Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council Meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch, District 1 and Council Vice Chair, Hopeley Gertis, District 2, Brandy Gabbard, District 3, Edmonton, Erie, District 4, Lissette, Panowitz, District 5, and Council Chair Deborah Fick Sanders, District 6, Gina Driscoll, District 7, John Lahamed, and District 8, Richie Floyd. Good afternoon, everyone. We call today's August 8th. I'm trying to remember it's August 1st, August 8th. It is August 8th, everybody. We want to welcome you to the council meeting today and we're going to go ahead and get started by with the parole call. Lloyd. Curtis. Here. Gertis. Yeah. Gabbard. Yeah. Montenegro. Hannah. Wits. Yeah. Exander's. Yeah. Driscoll. Yeah. Mohammed. Thank you. So today we have with us the pastor, Clarence Williams from Greater Mount Zion Army that's going to bring the invocation and following the invocation I'm going to ask that you also join us for the pledge of allegiance. So can you please join me in standing? Madam Chair, members of the council and our citizens, let us look to God. Father, we're thankful and grateful for this wonderful privilege you've given us for living in the greatest country on the earth. We're thankful for the diverse and wonderful population in which you've given us. We give you praise for the members of this council for the families from which they come, the people that you put in their lives to make it sweet. Thank you now for the deliberation of this chamber today, the chamber members and those that are here, whether they be citizens, members of our economic community, or our vendors, whoever they may be who will bring in service to our citizens, we pray that the deliberation today will be meaningful and progressive and beneficial to all those that come. And finally, we say, lift up our nation, our country. So that by that powerful hand your justice shall rule among nations and among men amen under guy into this whole with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. Thank you, Pastor Williams for that. You are always appreciated and you know you're one of my phase. House of members, we have an agenda before us today with the addition of item F1 and D5. I'll entertain a motion for approval. Live approval? Second. Second. Now that we have a motion and a second for approval, can you please open the machine for approval? Okay. Okay. I'm so sorry. Now that all the President, Council members have voted, can you please tell in an ask the vote? Madam Chair, motion to approve the agenda passes unanimously with Council member Muhammad Bing absent. Thank you. So now we're going to move into our reports. And joining us today is our fire emergency management and the manager, Ms. Amber Bowling. And I see the mayor walking out with her. Our mayor is a mayor. I'm not Amber. No, you're not Amber, but that's okay. Your eyes are not fooling you. Madam Chair, I'm members of the public who are here, members of our St.P. team. I just, before our emergency management manager, Amber, I gave, gave, gives you a wrap up on Hurricane Debbie and our preparation and our response. I just want to take a minute to thank our team because I know they're not going to say it for the incredible job that they do. If you've had an opportunity and I know many of you have to engage with them during the preparation for a storm or during the storm or the recovery effort, our team is really setting the standard for public service. It's essentially our cabinet and whether it's, you know, sandbag operations before the start or predictions of storm surge, rain, the impact of the tides, progestes in these meetings as well. So there's a math component. It is really something to be proud of. The way that our team approaches this, coordinate it, collaborative, working with federal state agencies, and all of our teams in many departments that work to make our community safe and to help us to recover. So I just wanted to thank them on behalf of our city and the council for a great job that they do. And I'll turn it over to you, Emma. Sorry. Council for a great job that they do and I'll turn it over to you. And they could get some applause for that. Good afternoon. As always, it's a pleasure to be with you all today, Council. I generally come up here when we have some of those more adverse events, but I do always enjoy coming and speak with you and come with a little relief also today because I don't want to say we avoided another big one, but we did avoid some catastrophic damage that some of our neighbors, you know, to the north and to the south got from this storm. But even saying that, we still do have damage and we still do have residents and neighbors that are still recovering and cleaning up today. So today I'm going to provide a report for Hurricane Debbie on behalf of the city. I'm going to try to keep it streamlined and brief. And then once I cover my points, I'ller's lead to talk a little more about the water components in the storm water piece. So with that, we'll hop in. All right. So in anticipation of Debbie, the citywide department storm preparedness protocols were activated. This included public works pre-storm checklist that covers the entire city and low-lying areas to minimize storm impacts to the community. Those things include sandbags, street sweeping, cleaning grates, lowering the pond and the lake levels, deploying pumps and things like that. They stay very busy in those days before the storm. And kudos to marketing and Mike Perry, I saw him in here somewhere. They did a really great video they put out on social media that just captures what all public works does before a storm. It's a lot of work that goes into it to make sure that we handle those impacts a little bit better. In addition, we staged high water vehicles. In those strategically located in those high water areas, police officers were assigned to flood vulnerable areas. We put variable message boards. Again, in those streets and those areas that tend to see that higher water and Very early and often communications and marketing was pushing that information out to our residents to ensure that we had an informed City on what was happening the impacts they could expect and those Actions they could take to make sure that they were prepared Six emergency sandbag distribution locations were opened kudos to the the stormwater team again, 31,000 sandbags in two days. It's a very impressive operation. We did do a partial EOC that's emergency operation center activation with the executive policy group. Those are daily virtual briefings and strategy meetings. So it's a 24-7 communication and coordination through the Microsoft team's platform. In addition, we did have a few different city department sub-centers activated to include fire and police. For impacts, you'll see we put some photos on all of these slides because pictures speak a little louder than words so that you can see what we had. So Hurricane Debbie passed about 100 miles west of St. Pete. If you look at a map, it's incredibly similar to Hurricane Adelio when it passed by. But as we know, no two storms are the same. So while there was a similar track, for Debbie really it was a rain, was our big story. How much rain got dumped on us, and it won't steal thunder away from cloud. He's going to talk about some of that rain in the surge. But we did see over 10 inches of rain in just over a day. We had nearly three and a half feet of storm surge that came through mainly with a high tide early Monday morning. Fresh water flooding was a new one for us with the amount of rain that we saw. So we saw places that typically weren't inundated water being inundated with water, and issues with cars stowing out through intersections and things like that. It was a wind event. So it was a tropical storm event when it came by us. So we saw sustained winds of 39 miles per hour with gusts as high as 60 miles per hour. And a combination of all that water and the sustained winds, we did see lots of trees go down. So I believe it was about 125 trees that the forestry crews were working to pick up. So our response, fire, again, we had high water vehicles that were strategically stationed and our police officers were in those areas through the out the entire time. So our fire and our police crews were really our eyes and our ears and those neighborhoods Not just our low-lying neighborhoods that you know we know have issues But throughout the city because we saw flash flooding that we haven't typically seen before so it was really nice From an EOC standpoint to constantly get those reports in on what it looks like in the city what roads are closed where Our car stalling out where Where are traffic lights out? Things like that. So our fire and police were out there throughout the duration early on. Parks and Rec Forestry teams were out there again from the very beginning, trying to clear those trees in the right way as they happened, coordinating with Duke Energy for any of those lines that are down within those trees. All right, with recovery operations, really that the goal here is to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. So as soon as those flood waters receded and the wind stopped blowing, street sweeping started getting out there to clear that debris from the storms. I live in Riviera Bay and I'll say once the water went down on the streets Tuesday morning cloud, street sweeper came right by my house. It was great. So, you know, the crews are always out there, always working. Tuesday morning, Claude Street, sweeper came right by my house. It was great. You know, the crews are always out there, always working. Crews are still out there working to get those last trees cleared up. We're still picking up. We started picking up debris from residents. So I included the debris flyer here that's being handed out. It's virtual, it's being sent. Social media, street teens have it to make sure all the residents know how they can get their debris picked up. So we can go in the bin, begin to be taken to a brush site or for storm debris they can call for the free special pickup. And the street teams and damage assessment teams. We talk about fire and police being the eyes and the ears of the storm during the event. After the event, that transitions a lot to these street teams and these damage assessment teams. Those are teams that are pushing out throughout the city to kind of capture the story. What kind of damage did we see? How many houses were damaged? What kind of needs are out there? How can we connect our residents to resources? So I want to talk just for a second about the damage assessment. So this is a screen grab that I pulled Pinellas County. When we do a damage assessment all that information gets pushed to a GIS page with Pinellas County. So this is just a public facing page that shows where some of those spots are that we were putting in. So Hurricane Debbie brought minimal flood damage to habitable structures. Flooding was mostly due to wakes caused by traffic on the flooded streets. The wind did bring down trees. We had two reports so far of trees going into structures. All mobile homes were assessed and came back with no damage. You will see some numbers listed here. Two minor damage. 40 affected. To define those for you, minor is flood damage to the habitable area of the home up to 12 inches of water and affected means there's flood to non-habitable areas such as garages and that's up to six inches. So overall we didn't have any reports of any major flood damage and again the caveat there is it's always ongoing. We're still getting calls or reports from citizens as they find things. And then finally for recovery, American Red Cross did open a shelter over at Alendell Methodist Church. They stayed open until yesterday afternoon. They decided they didn't have anybody come seeking shelter or resources. So they decided to close that operation and move to the more northern counties that could use those resources more. And then crisis cleanup, so for any resident that had damage, whether it's from trees or flood water, and they need help and resources, they can call those crisis cleanup and that connects them to non-government organizations that can help them out. And as always, two on one Tampa Bay cares is a resource that can connect residents to those resources that they might need. And then finally, a special thank you to all of our city crews who worked around the clock to keep our city safe and get us back running. So this is a screen grab from social media the special thank yous from our residents to show our city team some love. So we thought that was really important to share as well. So with that, I will turn it over to Public Works Administrator. Log tinkersly. Thank you, Councilor, thank you, Amber, for setting that up and giving the good news that the storm in many ways was not as bad as it could have been. But in some ways, it was more than we expected. So I'm going to start first with describing what we saw in terms of tides and surges. We saw three high tides during this event, and all of them were roughly around three to three and a half feet. You'll see the second high tide there barely touched around the 3.4 feet above sea level. That's where what NOAA would recognize as minor flooding. However, we know that here in St. Pete, we have certain areas and neighborhoods and streets that are pretty low. And so you've seen this before, it's in a to show how this storm compared to other recent storms we've had in terms of storm surge. And as you can see that we had quite a few streets, particularly in shore acres, but also down sunrise drive, as well as some in Riviera Bay and Kingston Street South. These areas were inundated with some storm surge, and then when it's combined with the rainwater, it made things difficult for them. So we are grateful that more homes were not impacted than actually were. One thing I wanna point out on this, if you notice, I have on there the average high tide for 2024 being 1.13 feet, that's a value that I calculated based off of the information we received from NOAA. NOAA actually lists the normal high tide for St. Pete as six inches or a half a foot. This year we have seen regularly day after day high tides that are significantly higher than what you would expect and that is impacting the city all year long. So we did have a significant amount of rain. There's a lot of rain gauges throughout the city and rain doesn't always come to every neighborhood the same way. So I put up here information showing roughly how the rain was distributed