions of beachfront condominiums.

Developers are gobbling up prime locations along the coastline with an appetite not seen since the condo booms of the 1970s and 1980s. Their main targets: aging or rundown beachfront motels and apartments whose land has become too valuable to support $100-a-night rooms. Replacing them are taller, high-priced condos and condo-hotels with fancy names and deep-pocketed clientele. “These condos are a million and above,” said Laura Labadie, another Indian Rocks Beach innkeeper. “Nobody but the rich people will be able to come to the beach again.”