Tampa Town Council heeds worries from gated local community, nixes lodge

TAMPA — Harbour Island citizens packed Town Council chambers for just about 4 several hours Thursday night as the destiny of a proposed resort near their gated community hung in the equilibrium.

In the stop, council member Charlie Miranda’s expressed opposition to a proposed 12-tale Marriott AC model lodge for the reason that he mentioned it would be positioned much too in close proximity to residential neighborhoods introduced a cheer, gaveled down by Chairperson Joseph Citro.

If accredited, Miranda claimed, “This will commence, in my viewpoint, a achievable domino effect of these buildings south of Knight’s Operate Avenue.”

Knight’s Run Avenue is near where the gates are situated that individual the household aspect of the island from the industrial.

Miranda’s argument carried the working day. Council members voted 4-2 to deny the rezoning and land-use requests. Citro, Guido Maniscalco and Orlando Gudes voted with Miranda. Luis Viera and Lynn Hurtak voted no. Monthly bill Carlson was absent.

Hurtak claimed she comprehended residents’ fears. but famous there was no town staff members opposition and the city’s land-use prepare allowed accommodations in that area.

Santiago Corrado, president and CEO of Check out Tampa Bay, stated the 150-space boutique resort was desired to satisfy increasing need downtown for hotel rooms.

“Thirty a long time back, this was what was envisioned: lodge capability for the Convention Middle,” Corrado stated.

But a significant group of people organized in opposition to that vision. For approximately three hours, dozens of people urged council associates to deep-six the prepare. They explained the resort was not in fact a luxury brand name and it would provide extra traffic and non-inhabitants to the brink of their gated local community, where by residences generally list in the hundreds of thousands.

“That is what they are proposing to carry to our gates. The ComicCon folks, the Metrocon people today, you know, all the conventioneers, they’re proposing to carry to our gate, to what is the front doorway of our properties,” stated Fran Lavandera, who has lived on island for 30 several years and is president of the Harbour Island Condominium Affiliation.

Lawyer Jacob Cremer, representing the developer — Liberty Hospitality Administration, LCC — portrayed the affluent island, formulated in the early 1980s, as divided concerning the bustling northern suggestion, throughout from Amalie Arena, home to bars and lodges, and all those who are living “behind the gates” on the southern, household facet.

No one disagreed with him.

Harbour Island, Cremer explained, was a “functional extension of downtown,” and the household character of the southern aspect exists only because it hadn’t made as densely as originally predicted.

This is not the initially time that Harbour Island people have battled Town Hall and won. In 2018, the administration of then-mayor Bob Buckhorn tried using to change an aging sewage major pipe on the island ahead of backing down amid a local community backlash.

Stay on major of what is taking place in Tampa

Subscribe to our no cost Tampa Occasions e-newsletter

You will get a roundup of the major Tampa community information two times a week.

You are all signed up!

Want much more of our absolutely free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Investigate all your solutions