across the city. We have three rain gauges at our wastewater treatment plants that recorded values anywhere from just under six to almost 12 inches of rain during the event. We also have some private rain gauges that are available on the internet that I used to show how it was distributed in different parts of the city. It's been reported in the media by Bay News 9 that we saw 11.4 inches. News Channel 8 reports that we saw 10.34 inches. We recognize that this rain occurred roughly over 30 hours. So it's not quite 24 hours, but just over 24 hours at 30 hours. So how does that compare? Well, we often talk about design storms when we talk about our rain storm, a storm water system and this hurricane Debbie is roughly equivalent to what we would recall a 50-year 24-hour event. Recognizing it didn't take place in 24 hours is 30 hours is slightly more but nevertheless it's the same amount of rain as we might expect to receive about once every 50 years using historical data and we know that that data is changing in the current days. Also looking back at rainfall data that we have from Albert Whitted, we have an incredible database of rainfall data from Albert Whitted going back to the early 1900s. It was only one day in the last 110 years where we saw more rain than we did during Hurricane Debbie. And that was August 2nd, 1915. The other times that it came close to this were tropical storms or hurricanes. That occurred either in 1933, 1974 or 2001. And then if you look at this same data and you look at a 48 hour period since the rain did come, it straddled on Sunday and Monday. If you look at a 48 hour period, the most recent time we had 10 inches of rain in a 48 hour period was 27 years ago in 1997. I point these things out to show this was not a standard storm. If you look at this chart here, it shows the rainfall and the tide surge for some of the storms we've had recently, Hermine, Ada, Ion, Ion, Ida, and Debbie. And you'll see that the rainfall that we received during Debbie far exceeded the other storms, whereas the storm surge was right about in the middle. One of the things that I'll talk about in a few minutes is that we have designed our wastewater systems to meet a storm that was similar to Hermine. We had her current in Hermine. We had some her training Hermine in 2016. Afterwards we implemented an expansion of our wastewater system. We based that off of the storm of Hermine. And you can see that this storm exceeded what we achieved or had during Hermine. It was talked earlier about our sandbags. I just want to point this out. We are our teams. When we hand out sandbags, we have tablets that the teams will use to document the name and address and the number of bags handed out to anybody who comes up. And you'll see roughly where most of the handbags were handed out in St. Pete. But we have quite a few people that come to St. Pete outside of our city and picked up handbags. So let's talk about it, the impact to our storm water system. For the period of August 4th through 6th, we had roughly 66 sea click fix reports for flooding that came in. We have recently installed some replacement backflow preventors in Riviera Bay and Shore Acres that keep salt water from backing up into the streets. Since May we've replaced 26 of the 56 insure acres and we've placed four of the seven in Riviera Bay. We believe these backflow preventors did their job. They kept the salt water out of the street next to the backflow preventors. Unfortunately we got a lot of rain and when you have a backflow preventer that's closed keeping the bay out, it does also not allowing the rain water to drain out. So we had a lot of rain water that backed up behind the backflow preventers. We also have some stormwater pumps that we use. We have two permanent stormwater pumps in Riviera Bay that are there all the time, very, very large pumps. We, those performed very well. We put in a portable pump on Appian Way and Snell Isle, and six portable pumps in Shore Acres. All of these portable pumps performed as appropriately and more operationally performing throughout the entire event. So let's talk about the impacts to our wastewater system. Again, I want to give some background here. So in 2016, Hurricane Hermine came through and resulted in significant sanitary sewer overflows, over 100 million gallons. Because of that, we entered into a consent order. We started on a very aggressive expansion of the capacity of our system is also a program to try to eliminate the amount of inflow and infiltration into the system. So we expanded the peak hydraulic flow rates to the three plants, to the numbers you see there. 32 million gallon per day flow rate for Northeast, 40 for Northwest and 70 for Southwest. So that's the flow that would come into the treatment plants. We also established a level of service for our collection system. And if you recall we came back to Council sometime in 2018 and we debated what is the level of service we would want our collection system to be able to handle. What kind of rain event can we afford our collection system to handle? And we looked at events, a three inch, a five inch, a seven inch, a nine inch event. And with each of these events, we looked at the price tag for being able to handle those events, blew up extremely between events. And so because of the discussion of the cost to do these things, we settled on a seven inch level of service, a seven inch event level of service for our collection system. And what that means is that, a seven inch event level of service for our collection system. And what that means is that for a seven inch rainfall event, we are going to be working on our collection system to avoid any manhole overflows in response to that seven inch event. Now, remember, we got almost a ten and a half inch event. Since 2016, we spent over $400 million to expand the capacity of our sewer system to meet those level of service standards. Hurricane Debbie produced rains and peak sewer flows that exceeded those level of service standards. As you can see in the first chart there, our level of service for the Northeast plant was 32 million pounds per day. At one point we saw 39 million pounds per day coming as a flow rate coming to that plant. Northwest we have a level of service of 40. We saw 45 coming through. In Southwest level of service of 70, we saw 79 coming through. And our collection system again, the level of service for that was established as seven inches. We saw almost 10 and a half inches. So I do want to give some general peak takeaways from this event, even though we had this extraordinary storm that stressed our wastewater system. And this was really the first real stress test we've had of the expanded system since those upgrades were completed. Even with that, the investments that we put into place appeared to have paid off very well. Those investments reduced the potential impacts of Hurricane Debbie on our wastewater system and most likely prevented larger sanitary sewer overflows. I do want to highlight and give a shout out to our utility staff. They performed exceptionally well during this event. And we shout out to our utility staff. They performed exceptionally well during this event. And we're able to thank you. So, one of the things our wasteware staff were doing, they realized that this was an event that exceeded the capacity of our system. But they still kept the system going and minimized any impacts from that from from this event. And so they really pulled a rabbit out of the hat, performed a miracle, and Kudai is really to them. They're my heroes. So we did have about 429,000 gallons of untreated sewage that did spill into our neighborhoods that came from what we call there's called sanitary sewer overflows. They came from manholes that were overflowing. You'll see on this drawing here roughly where those were located in those blue areas in the central part of the city. This is what a sanitary sewer overflow will look like. We have several photos here of those manholes when they are overflowing. If you look at the second photograph, you'll see a metal pipe going down into the manhole. That metal pipe is a big vacuum. That's connected to a truck. And we are pulling sewage out of that manhole to reduce the amount that's being discharged into the street. And then the third and fourth photos show you what a sanitary sewer overflow in a manhole looks like when it's ongoing and then what it looks like when it's done. One of the ways we estimate the volume that's coming out of a sanitary, a manhole is we have this industry-wide data that our teams will go out and they'll look at a manhole and then they have this information and they they'll compare what they see in the street with what's prepared here in front of you. This allows us to estimate roughly how much flow is coming out of a manhole. This is how we estimate what those discharges are. I think it's really an interesting graphic. You can see how five gallons per minute looks like the manhole is just barely weeping, just barely crying, just a little bit of a stain over there, but you get up to 275 gallons per minute and it's just pouring out of that manhole. So those were the sanitary sewer overflows that did occur during the storm from our manhole system. This system, of course, designed to handle a seven inch storm and we got a 10 and a half inch storm. So let's talk about our treatment system. We did have a momentary brief spill on site at two of our plants for a total of almost a quarter of a million gallons. These spills lasted for approximately 15 minutes and they occurred because of the in rush of water coming into the plant. But these spills were captured onsite. The spills were fully contained and all but 3,000 of the 230,000 were redirected to the beginning of the treatment plant and re-treated within the facility. Therefore none of these, none of this water, none of these spills entered community spaces nor did they reach surface water bodies. I also want to highlight one of the things that I think is what we avoided. I believe it's reasonable to assume that we may have avoided with the improvements that we've made over the last eight years we may have avoided about 8.4 million gallons of a potential spill. Had we not done the improvements to the plants, I believe this may have been what we would have seen at those plants. And the reason why is this, we saw flows through the plants that were higher than the peak design flows. And so I estimated what that higher differential was and it estimated come out to be about 8.42 million gallons. That our team was able to get through that plant even though the plant wasn't designed to take it, they did it anyway. That meant that these plants were operating at times above their peak hydraulic capacity. So for instance, the Northeast plant operated for about six hours above their peak hydraulic capacity. The Northwest plant, I'm almost 27 hours and the Southwest plant, 17 hours. So I wanted to give you this information. It's a lot of good news, but also to recognize that we did have some sanitary sewer refluse. We are treating those. We reported them to DEP. We reported them to the public and we are recovering from them. Thank you very much. Thank you. Applause. We have council members that would like to speak. Council member Gabbert. Thank you, Madam Chair. And so I just want to first of all kind of start off with whether they are starting this off with a echo of thanks to the entire team. As council members during an event like this, we, I'm sure my colleagues would share in my thoughts, we feel very helpless sometimes, right? Because as council members, you're not out there doing the work that our team is doing, and you're not directing them the way that the mayor is. And so knowing that we have all of you, the very capable hands, the very capable residents of my own district, who care so much, who have put so much into not only helping our city, be able to do the improvements that you talked about, but also be able to prepare and respond in real time, is such a relief. And I know, because as council members, most of the time during these storms, be able to prepare and respond in real time is such a relief. And I know because as council members most of the time during these storms, we're constantly hearing from our residents, especially, sure myself, council member Montnary, you share in this, we are in constant communication with our residents. And all we can do is deliver that message back to you. And during this particular event, my contacts were Claude and Chief Gilliam from PD. And the two of you were never annoyed by my updates, never like, I mean, Chief Gilliam had police officers out there, you know, Riviera Bay's a little unique and the fact that we can't really shut it down with just like two openings like shore acresakers, people can kind of come and go. And that can be very anxiety filled for our residents when they're watching people drive through this wake. Chip Gilliam was on it. And he had people out there trying to slow people down, trying to stop people. So I cannot say enough things. It helps me kind of relieve my anxieties when these events are going on. But I mean we can see the work that we have done that has to your point stopped what could have been a major catastrophe. It could have been a catastrophe for our residents inside of their homes. It could have also been a major spill. And so the work that has been done has worked, right? But as one of only three council members who was here in 2018, when we made the decision to go to a seven, I very clearly remember, which you've reminded us, that nine was the only other option we were even discussing at that point. And from what you're sharing would not nine wouldn't have even changed it. It would have maybe reduced a little bit, but we still probably would have had this issue. Is that correct? Yes, I do believe that's true. So you and I spoke at length on Tuesday and we kind of batted around, you know, what do we do? Obviously, I mean, a future investment in continuing to add to our capacity is well worth a conversation. But can you talk a little bit kind of in theory about what we discussed around infill, infill, and infiltration that you believe potentially could have happened during this event. And for those who aren't sure what that is, it's when we have breaks in our sewer lines where the stormwater and the rainwater actually goes into the wastewater system. And so can you talk a little bit about what we discussed the other day? Sure, thank you. And I apologize if this gets a little bit about what we discussed