Normally there would be a CRA meeting this Thursday as it’s the 3rd Thursday of the month. However the statewide conference for Community Redevelopment Agencies is scheduled for this week so to allow staff to attend, the board canceled the meeting. Council will however sit Thursday evening for a regularly scheduled land use agenda with the added agenda item of recognizing the Racial Reconciliation Committee.

The same committee council unanimously voted to dissolve last week under advice of the City Attorney as a result of the unanimous vote in June to accept a federal grant with the explicit agreement to abide by Trump’s executive orders regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Rather than express more disappointment I’m simply going to ask readers to go back and read the language of Resolution 568 passed unanimously by Tampa City Council 5 years ago and to read the original text of the companion resolution that established the committee. There’s nothing the mad king and his blind followers can change about the facts contained within Resolution 568 or the need to reconcile our history with the present. And certainly nothing a plaque can do to make up for how this was handled. I felt the committee was being set up for failure from the start and I’m sorry to be proven correct. I’ll try to do my part to make sure the work continues nonetheless. (FYI those resolutions link to Tampa Monitor, I’ve been hosting a version since January 2024 when the topic became a common point during public comment and the part of the city’s website for finding older resolutions was under construction. I believe the language in both is important.)

For the rest of the evening agenda, 10 land use cases are scheduled with one being a motion to vacate an alley that’s related to a 4 parcel PD that follows on the agenda. The development is a mixed use affordable housing project being proposed by the Corporation to Develop Communities (an East Tampa non-profit) to build Residential, Multi-Family, Storefront Residential, and Commercial/Office. Approximately 4,600 square feet of commercial/non-residential and 75 units among 4 buildings stretched along North 29th Street. There are 9 waivers requested and staff found the application inconsistent.

Without getting into each item, I recommend checking the map on the agenda and investigating the applications in your neighborhood. Particularly folks in Seminole Heights. Item 7 includes a request to remove a 46 inch non-hazardous live oak and item 11 is the return of the proposal for Sligh Ave east of I-275 and more self-storage.

For folks in South Tampa keeping tabs on the redevelopment of Britton Plaza, item 8 is a request to rezone the northern stretch along Euclid to commercial general from RS-50.

Council will return for regular business next week with the following week hosting a morning workshop (including second workshop for the multi-modal impact fees) and evening land use agenda to close out October.