This week Council has a workshop in the morning and then meet in the evening to address land use applications. There are 5 workshop agenda items highlighted by the news that the Sulphur Springs pool will not be re-opened this summer. The evening land use agenda has 6 items including 2 Future Land Use Map changes, 2 alcohol beverage applications and 2 rezonings.
If you aren’t familiar with workshops — generally speaking the third Thursday morning of the month Tampa City Council holds a “workshop” meeting. These differ from regular Council meetings in several ways. First, no official action can be taken during a workshop. Nothing is voted on, aside from potential motions to set a future agenda item related to the subject. Second, there is no open public comment prior to the meeting. The public is afforded an opportunity to speak for 3 minutes for each item, often after the staff present but prior to a Council discussion. The comment should be limited to the topic of the agenda item, but as long as you are in the ball park Council tends err on the side of letting everyone speak. Finally, workshop agendas are now limited to 5 items due to Council having a night meeting.
Looking at this week’s agenda, item 1 is a presentation from the Planning Commission titled “By 2050 81% of Tampa’s Population Outside Coastal High Hazard Area”. Sounds obvious so it will be interesting to see what the goal is here. An excuse to allow a little more density in the CHHA now?
Item 2 is an issue I thought was put to bed months ago. Council member Henderson took great offense that Creative Loafing did a “Taste of the Bay” type event at Julian B Lane and invited restaurants that weren’t on the approved catering list to serve samples of their dishes. The city rents out the space for a variety of events and provides a list of approved catering companies people can use for their events. That is completely different than showing up and warming up/serving samples of a single dish for one evening. An entirely different level of responsibility and liability. So there’s a screening process, certain criteria a company must meet. I’m sure someone on the list was contracted to oversee the full kitchen operations and handle facilities clean up. But it has turned into an ongoing issue that apparently still hasn’t be resolved. Parks and Rec (who the facility falls under) has already outlined several times changes they are making (have made?) to make the process more inclusive to small catering companies to qualify. With only 5 workshop items per agenda and only 7 or 8 workshops a year (holidays), this seems to be colossal waste of time when Council has recently lamented the need for “more time”. (Set aside they could meet another day of the week with a full day agenda.)
Item 3 was a motion from Council member Viera to “discuss Sulphur Springs pool and Stepping Stones”. The city recently created a Sulphur Springs Neighborhood Action Plan. Parks and Recreation sent a memo stating the pool won’t be open this summer and are requesting the discussion on the pool be continued until October 30, 2025. After the FY26 budget is adopted in September. Ironically, there is an item on next week’s agenda under staff reports “Administration to appear on what they intend to put in the fiscal year’s budget for the Sulphur Springs area.” I tried to trace the backstory on the pool and can’t find much. The pool has been closed since last year, prior to hurricane season, as a result of cracking in the pool lining. With just a search of the public documents online, I could find reference to a contract, 18-D-51603 for “professional services in connection with Sulphur Springs Pool and Deck”. There was an agenda item in in February of 2020, B2020-45 approving work order 3 for that 2018 contract. In fiscal year 2023 $1.6 million was budgeted for the pool. The Capitol Improvement Project viewer shows $2.1 million budgeted for the pool. $495,000 for pool deck replacement and $1.6 million for pool improvements. Of that $116,000 has been spent. I do not doubt there are geological issues, there was the pandemic and then storms. But to not have a clear outline of what the problem is and what it’s going to cost when this has been on the city’s radar since 2018 and funds are available says something.
Community Stepping Stones is a non-profit program that currently receives social action funding. It was my understanding they helped picked up the slack on the lack of summer activities for kids with the closing of the pool. Item 5 is a continuing discussion of social action and arts funding so there’s a bit of cross over here.
Item 4 is a continuing discussion about what to do with the $25.8 million that was budgeted in FY24 but not spent. This is an opportunity for Council members to hash out their priorities and how they think the funds should be spent. Or not. Economic uncertainty and looking forward to FY26 budget presentation in 3 months, there’s a lot to balance. I have no idea what the contract negotiations are like with the unions, the last contract was an across the board 18% raise.
As to the evening hearings, the first two items, to amend the Future Land Use Map for property at 701 South Howard Avenue and 706 South Moody Avenue from R-10 to CMU-35 is quite the jump in intensity. Until you look at the map and realize this is just south of the corner of Howard and Swann, in the general location of the old Chatterbox (I’m aging myself now.) The concern from the neighbors in Parkland Estates may be the extension of the designation onto Moody.
The 2 alcohol beverage applications were both found inconsistent by staff. The first, item 3, is the old Alessi space on Cypress in West Tampa and the second, item 4, is a space at Cass and Willow in Hyde Park. There are existing AB licenses associated with both locations but these seem to be larger expansions.
Item 5 is an application to rezone property on Davis Islands from RS-60 to RS-50. Lot splits are contentious and while the developer has a good track record with their projects, I expect a lot of public comment on this one. Staff did find the application inconsistent.
Finally, put on your radar that next year we are scheduled for our next Charter Review. If we manage to hold onto our federal Constitution that is.