the other day? Sure, thank you. And I apologize if this gets a little too technical. But so within our city we have thousands of miles of sewer pipes that are buried underground. Half of those belong to us, the city. Half of them belong to the public as a group. Roughly the other half belongs to individual property owners. We call those pipes private laterals. These are the pipes that run from your house to take the sewage from your plumbing and runs through a private yard, through your yard, out to the street where it connects to our system. And these are privately owned. These private laterals are very shallow. They're not buried very deep. You'll often find them with maybe six inches of soil above them, maybe 12 inches. They're very, very shallow. Whereas our public pipes, our public lines, are much deeper. They're at the very shallowest. They're at least three feet deep. They're often 10 feet deep. What that means is that our public pipes are often inundated or often surrounded by groundwater on a regular basis because they're deep enough to be below the groundwater table and stay there on a regular basis. Inflow and infiltration occurs when you might have a crack in that pipe and that groundwater will flow into the pipe, putting more water into the system. So, over the past eight years, we've spent millions and millions of dollars going through our pipes. We literally have TV, we put a TV camera down every single inch of our thousand miles of pipes to determine its condition. And based off of its condition, we've been spending money to either put a lining inside the pipe, or in some cases actually dig the pipe up and replace it with another. So we've done a lot of improvements to our system, and we've seen the results of that in our normal daily flows that we have seen go down because of the reduction in that I and I. This event was different than what normally occurs in that we got so much water that the rain completely saturated the soils. So one inch of rainfall will actually saturate six inches of soil. And so we got enough rainfall to saturate five feet of soil, which means that anywhere that you might have a water table, 3 feet below you, 4 feet below you, 5 feet below you, that water table is now at the ground surface. What that did is it inundated every single pipe in our system, including the private laterals, many of which are rarely if ever inundated. And what we saw was when this occurred, we saw our flows go from about 30 million gallons a day to 150 million gallons a day. So what that leads me to suspect, I cannot prove it, but what that leads me to suspect is that we have work to do on our private laterals, that are private laterals when they are inundated and they not inundated all the time, but when they're inundated with groundwater, we believe that they are contributing heavily to our system. Well, thank you for explaining that to everyone and I know you all have private conversations as well, but we live in the sunshine and we can't speak to each other outside of this dius. And so I wanted to make sure that you were all aware of the information that he shared with me on Tuesday, because of course, immediately, I said, well, what's going on with our private lateral pilot program, right? So Councilmember Hannah-Witz, this would be the appropriate time for me to ask you. So we have an outstanding item on our PS and I referral list that I had referred that we took up in October, I believe, around the private laterals, self-funding, all of that. I have spoken with self and I have spoken with Claude and they would be prepared to come together and bring us a updated report as to, they've done a lot since then, with this program. So I would just respectfully request at a time when you are able to with the agenda scheduling if we could bring this back sooner rather than later because I think we've seen from the information you're sharing anecdotally that we need to move forward on that project. We need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to help residents be able to kind of invest in their part of this situation. So I just wanted to ask you that while we're here on this diet. Yeah, and that's not a prompt, as I'm at well. It's not the first item that has been pushed to PSI as we handled something today that was in emergency. And now there's another one. So we have a couple of things that are backed up because of what we handled today. But as soon as I can get it on the schedule, I will. And we had a conversation about that also. Perfect. So thank you. And then just also want to thank our state senator DeSigley, representative cross. Both of them very, very much engaged throughout the entire storm and I've had some conversations specifically with representative cross. So residents who are upset about people driving through the neighborhoods, creating that wake, that very stressful situation. I mean, I live in Barclay estates. It's never seen water in its streets. We had water in our streets. We had water in our streets during this event, and people were driving through, and my husband was just like residents standing on the front porch freaking out that water was going to come up. So I know I understand. And so I pledge that I'm going to work with Representative Cross because there's some stuff that needs to be done at the state-level that we can then start to be able to make some real headway around how we enforce and how we work on making sure that we keep the neighborhood safe when they are and in-dated with flood waters. So there will be more to come on that going to layer, but I just wanted to let everyone know about that as well. Thank you all again. Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for keeping us safe. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Council Member Montgomery. Thank you, Madam Chair. And Mayor, thank you for leading. And it's good to see you after a storm. And Amber, thank you for the briefing and Claude. Thank you for everything you've done as Council Member Gabbert spoke. I too was calling you multiple times a day and also Chief Gilliam. And the Mayor's Chief of Staff, we were on the phone a lot. Let me just give a little perspective from a lot of residents really get scared during these storms. Claude shared with me an email that came through C-Click Fix about a Shore Acres resident that was panic about what was going on. And residents of all around St. Petersburg, but especially in the flood prone areas, like shore acres and River Air Bay, people get very upset. And I'm glad that we're leading in a strong way to prepare for the storms, deal with them while they're happening, and then doing the post storm recovery. And briefings like this give our residents confidence that are cities on top of these issues. So in short acres, you've talked about the backflow preventers and the pumps, the six pumps that were deployed. Can you give us a little detail because I received a lot of questions from people around shore acres that wanted pumps in certain areas. Can you talk a little bit of why we place the pumps where we do? Sure. So we have a stormwater system in shore acres that, and we know where everything is located, and we know how it operates. Some of the stormwater is channeled down the street to another street. Some of the stormwater goes into a catch basin into a pipe. Some of the pipes are connected, some are not. It's a very complex system. Part of the challenge of a neighborhood like Shore Acres is that it's very flat. The entire neighborhood is very flat. And we all know that water runs downhill. But when you don't have a downhill to run, water just wants to kind of stay. And it's trying to figure out where to go. So having such a flat area, it's difficult to move that water. And the water can move in many different directions, depending on what the water next to it is doing. So our engineers, and we've got some crack engineers, crack, I don't want to say crack pot. I want to say crack pot. We have some really, really good engineers that working with our stormwater staff, they've gone through and they've looked at how our stormwater system is connected and figured out where would be the most optimal place to pace these pumps, to have the biggest impact, not just to impact a single home next to the pump, but where can we put a pump where it impacts the greatest number of homes, the greatest number of streets. And so we first started putting these pumps out into the system back in January. That was our first event. We put them out again in April. This is our third event of putting it out. And in that process, we've learned that where some of the places we put them the first time, many of them were very effective, some not so effective. And so based off of that experience, we decided to move them one or two and see how that works. We did that again in this storm event. And so by, is that iterative process of understanding how the system works from an engineering view, but also running the pumps and seeing what's effective, it gives us an idea of where we can place them. I wish we could place pumps everywhere in every neighborhood. We don't have that many pumps, unfortunately. And frankly, as I just mentioned, sometimes a pump's really not going to be that effective. Yeah. Okay. Appreciate that answer. The other thing, and Council Member Gabber, to refer to this, another big issue we had in short acres, and around the city through flooded areas was people driving too fast, creating to fast creating a wake and flooding homes. Back in 2021, I put a item forward, I found a ordinance from the City of New Orleans that the City of New Orleans put in to slow people down through flooded streets and we do have a preemption problem with that. I did speak with Brett Pettigrew earlier this week and I had him send me that memo that was built that was put together for a PS and I committee meeting and I want to go back and review this and see if there's any other issues that we can do to address that concern because we did talk about it one time but I want to go back and I'm glad that you mentioned it, Councilmember Gabbard. During the storm, I went out and spoke to the police officers at both 22nd Avenue and 40th Avenue, and also 62nd Avenue. And they were doing their best to try to make sure that people, if they didn't have a reason to go into shore acres didn't go, but we do live in a free country and people do live there. But I put people in categories when it comes to their driving abilities. You got some people that just don't care and just drive fast. You got other people that care and they don't realize that even if they're driving pretty slow they're still creating a wake and causing a problem. And then you have people that are driving just barely creeping along and not doing anything. But Chief Gilliam and his team that were out there, and they deployed officers around, I know, shore acres, to try to slow traffic down, but that's a major problem in these flooded areas. And then the last thing that I wanted to commend the city on is communications. Communications are key. And there was a time in the city where we have these storms and city council members were kept in the dark. There wasn't a whole lot of communication with city council members. Well, if you're a city council member going through a flood event, you're going to pick up the phone and you're going to call staff. And staff's not going to have to take the time to deal with the city council member. And that's why good communications is just essential. Because that way, City Council members don't have to reach out because we know it's being handled in most cases. And we can push that communication out to the residents in our City Council districts. So on all levels, the updates that were sent out and then the social media and then some interviews that were done. And I asked Michael Perry for his autograph earlier today because I thought his little video that he had did a good job of explaining something that a lot of people don't understand. So thank you all for what you did with this storm. Thank you so much for that. We appreciate the report, the presentation. More importantly, we appreciate everything that you all do for us. And I just wanted to point something out to you all. When we start getting ready to do this report, did you not notice how many people came from the back? They will prepare. They're like that all the time when it comes down to addressing the needs and the issues of the residents in the city of St. Petersburg. And I want to concur with my colleagues in regards to the communication that we get, because we do want to be your first point of contact at all possible. And if we're not getting correspondence from the city, I know my phone was ringing off of next door and ring. If you're members of that, so you get that information. But the more information you have, the better equipped you are to deal with our natural disasters. And I spoke to Mr. Tankersley over the course of it. And I had to thank him because his job is so unpredictable. Amber's job is just so unpredictable because no one knows the outcome of storms and how we're going to address that as a city. And I think that they've done a phenomenal job. We gave Amber and applause, but I think we need to give the entire team. So I want to thank you for that. It took a little longer than we wanted to, but we were not going to digress from the fact of thanking you for all that you've done for our city. And thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Madam Chair. So now we're going to go ahead and move on to our wars and presentations and joining us for D1 is our sister city student ambassadors presentation. Our government affairs director, David Thompson, and our Arts Culture and Tourism Director, is Celeste Davis. All right, good afternoon, councilmembers. David Thompson, Director of Government Affairs, with Celeste Davis, Director of Arts Culture and Tourism. We are thrilled to present to you this year's student ambassadors for Sister City Exchange Program. As part of Mayor Welch's commitment to our Sister City Program and under his pillar of education and youth opportunities, we're excited to mark the return of the Sister City Exchange Program for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. To become a student ambassador, these students go through a rigorous application and interview process and once selected comprehensive cultural competency and training and language skills training. The city through our contracted vendor spiss pays for the full cost of the experience and as part of that commitment, the students are required to come to you, city council to update and share their experiences in Takamatsu. And before Madison, Ava, and Leeland come up, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for your support of the work we do in the international fair space and the sister city program specifically. I know that several of you joined two weeks ago to listen to the exchange students from Takamatsu shared their perspective and their lives. And many of you participated in the events last year when Mayor Onishi and the delegation came from Takamatsu, Japan. So I'm going to turn it over to our students, Eva. This is gonna be up first. Go Bears. Sorry. Do I use this? OK. Hi, my name is Ava Carvallis. I'm going into 12th grade at St. Petersburg Catholic Go Bears. And yeah, so today I'm going to be presenting about Meggie Jima Island, which is like a mountain off the coast of Takamatsu. So first, here's a view from the island. This is actually on the island. It's very beautiful, typically on a typical sunny day. You would just see that ocean, but it was cloudy while we were there, but it was still so beautiful. So the history of Megajima Island, it's located in the Sido-Enland Sea near Takamatsu, Japan. This island is associated with the famous Japanese folk tale Mamotaro, it also known as Feach Boy, where it was said to be the island of Ogres that Peach Boy defeated. It's a fun little Japanese folk tale. Here's a picture of Mia and my exchange student, Kareha. In the back, it's just a little representation of what the Ogres would look like. So the island is famous for its cave, the big huge cave that takes you through the whole Peach Boy story. It's pretty cool. On the left here's a picture of Peach Boy defeating the ogres. And then on the right are some handcrafted stones that each have individually crafted faces. So I thought that was pretty cool. It's significant today. Today, Meggie Jima is known for the Meggie Jima cave, which is linked to the Momotero legend. It's also known for its scenic beauty, scenic beauty, and its beautiful beaches and hiking trails. Last on the left, I believe it's a shrine. I'm not 100% sure, but it's a shrine. I think it's a shrine. It's really 100% sure, but I think it's a shrine. It's really pretty. I didn't get to go inside, but it has a lot of significance to the island. And then on the right is just a handcrafted dragon. If you look closely, you can see the dragon's face and eyes. It's made out of pine sticks. You name it. And then. So that's all I have. Lastly, I wanted to thank the City of St. Petersburg so much and thank Spiff, Steven and Joelle and this was an amazing experience that I will hold on to forever. I really plan to go back to Takamatsu and explore more of Japan. So thank you. So. Applause. Hello. I'm Meal and Coburn. I'm going to talk about the temples and the shrines that I visited on my trip. Temples are from Buddhism and trines are for Japanese Shinto. So this is the first one that we went to. We all went to it together guided by the city. It is called Yashimaji because it is a temple located on the mountain of Yashima. So here you can see some photos from that. On the bottom row, on the bottom right of the smaller photos, you can see a very interesting shot we went into with a very nice couple. And they showed us some artworks of the legend of the battle of Yashima, which occurred there. This is the next one that we went to in Pengey. This is also a temple, which means that it is Buddhist. On it is located up high on a mountain, actually on the border between Kagawa and a neighboring prefecture. Its name means Cloud Boundary Temple. So yeah, it's a big journey to get up there. On the left most, you can see a little box in front of the statue of Guatama Buddha, and those boxes are located all throughout temples and trins and are used to cast offerings to the various deities and folks worshiped at the locations. This is the next one that we went to, Zenziji. So, on it is the birthplace of a very famous monk named Kukai, which means heir and ocean. On the left most you can see a popular structure in Japanese temples, a five-storey building. It doesn't actually have stories inside. There's nothing really goes in, but that's the five classical elements from Buddhism. On the right most, you can see a statue of Hu Kai. This is the first shrine that I went to, so that is we're talking about Shinto now. It has two names originally, it was called Computeson, and now it is called Kotohi-da-gu, but people still call it Competeson and now it is called Kotohira-goot but people still call it Competeson. So it also, there is worshiped Omano Nusinokami, who is a god that protects sailors and various sea-going folk. So it's very high on the mountain most of these are. And it also is home to a large museum to sake production, Japanese rice wine and a large naval museum. This is the last one that I went to just before going to the airport. Tomu, sorry, Tomu-da-jin-zat. the left most, you can actually see a statue of Momotaro, the peach boy that Ava talked about. In the middle, you can see a dragon that people write wishes down on fake gold coins and cast it to it, hoping for it, hoping for a good luck, and for the wishes to be fulfilled. So on the trip, I learned a lot about not just about Japanese aside, not just about Japanese culture, but also about what makes American culture unique. Things that I took for granted, like even the way that showers function, I've now learned are just a uniqueness of us. And it was also really interesting to see the similarities, for example, between Christianity and the local Japanese traditions like Buddhism and Shinto. And it's definitely opened my eyes to the more rural parts of Japan. I think otherwise, I probably would have, if I were to just go to Japan on a vacation, I'd probably go to the more urban areas. But I think if I were to go back now, I probably would return to Tukamatsu or maybe explore the rest of Shikoku, which is the island that it's located on. Also, my Japanese has improved significantly being able to talk to native speakers for so long. So, here you can see a photo of all of us together. The woman on the furthest left is... The woman on the furthest left is, the woman on the furthest left is the chaperone that they sent over, Chijo, and then you can see the other ambassadors interspersed with us. I wanna thank the council for allowing, and just the city and spifts for allowing this amazing opportunity, and it's definitely something I'm gonna be looking back to for the rest of my life. So, thank you. Applause Hi there, I'm Madison Schmitz and I would like to share some of our experiences with our host families over in Japan. So starting off with Ava and the Suga family, at the beginning of her time in Japan, her host sister, Kareha, Ava said needed to use a translator a lot of the time to communicate with each other. But then at the very end, right before Ava was going to leave, she said that she and Kureha could speak an entire conversation without the use of a translator. So not only did Ava gain a lot of information about Japanese culture, Megidima Island, right? But it's helped on both sides because Kurea had became so much more confident with her English. Moving on to Leland and the Ichiashi family, as Leland said before, he himself learned a lot about the Japanese language. He became, again, more confident with speaking the language, being immersed with his family. And something else he said, he not only learned so much about, again, Japanese culture, but something interesting about his family is they are actually from New Zealand. So he was able to also learn about New Zealand culture. Finally, moving on to myself in the Son of Family, while the Son of Family wasn't sending anyone over to America, they were gracious enough to take me in. And after everything said and done, I really feel like I have another family over in Japan. I really grew so, so close with them we have already agreed to send handwritten letters to each other, become pen vowels. And thanks to them, I truly, really want to go back, learn more about Japan, not just Takamatsu, but of course I want to go back to Takamatsu. Yeah. And finally, a huge, huge thank you to the city and to Spiffs. Thanks to the city, this entire program was possible for us to go on. And thanks to Spiffs, all the information gained when smooth sailing. And this entire program, I would say, is nothing less of a blessing. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And before Mayor Welch comes to present our students with a key to the city lapel pin in the challenge point. Just want to point out the parents of all the students in the audience here who not only did everything they needed to get their students to Japan, but also hosted a Japanese students for about 10 days here in St. Peter's, Virgen, made them feel very at home. Thank you, David. Can we have the parents please stand up so folks can see who you all are? Madam Chair and Council, this is such a wonderful day. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Madam Chair and Council, this is such a wonderful program and we're excited to get it back up and running post-COVID. Ava Madison and Leeland did a great job. I did here at Go Baron several times. Madam Chair, Madison, which high school letting catch you? Vikings, okay, so a few people will be happy about that. And as you know, Madam Chair, I don't know if you noticed, but Leelon is wearing his Spartans blackened. But all fantastic ambassadors for our city, y'all did a fantastic job. I was honored to learn from y'all. We had dinner with the Japanese ambassadors a few weeks ago. And I want to give you in recognition of the great job you've done a mayoral challenge coin and a key to the city lapel pen on behalf of St.P. So thank you all so much Madam chair did you want to jump in this one quick? No, I will. Okay. This is me. Traditionally you have about the jump. It's put in the palm of your hand. This is the first for me, not? Right, I got it. You got it. Thank you. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give you a big hand. I'm going to give I'll be here. Show me. I'm going to do a quick little bit of chair. Come on. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Job with them. Yeah. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. Thank you so much for that. We do appreciate all the relationships that we're not only building here, but across the world and other nations. So thank you so much for reinstating that program. So now it gives me an honor to introduce our vice chair, Coppig Gertis and our ADA Diversity Corps, Nader Lendell Bright, to present item D2 words for good award who will be presenting or being presented an award from Hope to present award by Debbie Yones and James King. And they're from the Voices of Hope Organization. Welcome. Good afternoon, City Council, Madam Chair. It's my pleasure to be here this afternoon with the Program Coordinator, Program Director of Voices of Hope for a FASIA, located right here in St. Petersburg, a local nonprofit doing great work. And Debbie is actually going to speak for just a brief moment about a FASIA and the work that we're doing. Thank you very much for having us. Voices of hope for aphasia located right here in St. Pete and serving the Tampa Bay area was is an organization providing services support and advocacy for people who do to a stroke or other neurological condition, lose their ability to communicate. It's a language disorder. Some of you may know of it because a relative maybe had a stroke, a grandmother, or someone had a stroke, and then had difficulty communicating. And you can imagine that not being able to express yourself limits you a lot from being active in your community. And this year, this is our second year that we are presenting an award and it was when unanimous decision to present the award to the committee to advocate for persons with impairments and city council and city of St. Petersburg for the incredible work that they do to ensure that our city is accessible to everybody including highlighting communication disorders and making them a priority as equal to other disorders and disabilities like physical impairments. So we are here today to present the committee to advocate for persons with impairments with the Murl regal words for good award, our second annual award. And it is my honor to present it to the Cappy committee. And I'm going to hand it to Linda. As you know council and the public with capy I'm just a staff liaison and the good thing about it is Paul are in dash. She is our chair for capappy and I can take right now it's an honor just between myself and I needed dryer to work with these Cappy you got 12 citizens that are very dedicated represent different types of disabilities in the city and they are drivers drivers and drivers you know they ask me to look and do stuff and research a lot of stuff but working with Debbie and Efezia I did not know about Efezia drivers and drivers, you know, they asked me to look and do stuff and research a lot of stuff, but working with Debbie and Efezia, I did not know about Efezia, but about four or five years ago, and she told me what it was, and you'd be surprised how many people are impacted. Okay? We need to know about it. But I want to take all the thing, but Paula, you on behalf of K. And also Cindy is one of our Cappy members too, so. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you all so much. I have to say, I'm incredibly proud of this. I've been part of Cappy for nearly over 30 years. I hate to even, I was very young. But this is the very first time Cappy's ever been recognized from our efforts. I'll be happy to of the community, not that we do it to be recognized, but boy, when we do it, it gets a nice big award like this. It really makes us incredibly proud in knowing that we make an impact to the community is really such a joy, because that's really what we're all here to do, right, to make the best accessibility for all of our citizens and our visitors to make our city very proud when people come and visit. So thank you very much. Council has been amazing support to us. Councilman, we're good to see you have been a huge advocate. And without our city staff, I want to say, lend Ellen Anita and our legal advisers. We keep us on the straight and narrow and keep us really highly, highly effective in everything we do. So thank you all so much for your support. And Debbie, thank you so much for recognizing us and we're very proud of this. Thank you for bringing us here. Thank you everyone. Go, Barons. Go, Bars, yeah. Chair, colleagues, mayor, over the last few meetings, it seems I've been lucky enough to be up here as a part of Cappy, and I'm truly humbled again today as the grandson of two grandfather's that battled aphasia for periods of time. This one hits close to home, this organization. I was able to go to their annual event last month. And the room was packed with people that were just ready and willing to support an amazing cause, including a couple of big leakers from the rays, which was pretty cool to see. They were like a foot taller than everybody else in the room. But this organization really does amazing things. When you're talking about people that have trouble to communicate, and frankly, sometimes it can be an invisible disability. And so to recognize the work that voices of hope for aphasia, what they're doing in our community and those they represent is an amazing thing. And let me tell you, I know I say it all the time, so I apologize for repeating, but this organization, Cappy, the committee that we have is just in a, it's an absolutely amazing thing that our city put together a long time ago, longstanding, and the work that they do, frankly, is absolutely incredible and humbling to watch. To be a part of it, Mayor, thank you for the appointment. I will gladly serve for as long as you will have me and the staff, the members of Cappy, just a big thank you for me. And again, from somebody that has had family members dealing with aphasia, voices of hope, thank you for everything that you do, and you certainly have my support for as long as I'm in this town, and they're going to have to get rid of me, because I'm not going anywhere. So thank you very much, Madam Chair, Mayor, members of Cappy, voices of aphasia. Thank you so much. This is a great honor. Thank you Madam. Thank you. Thank you. And now we'll move on to item D3, our Black Business Month Proclamation by Mayor Wout. Thank you, Madam Chair. August is Black Business Month and cities across the country are celebrating and we are two in a big way in the city of St. Petersburg all month. Just Tuesday our Office of Supplier Diversity hosted a construction trade show at the Colosseum. It was packed. They had some great food trucks as well, but I won't go into that. But there's much more. And our staff will share more after I read the proclamation. I like to invite our supplier diversity manager, Curry Hendrix Bell, and all of our guests who are here today to join me at the podium as I read the proclamation. Other guests for Black Business Month? I'll come on up. No androids or a lot of characters. Let me know that. And it reads, whereas the month of August is observed as National Black Business Month, recognizing the successes, milestones, and historical progress of black businesses and entrepreneurs. Throughout history, despite facing systemic racism, black businesses have continued to grow and thrive nationwide. And whereas businesses owned by black women have increased by a 12% annual growth rate over the last year, additionally, black women own businesses account for 21% of all women owned businesses in the United States. And whereas, the Office of Supplier Diversity was created to promote fair and equal business opportunities through the intentional implementation of diversity programs. These programs ensure equity and contracts and procurement for all members of our community who want to do business with the city of St. Petersburg. And whereas the minority and women on business enterprise program aims to promote business and economic development for minority owned and women on business enterprises in the St. Peter area. And whereas as we celebrate Black Business Month, invite minority and women owned businesses to register for our minority and women owned business enterprise programs to take part in our inclusive procurement and contract opportunities, networking and collaboration opportunities, and business development support, including mentorship programs, training sessions, and resources to help business owners thrive. Now therefore, I, Kennedy Welch, mayor of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, do hereby recognize August, 2024, as Black Business Month in St. Petersburg. And I urge all businesses to visit our Office of Supplier Diversity website, sign up for our newsletter, explore our various programs, and connect with our small minority and women-owned businesses. Well done on this. And would you like to say a few words? Thank you. Is it? Applause. Thank you. So thank you, Mayor and thank you, Council. The Office of Supply Diversity is definitely happy to accept the proclamation, recognizing August as Black Business Month. Black Business Month offers us a dedicated time to celebrate and support the contributions of black entrepreneurs and The business community community all over the nation as well as to show the impact and contributions of black owned businesses to the economy locally and nationally The Office of Supply Diversity is our business community's resource to doing business with the City of St. Pete. And besides certifying businesses through our SB and MWBE programs, we provide training, resources, access to opportunities, and our overall advocates for the intentional equity and contracts at and within the City of St. Petersburg. Additionally, we recognize the importance of collective collaboration in the development and support of black businesses and all businesses in our community. By working together with government agencies, private sector partners, community organizations and individual citizens, we can create a robust support network that's fosters growth, innovation and sustainability, which is why organizations like the Penels County Urban League, the Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corporation, and the Black Business Investment Fund, and so many others are staples to help our businesses thrive. Collaboration amplifies our efforts and ensures that the benefits of our initiatives are far reaching and impactful. Which is why throughout the Black Business Month, we have planned and will also be participating in a series of events to honor, uplift, and support our businesses and minority, our small and minority on businesses. All of these events are aimed to showcase the talents and innovations within our business community as well as providing vital resources and support to amplify voices and build capacity. So the first opportunity which Mayor kind of went into was Bill St. Pete, which was this past Tuesday, and our office is still receiving so much good feedback from that event. We had our Chief Equity Officer, Mr. Carl Lavender, lead a discussion panel from that event. We had our chief equity officer, Mr. Carl Lavender, lead a discussion panel within that event with minority owned and women owned businesses, all in the construction sector. And from the small to the largest of firms that listened to that panel, all of them gave us very good feedback, saying that it was very insightful and they left with something, you know, impactful and different perspectives that they can use within their very own businesses. So we appreciated that. Panelists included Robin Donaldson, owner of Renew Construction Services and STEM Exposure, which is an initiative that focuses on increasing exposure to and participation in STEM fields with African American girls. Denise Young, she's the business manager, business development manager with Turner Construction and a strong advocate for small women and minority owned businesses. Karen Burton is an architect and owner of Space Lab St. Pete, a co-working space here in downtown St. Pete, Bacari Kennedy of Construction Dynamics, he's a general contractor, and Certified Energy Manager, Cory Monroe of Iraq Construction, who's also a general contractor here in St. Pete's Burr, and then Leah Graham, Vice President of Horse Construction and Chair of Horse Academy, which mentors minority and underserved women owned in local businesses. Like I said before, all of them gave powerful statements and it was definitely a great event so I definitely want to commend my team for a job well done on that. A few fall events we do have going on the rest of this month. So on Friday, August 16th, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the center of health equity, we're going to have an event called Empower Your Enterprise where it's a symposium style event for small minority-owned businesses to gain capacity building information about capital finances. We're gonna have speakers there from Raymond James Financial, the Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corporation, the Black Business Investment Fund, and several other banks and credit unions as well. We're also going to have some participation in that event with the Penelope County Urban League. So we're excited about that. Also, the Greenhouse is going to have an event on August 23rd, the neighborhood commercial business expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and we're excited about participating in that with them as well. I'm just going to be a market style event featuring businesses that have participated in the CRA Microfun and they're inviting the public out to explore you know different crafts and products from our local businesses. So for more information on those events, please visit stp.org for slash OSD. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, so thank you for that. So now we're gonna go ahead and move on to, we're gonna switch just a little. Madam Chair, could I just for one second interrupt? I apologize, but I just want to thank Corey and step on the entire procurement team. And thank the council members. I know several of you were able to join at the build St. Pete on Tuesday. It was a fantastic event. And I think as you can see, Cory is pretty exercised about what she's doing. And I am just so grateful for Stephanie and Cory and their leadership and the procurement team and the office of supplier diversity. And I just wanted to mention that and thank you for allowing me to interrupt for a second. Well, thank you and I'm glad you did, because it was an awesome event. And we just wanted to make sure that we celebrate those that are making our city great. So again, so thank you, Mayor, for allowing me to switch item D5 and it is the Stingwood Citizen Award by Council Member Driscoll. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. If I could have the Mallory Family join me at the podium today. I'm really excited to present a Distinguished Citizen Award to everyone today. And we have the Mallory family with us. And most people, no Trevor Malloryory he has done some really wonderful things in the community and is very well known but as they say behind every strong man is a strong woman. In this case, five. Yeah. Yeah. And so everyone knows Trevor, but today, this award is actually about Malena Mallory. And so I would like her to join me right here. Hello. Yes, I'm shorter. Yeah. So I am excited to tell you that Malena Mallory is about to begin her senior year at Boca Siege High School. She has been a varsity volleyball player and a track athlete since her freshman year. She qualified for the FHSAA State Championship for Shotput the past two years, and she placed in fourth place both times. Now, last year, Molina won a $5,000 scholarship at Bogey from the Wax Family for breaking the school's Shotput record. Now, you might be thinking, that's all the fame material right there, but wait, there's more. This summer, Malena competed in both the AAU Club Championships and the AAU Junior Olympics. And in the AAU Club Championship for Shot Hood, she won the gold medal. Oh. I didn't realize we were acting it out. And then going into the AAU Junior Olympics that just happened well last week. She did it again. She won the gold medal for the AAU Junior Olympics for the shop putt. Malena is currently ranked number three in the state for shop putt, and we're so excited to see where her senior season is going to bring. Now, when she's not rocking her athletic skills and collecting gold medals and giving her data hard time, Malena works as a lifeguard, and she's headed there, I think right after this. And she also enjoys doing here, going to the beach, and making TikToks. When she graduated, she plans to study biology, and she would like to become a pediatrician. So Malena Mallory, remember this name y'all, and please join me in recognizing Malena Mallory with our distinguished citizen, Ord. All right. So as we let them take their final picture, we're going to do D4, our community development block grant program, Fitbit anniversary proclamation. Thank you, Mayor Welch for allowing us to We're ready. Ready, Madam Chair? All right. Just give them a couple of seconds to clear up. Madam Chair, housing opportunities for all, as you know, is one of our pillars for progress. I'd like to recognize and thank our housing team led by Administrator Amy Foster for their impactful work and innovative strategies. Housing is a national challenge and a local challenge here in St. Petersburg. We focus on innovation in partnership and utilizing every tool available to us. And one of those tools in our toolbox is the Community Development Block Grant or CDBG program. The program celebrates its 50th anniversary on August 17th, and I'd like to present the following proclamation to recognize this important milestone. And I want to ask the Administrator Foster and your team to join me at the podium as I read the proclamation. Are y'all doing? And it reads, whereas the Community Development Block Grant Program has existed since 1974 to provide state and local governments with the resources to develop viable urban communities. And whereas the CDBG program provides annual funding and flexibility to local communities such as the City of St. Petersburg to provide decent, safe and affordable housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities to low and moderate income people. And whereas for 25 years, our community has received a total of 104,776,930 dollars in CDBG funds and is funded a variety of projects that have directly benefited our citizens and neighborhoods. And whereas we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the CDBG program in recognition of its tremendous contributions to the viability of the housing stock, infrastructure, public services, and the economic and well-being of our community. Now therefore, I, Kennedy Welch may have the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, do here by recognize the significance of the 50th anniversary of the CDBG program in St. Petersburg and urge residents to celebrate this milestone anniversary and its tremendous contributions to the well-being of our community. And thank you all for supporting us. Applause. I know some of you are lucky enough to serve on the CDBG Committee. I'm not sure if you feel lucky as you try to figure out all the moving puzzle pieces of how to allocate those funds, but it's definitely made a huge difference in our community and I know I for one was surprised to see what that totals up year after year. We have had significant federal cuts over the years but it's still every little bit makes a big difference so we have a number of different housing programs represented here today. I think we have bright communities. So we have a number of different housing programs represented here today. I think we have bright communities. We also have what we call the single family team, but they're working to make sure that those who need assistance in our community have safe housing to live in. And I believe I see Catholic charities behind me as well. So thank you for all of your support council in this program. Thank you. Vice Chair Gurd is. Thank you Madam Chair. I enjoy being on CDBG. I think I heard council member Floyd say the same thing. I just wanted to thank the mayor, Amy, thank you so much for all the work that you do. Just the passion you have for it really shines through, especially in meetings like that, helping guide us on those types of decisions. It just really, it means a lot to me and thank you so much for your guidance over the last couple years. Quickly, I just wanted to point out and it's not because of CDBG but they're here, I think a representative from Park is here. Yeah, just real quickly, Chair and I were able to go to the groundbreaking for their new child services building. And because of CDBG doing programmatic services at park, they are able to use money to do capital projects like that. And if you had ever been to the child service, the old child services building, compared to what the new one looks like, oh my goodness. That's the importance of CDBG being able to bring those dollars to services and let those dollars help there and then they can help fund capital projects like this new child services building. It's just the most recent example that I was able to be at, plus it's in District 1. And so selfishly. But I just, again, Mayor, Amy, the whole team, Josh, thank you so much. Just excited to celebrate this $104 million over 25 years. That's a big number. That's a big number. Thank you, Madam Chair. Awesome. I'm a bit flui. Thank you. Yeah, I'll just reiterate, you know, I think being on CDBG often means you have to come here, I think once a year, to hash things out and it's early on a Friday, which is not a council member's favorite time after a late Thursday. But after doing it twice now, I realized it's all right actually and it's really important and it's something you know we do together with community members in deciding how to expend really important funds in our community and I've enjoyed learning more about it and I really just put myself in the queue to say thank you to the staff who we lean on tremendously when they make their recommendations and I really learned a lot this past year I think the first year was just kind of figuring out what's going on but this past year I feel like I really learned a lot this past year. I think the first year was just kind of figuring out what's going on, but this past year, I feel like I really learned a lot about how services get rolled out in our community, and I look forward to being able to continue in that, participate in that process in the future. So thank you again, thanks. Thank you and seeing no further requests to speak. We're going to go ahead and keep it moving. We're going to now move to open form. Clark, can you please read the rules for us? If you wish to address City Council on subjects other than public carrying or quasi-dudicial items listed on the agenda, please sign up with a clerk. Only the individual's wishes to speak may sign the open form sheet. Only city residents, owners of property, business owners in the city, or their employees may speak. All issues discussed under open form must be limited to issues related to the city of St. Petersburg government. If you are speaking to an item on the agenda, you may only speak once during the open forum or when the item comes up on the agenda. In order to provide an opportunity for all citizens to address council, each individual be given three minutes to speak and after which the microphone will be muted. If you wish to address the council through the Zoom meeting, you must use the raised-hand feature button in the Zoom app or enter star 9 on your phone at the time the agenda item is addressed. When it is your turn to speak, you will be unmuted and asked to state your name and address. At the conclusion of your comments or when you have reached the three-minute time limit, you will be muted. All raised hands will be lowered after each agenda item. Regardless of the method of participation used, normal rules apply, including the three minute time limit on comments. The requirement that any presentation materials must be submitted in advance of the meeting in the rules of decorum. If live public comments is disrupted by the violation of the rules of decorum. If live public comments is disrupted by the violation of the rules of decorum, the chair is authorized to accept public comments by alternate means, including by email only. And Madam Chair, we do have some speakers. Okay, thank you. And I just want to inform all of our constituents that the first open forum has a 30 minute limit. So upon the 30 minutes, we'll have to cut open form and move through our agenda. First two names please. The first two speakers is Charlene Harrison and Alvinette McLeave. Please go to either podium state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address council. Good afternoon. Hello my name is Charlene Harrison. My address is 301 22nd Avenue South. I am the director of operations at the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and I'm here speaking on behalf of individual artists and small arts organizations like the Al Downing Tampa Bay Bass Jazz Association which I am a board director. I am specifically here to advocate for the city's consideration in allocating 1% of its budget to fund individual arts and small arts organizations. Funding the arts is crucial because it provides financial support that allows artists to focus on their creative work within the constraints of commercial demands and financial stress. These funds, they empower the artists to experiment, take risks, develop their craft which enriches the cultural landscape. Additionally, supporting artists through the funds with foster diversity, innovation in the arts, ensuring that a wide range of voices and perspectives can be represented and appreciate in our society. These operational dollars allow artists to explore their creativity, produce that work that might not fit commercial restraints. Through capacity building, we can support the artists we nurture, innovation, diversity, and cultural expression which enriches our communities. Art is not just a form of expression, but it's a powerful tool for promoting emotional well-being. It fosters creativity, critical thinking, and emotional expression. Art is powerful. It means the processing of feelings, reducing stress, building resilience, whether through creating or experiencing art, people of all ages can find a sense of connection and self-discovery that contributes to overall mental and emotional wellness. As a director, grants manager and board member of a small organization, I have seen firsthand how vital it is to support individual artists and small arts organizations. It is incredibly rewarding to see how even a modest fund can profoundly impact artists enabling them to take risks, develop their craft, and share their unique perspectives with the world. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Alvinette Downing McLeave and I live at 6735, 31st Way South, Apartment C, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33712. I'm the president of the Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association, committed to ensuring that the only original American art form created by African Americans, jazz, is to be kept alive and taught to our students. I'm also the founder and CEO of Creative Intelligence Educational Mentors, which provides a holistic approach to tutoring for students kindergarten to garden through college. Arts matter, why? Because science has proven over and over and over again, whether it is creativity on canvas or on the black and white keys of a piano, artistry increases the intellectual capacity and functioning of students. As an educator, I've seen it. I've seen my students go from failing to excelling as a result in their activities and exposure to the creative arts. The Al Downing at Tampa Bay Jazz Association has a working volunteer board that recognizes this truth. The administrators and teachers take time out of their normal days to become the master, to open their doors to our master classes of jazz. They know how important the impact is and what it means to students. Why must we support 1% of your budget allotted from the city? Well, you have witnessed the difference that it has in other cities, the difference it's made. Providing just 1% of your budget will keep organizations like the Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association able to add to the success of our students and the enjoyment of our community. The money could provide our students with the educational necessities, music, theater, painting, sculpture, provide them with exactly what they need on an educational journey to be successful simply by putting 1% to establish and support art organizations and artists. This is what I want you to take with you back. The next time you look in the mirror, remember your 8, 12 or 16-year-old self. Think back on your educational path. What were the things that made fun and successful learning for you? Your time in marching band, your time singing inquire, the photography class, where you captured that perfect moment or the art class that you sculptured that's share share a bowl your mother or you still have. You are those successful examples that were able to make a difference in Pinellas County because of the arts. That is what I want you to remember. Please consider dedicating 1% of your budget to the essentials that made you successful, the arts. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Madam Chair, the next two speakers is Ricky Seed and Theresa Sullivan. Please go to either podium. State your name and address for the record. Don't have three minutes to address council. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My name is Ricky Singh and my address is 515 22nd street south. My name is Ricky Singh and my address is 515 22nd Street South. I am a studio artist at Warehouse Artistic. I moved to St. Pete from New Jersey last year because of what I saw here, very vibrant artistic community. And because of that, I got an opportunity at warehouse art district to get subsidized studio space and where I can create art and all other stuff. However, since June, our arts organizations have been in crisis and warehouse art district has experienced this hardship too. Warehouse art district is more than just a place. It's an ecosystem that nurtures creativity, fosters collaboration and enriches our community. The funding weirdhouse Art District receives is returned many fold through subsidies, free events and educational programs across Saint Pete. As a working artist in Saint Pete, I have seen this first hand. I am also committed to giving back by teaching kids at Jordan Park this next couple of months how to create resin artwork, inspiring a new generation of artists and helping keep them off the streets. To ensure the arts community's continued success, we need cities, department of arts and culture to directly overseas funding for the arts. We don't need any extra bureaucracy. We trust city to manage these funds transparently and efficiently. Ensuring that resources go directly to arts organizations and sustain our vibranet arts. This approach will maximize the impact of each dollar for strength even more creativity and engagement in within our community here. Support the supporters, support arts, nonprofits, and Thank you. Thank you. My name is Teresa Sullivan. I live at 2411 Sunrise Drive Southeast in St. Pete. I'm a mosaic artist. I teach mosaic classes. I'm a founding board member of the Warehouse Arts District Association and I give monthly to arts nonprofits. I put my money where my mouth is. I believe local nonprofit organizations are the foundations of the artistic scene here in St. Petersburg. But to accomplish their missions, they have to be consistent funding from the state, from the county, and yes, from the city. So let's take a look at an ROI perspective. I believe that value and image of St. Pete will increase with the city's investment in the arts organizations. And as far as quality of life, it's an intangible measure, but it is why people move here and it is more importantly why people stay here. And I believe that it will also be raised. So what should be done? First, create a grant program to help the nonprofit organizations be more effective in their outreach advocacy and accessibility. Let the nonprofits do what they do best, build community. Task the city department of arts, culture and tourism led by Celeste Davis to use their existing processes, resources and expertise to administer the resulting grant program. Finally, let the City of the Arts create an ample fund, say a 1% of the budget, and show everyone that the City of the Arts puts its money where its mouth is. Thank you. Next to speakers is Ryan Griffin and Pamela Joyce Row. Good afternoon. I'm Ryan Griffin. I live at 322 beller Drive Northeast. I'm here today to speak in support of the proposed policy to dedicate funds from the city budget on annual basis to the arts. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak with you. I'm here today, and proudly here today, as the Chair of the St. Pete Arts Alliance. I'm also born and raised in St. Pete, past Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, past President, a media past President St.V. Bar Association with Mr. Jeanine here. I'm on the board of EDC. I've been the past chair of Gross Martyr Strategy. I'm a lawyer and partner at the Johnson Pope law firm here in St. Pete owner of a lot of restaurants, trophy fish, Mandarin hide, LCAP, Perry Sports. In every one of those capacities, the arts has been inextricably intertwined in my life and in my work. The arts has been an unbelievable economic driver for our community. As evidenced by the gross murder strategy, strategy which if you're not familiar, was a multi-year comprehensive, equitable economic development strategy that was partnered by the city, the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses. That plan spotlighted the importance of the arts in our community's economic success. Further is that relates to tourism. Visit St. Pete Clearwater has always identified arts to be the major distinguisher for St. Pete among other coastal and beach communities to draw tourism here, which has been a huge economic driver for us. Moreover, the EDC uses the arts to market to and to attract incredible companies like ARC Invest to relocate their headquarters here to St. Pete. And with that relocation, create high paying jobs for our community. Lastly and most importantly, the arts is part of our community's fabric and identity and attracts people to live and work here. And with all of that, because of the rich arts culture, I think we have thrived over the last two decades especially. With the recent changes at the state level in terms of funding for the arts and given the current economic conditions, this is a dire and critical time for the arts. This is a time to be a leader and to show other communities how to support the arts and truly be an arts city. If it proves St.P. will be a beacon and it will create enormous ripple effect. And this money will stimulate our arts community, but it will also send a message to arts communities beyond St. Pete throughout our country and throughout the world that what kind of support we have and leadership we have and what the arts truly means to us. And I think with that, artists and arts supporters will flock to our city to end as the chair of the safety arts alliance. Our organization is willing and experienced and situated to work diligently to help the city get the most impact of this on a D&I level for the community. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Mayne. You can go ahead and begin. My name is Pamela Joy-Trowell and I live at 223 Elmwood Circle, 3777, but I work throughout St. Pete. And I'm an artist with a background as a professional designer, illustrator and creative director. And my experience has given me the insight to understand the power of a message whether subtle or bold. In my art, I use messages that aim to inform, educate, and bring smiles to people's faces. In 2022, I received a $10,000 grant from Creative Penelice, the National Damant for the Arts, and Penelice County Board of County Commissioners. With this support and collaboration with Dr. Jeremiah Tipton, I created a coloring book titled, There's a Crystal Clear Pond, the unseen world of water pollution, which tells the story of a goalfish saving a community pond from pollution. The kit includes the coloring book with a science game in the back, utilizing scanning electron microscopy, photos of the decomposing pond litter in the story, also a science game answer card with QR codes to environmental websites, a pack of coloring pencils, and a sticker proclaiming the colorist as a member of the Glenda Goldfish Clean Water Club. And last year, I conducted nine workshops and nine Canela's County Libraries, providing free kits to children, parents, and adults. At the end of each workshop, I asked the children what they would do if they saw Styrofoam cup in the ocean. Apart from that one child who said, I'll go get my mom to big it up. Their responses showed they understood my message. I left kits and scripts with each library to continue spreading the message and I also sell the kits locally to support my livelihood. City counselors without local arts funding projects like mine would not be possible. Defunding the arts directly impacts artists' livelihoods. Please continue to support arts funding. So community-minded artists like myself can contribute to our community's health, education, and happiness, and make a living at the same time. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the calling books. Thank you. Next to speakers speakers please. The next two speakers is Susan Betzer and Roger Curlin. Please state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address council. Hello. I'm Dr. Susan Betzer, 1830 Crescent Lake Drive North, St. Petersburg 33704. I'm a retired family doctor and geriatrician and a 53 year resident of St. Petersburg. I'm a long time board member of our Florida Orchestra and of ACE, which is Arts for a Complete Education, a group dedicated to education and the in the arts in our public schools, and it's under the umbrella of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. I'm here in support of the proposal that the city plan to budget no less than 1% of the annual budget to support the arts in St. Petersburg. You've already heard many compelling reasons why this is a great idea. I'd like to pull out and emphasize just one, the impact of arts on education in our community. With the growth and increasing prominence of the visual and performing arts throughout St. Petersburg, we've seen a concurrent growth of measurable student achievement in our public schools, measurable student achievement. It is no accident that arts infusing our community, along with high quality arts opportunities in our schools, supported by an engaged community of volunteers, has helped us achieve the first ever A grade for Pinellas County Schools, just this year, just announced last week. And for the first time, there is no D or F rated school in Pinellas County. This is no accident. The arts organizations and individuals that the 1% for the arts would support are central to educational outreach programs throughout community, our community. It would include organizations which lost funding last year, which raised in size from individual artists to our wonderful Florida orchestra. These are the programs that change lives for the better throughout our, from early childhood to old age. So in closing, please follow a prescription from this retired family doctor. Include 1% for the arts in the budget. The results will make us all smarter. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Council Roger Curlin. I am the executive, sorry, 4535 6th Avenue North. I'm the executive director of the Edge Business District Association. I also serve on the board of the St. Petersburg Opera Company and I also participate for many years now with Creative Clay on their Marketing and Development Committee. I'm here on behalf of the Edge Business District Association today. We represent over 130 businesses here in the city and have 115 members of our association. We likewise are supporting the effort to earmark 1% of the budget for the arts. It's important for our vibe, our economy, our health, and our happiness. I would also encourage the city to collaborate on the creation of a national promotion campaign that focuses on St. Pete as a must visit art destination and as I like to say, CART feel art by art. I also like to remind us that we need to support and amplify both our nonprofit and our for-profit, art organizations and entities here in town. And last but not least, I applaud the city's efforts to address housing affordability. And I would encourage building more inventory of microefficiencies in studio apartments in the 400 square foot and below range because that can help meet the demand of affordability amongst our art, hospitality, workforce, elder and single living community. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next you speak as police. It's Robert Kappuska and Cheyenne DeBoros. Rob left. Rob left? Okay. Cheyenne DeBoros. Thank you. And Polita. Good afternoon Madam Chair, members of the council. My name is Cheyenne Debaros. I am the donor services manager for American Stage, 163 Third Street North St. Petersburg 3701. American Stage has been a staple of the arts community in St. Pete for 47 years. I'm here today to express our support for the proposed policy that would commit a minimum of 1% of the city budget to support the arts each year. This policy could not have come at this policy could not have been proposed at a better time, as it would help offset the significant loss that arts nonprofits and for profits, like American stage incurred after Governor DeSantis unexpectedly vetoed 32 million in anticipated funding. American stage lost 150,000 of anticipated support. This loss greatly impacts our arts community, affecting hundreds of jobs and creating barriers to providing services to St. Pete and Tampa Bay residents. Arts positively impact our economy, creating significant revenue for the city, as well as distinguishing St. Pete's repute as an arts destination. According to the Arts and Economic Prosperity Study 6 conducted by Americans for the Arts and the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, direct economic activity, or total expenditures by arts organizations and audiences totaled over $132 million within St. Pete in fiscal year 22, one year by committing a minimum of 1% of the budget to support the arts. The City of St. Petersburg would be making an investment with a substantial return, a quick and related update from American stage. We recently launched a campaign to save park. For 38 years, American stage has produced an outdoor production in our city's parks. Attending the park show is a beloved annual tradition for so many in St. Petersburg, but it requires substantial funding, just like all of the non-profits and arts, just like all of the non-profit arts organizations across our city. To date, American stage has raised over 100,000 towards our $500,000 goal, and we will keep the council informed of our progress. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Politi Glyn. I live at 610 Bahamasur as Drive, the proud resident of District 5. And I thank one thank you for this opportunity to speak today to address the proposed policy to dedicate 1% minimum of the budget for arts every year. This initiative could not have come at a more important time since the arts are growing and the state of Florida funding has been cut. I'm a writer and a filmmaker. I'm also a business owner and I have a small nonprofit film company. It have worked for many years as an arts educator. I'm currently working on a documentary film about erased histories in St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay. And this project would never have been possible without the essential funding from grants from St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, creative, praneless, and flirty humanities. I can testify that public funding for the arts is a lifeline for artists. I started coming to St. Petersburg in 2014 when my son started at USF St. Pete. And even 10 years ago I was struck by the richness of the arts and culture in our community. When we decided to move here from Miami in 2021, the arts community was an essential factor in our decision. Whether it's this quality of life element that attracts new residents like ourselves or cultural attractions that draw tourists, I think we can all agree that the arts are a major driver in our economy. Economic studies, as have been quoted here, show how the sector has generated millions of dollars in economic activity, supported over 2,000 jobs, provided $85 million in personal income to residents, and generated $26 million in taxes. We also recognize that tourism is also a major driver. And according to the study for the St. Pete Clearwater study, within the $1.8 billion tourism industry, 98% of visitors come to St. Pete for the arts and for culture, with most coming to visit museums and other activities. So this clearly clear evidence about the benefit of the arts to St. Petersburg economy and growth. But we also know that growth can be double edged. And that, living in Miami, we watched how the arts can be double edged and that living in Miami we watched how the arts revitalized districts like South Beach and Windwood but also how that growth priced out artists. So this opportunity gives the chance to support artists to allow them to continue to stay in the city to create in the city and to create in the city, and to contribute. So I hope that you will certainly consider the benefit. Thank you. We have time for one or two cards. Two cards? Okay, next is speakers please. It's Hany, Hany McCart and Ignacio, Ignacio Baron Villa. Please state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address council. Good afternoon, my name is Annie Beckier and I live at 101456 Avenue South. Honorable members of the City Council. I initially came here today to express my continued support for the proposal for the 1% budget allocation for the arts. However, since I've already communicated that in previous letters to you and my friends present here and colleagues have done a great job in covering that, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your dedication and hard work on the historic gas plant development project. This project, which had adopted Mayor Welch's five pillars of progress, will have a profound impact on generations to come. Your commitment to addressing the complexities involved in a project of this scale, raising flags, identifying risks, and ultimately approving a plan that aligns with our community's vision for the future is truly commendable. Whether you voted for it or against it, your thorough consideration and the collective effort you put into this decision are deeply appreciated. It's often said that public servants don't hear enough appreciation, so today I want to ensure that you do. And now we look to the future. I want to emphasize the importance of vision in building a strong foundation for St. Petersburg. The pillars even endorsed our crucial to our progress. But we must also consider what our city and our region would look like without the arts. The arts are not just an added layer of culture, they are an essential pillar in themselves, supporting the very identity and vibrancy of our community. I'm shaking, you can tell from my words. Without the arts, we risk building a future that is less vibrant, less inclusive and ultimately less reflected of the diverse creative spirit that defines St. Petersburg. As you have done with the gas plant project, I urge you to consider how the arts contribute to the strong, resilient, and innovative city. We all envision. Thank you once again for your leadership and for your continued commitment to making St. Petersburg a place where creativity and progress go hand in hand. Thank you. Good afternoon. Madame Chair, members of the Council, Ignacio Arrombiella, 2, 4, 4, 2, 9, and you're north in St. Petersburg. First of all, thank you for the opportunity for letting me speak today and good to see you and thank you for all you do for City. Much appreciated. I'm a St. Petersburg resident, and I'm the president and CEO of the Florida Orchestra. I'm here to express the Florida Orchestra support to the proposed policy to dedicate a minimum of 1% of the annual budget to support the arts in the city of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg is a vibrant community and an arts destination, shaped as mats by our culture and institutions as our award-winning beaches and sport teams. Deeply rooted in this community for nearly 57 years, the Florida Orchestra is proud to be a beacon of excellence and a cultural powerhouse as the largest professional orchestra in the state. This is your orchestra. And we are a nonprofit that serves more than 150,000 people each season throughout standing concerts and educational and community programs. We reach nearly 60,000 of those through free or low cost programs including free educational youth concerts and the family friendly pubs in the park community concert. It's fall in Binoi Park, as you might know. At the Mahaffi Theatre, we perform a wide variety of concerts with diverse programming that create unforgettable moments from Beethoven to Sting to the music of Jimmy Buffett, all under the artistic leadership of internationally acclaimed music director micro-francies. Such a starting-air music has the power to bring us together and have positive impact on every person. I believe the arts and music can transform lives, they transform mine. That's why I'm here today. And as part of our mission, the Florida Orchestra is a catalyst for beauty, healing, excellence, and economic vibrancy. I am very aware of the documents that have been previously shared with City Council, the comprehensive arts strategy and the economic impact study, AEP-6, of the amazing impact that the arts provide to this community and the orchestra is one of them. The Florida Orchestra and the arts are essential to St. Petersburg. And St. Petersburg is essential to the Florida Orchestra and the arts. We help each other to thrive and grow and we are grateful for the support to the orchestra and all the arts. We could not do this without your support and your city. This is why on behalf of the Florida Orchestra, I ask for your support, boys and vision to allocate 1% of the city's annual budget to provide adequate funding for the arts. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. So now we will close open form and we're going to conduct our two new business items before we take a 10 minute recess. The first item is G1 and that is my new business item that I am respectfully requesting. Our referral to the Public Service and Infrastructure Committee or other relevant committee for discussion on the city's electric and hybrid fleet vehicles and the plan for achieving emissions and diesel-free mobility and with that. Move approval. Second. Having a motion and a second, can you please open the machine for voting for G1? Council members, please cast your votes. Seeing that all the President and Council members have voted, can you please tell in and out the votes. Madam Chair, a motion to approve agenda item G. One passes unanimously. We're Councilmember Muhammad being absent. Thank you. Now we'll move to item G2. Councilmember Driscoll. Thank you. For this new business item, I am respectfully requesting or referral to the committee of the whole to discuss the Salt Creek property that is currently on the WICU YG project list. I'm a provincial. Now that we have a motionist for properly second can you please open the machine for voting council members please cast your votes now that our present now that our present council members are voting can you please tell in and not so votes. Madam Chair motion to approve a gender item G2 passes unanimously we council member Muhammad being absent. Thank you we're going to break for a ten minute recess. Thank you, We're going to break for a 10 minute recess. Thank you, Joe. No, thank you. . . I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. I'm going to do a little bit of the same. . . I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. 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I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. . I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. you you you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome back. We will now take up our public hearings beginning with J1. Can you please read the title? Harness number 590-H. In Orn's amendment section 21-125 of the city code relating to wiki watching money. Temporary place in an available investment with little risk of principal reduction and providing for an effective date. And Madam Chair, we do not have any cards on this one. Thank you. Joining us is our interim chief I'd enter office service, Erica Landons. Good evening. Hi, how are you? As mentioned, this ordinance proposes that leftover funding in the Wiki Watchi projects fund is retained in that fund to shield money from potential market risk. If we have some temporary projects to be pending to be financed through Wiki Watchi funding. Move approval. Second. We have a motion as we're properly second. Can you please open the machine for voting? Council members, please cast your votes now that our president council members have voted can you Madam chair motion to approve the agenda item j1 passes unanimously with councilmember Muhammad being absent Thank you now we will move to item j2 a and b Which are quaggai judicial Kirk can you please wear it all speakers including city staff. Madam chair I have to recuse myself for this item. Thank you. Anyone speaking on this item J2 please stand and be sworn in. Including staff. These were from the evidence you're about to give is a whole thing. Can you please read the ordinance side of this please. Ones number 760-L and ordinance amended the future land use map of the Comprehensive Plan for the City of St. Petersburg, Florida. By changing the future land use map designation for a 0.58 acre site consisting of four parcels, generally located at 920, 20th Avenue South from Plan Redevelopment Residential residential PR-R to plan redevelopment mixed use, PRMU, providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances and provisions thereof and providing for an effective date. Would you like me to read the other one, Madam Chair? Yes, please. Ordnance number 792-Z and Orn's amending the official zoning map of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, by changing the zoning of a 0.58 acre site consisting of four parcels, from neighborhood traditional, dash one, and T-dash one to corridor residential traditional, dash one, CRT dash one, providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances provisions thereof and providing for an effective date. Thank you. So now we're going to move to our presentations. Each party will have 10 minutes for their initial presentation, and we will begin with the city staff presentation. Joining us is planner Andrew Jurick's. Did I say that correctly? for their initial presentation and we will begin with the City staff presentation joining us this planner Andrew Jurick's did I say that correctly? Andrew Jurick's yeah close enough thank you thank you well welcome Andrew. Thank you. Ready to go. Okay good afternoon councilmembers as introduced Andrew Juritz planter for the record, presenting amendments to the future land use map and official zoning map for a .58 acre site generally located at 920th Avenue South, initiated by Namaste homes. Per the applicants notice of intent, the site will be redeveloped to accommodate multifamily town homes. This is an aerial of the subject property, which is located at 920-20th Avenue South, just west of Dr. MLK Junior Street South. The site has been owned and operated by SH St. Pete MLK LLC since 2020 and previously consisted of two single family residences on the northwestern and southeastern parcels which were demolished in 2018 and 2020 respectively. Currently all parcels are vacant. The site itself is within the Cromwell Heights neighborhood association which extends western to 16th Street South. The Barlett Park Neighborhood Association is roughly 300 feet east to the site across Dr. MLK Junior Street South. To the north are predominantly single-family homes with a triplex and convenience store along Dr. MLK Junior Street South. East of the site is a mix of commercial and residential and then further south of the site across 21st Avenue South is a medical office building. This is the future land use map showing the subject site designated planned redevelopment residential PRR for short which is proposed for a amendment to planned redevelopment mixed use PRMU and keeping with the PRMU designations to the east and the south. Additionally, the request will require an amendment to the countywide plan map going from residential medium to multimodal corridor. This is the current zoning map showing the site zoned neighborhood traditional one, NT1, which is proposed for amendment to corridor residential traditional one or CRT1, to be consistent with the CRT1 to the east and allowing for the potential redevelopment of multifamily housing. So the change in development potential from neighborhood traditional one to corridor residential traditional one will impact the form, density, and intensity of allowable development. Firstly, a change to CRT1 would allow for redevelopment of multifamily use, whereas this use is not permitted under the current NT1 zoning. The allowable base density would also increase from 15 dwelling units in acre. One primary and one accessory per lot to a base density of 24 dwelling units per acre. For the 0.58 acre site, this would result in an increase from four single family and four accessory units to 14 multi-family units. CRT-1 also allows for utilization of either the workforce housing density bonus at an additional 8 units per acre or the missing middle housing density bonus at an additional 6 dwelling units per acre. For the .5 acre, eight acres site, the workforce housing density bonus would result in additional five units and missing middle would result in additional three units. As mentioned in the staff report, the owner of the subject parcels also owns the three Eastern adjacent parcels fronting Dr. M. O. K. Junior Street South. These parcels are also under consistent zoning to the proposed changes to CRT1 zoning and existing future land use or the existing future land use of these three adjacent parcels is consistent with the proposed request to PRMU. For the applicant's notice of intent, it is anticipated that these parcels will be redeveloped with the amendment subject area, increasing the total redevelopment area to 1.16 acres. At a base density allowance of 24 dwelling units per acre, the total 1.16 acre site could have 28 units. With the workforce housing density bonus, providing an additional eight units, the site could have 37 units, or with the missing middle housing density bonus, providing an additional six units per acre, the site could have 35 units. Also noted in the staff report, the proposed amendments are consistent with numerous policies of the comprehensive plan. For example, the proposal has the potential to contribute to the provision of safe and sanitary affordable housing. It provides for an orderly land use transition from Dr. M. Locke, Junior Street South to the east, a neighboring single family residences to the west. And it is generally compatible with the character and zoning makeup of the surrounding area. Also provided for in the staff report, the level of service impact analysis concludes that the proposed future land use map amendment and concurrent rezoning will not have a significant impact on the city's adopted LOS standards for public services and facilities including potable water, sanitary suiter, sanitary sewer, solid waste, traffic, mash transit, recreation, and stormwater management. The proposed amendments also further the goals of the city's housing opportunities for all plan in the advantage panelist housing compact that aim to address housing affordability by increasing the availability of workforce housing throughout the community. And with all that said, staff recommends a finding of consistency with the comprehensive plan and recommends that City Council approve the future land use change from PRMU to PRMU and zoning change to CRT1. Thank you. Now does the applicant have a presentation? I do not have a presentation, but I will be available to you. Thank you. So now we will take public comment, and I don't need to ask if we have cards. Do we have cards? Just chair for this item, we do not have any cards. Really? Okay. Well, we have no cards. We have no cards for that staff. Any closing remarks are a bottle None thank you. Okay. Does the applicant have any closing remarks are a bottle? Thank you just gonna stay home specializing affordable and workforce housing and Welcome the opportunity to increase the available housing supply in this area. All right. Thank you so much So now we're going to our executive session and Councilmember Driscoll. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation and thank you to Namaste Homes for bringing this forward. Seeing the development that you've already done just north of that on MLK Street south. All I like and say is let's have some more. I mean, you've done an excellent job with that and you're really connecting people with home ownership who may not otherwise have that opportunity. So thank you for all that you're doing. Looking forward to seeing more of this in our community. I do have a question for the City Attorney's Office. We have two items here. Can they be taken up together or should we do two separate votes? You may take them together, Council Member. All right. Thank you. Then in that case, I'll move approval of items J2A and J2B. Second. Thank you. You say no further requests to speak. Clerk, can you please open the machine for voting? Council members, can you please cast your votes? Now that all present council members have voted, can you please tally and announce the votes? Madam Chair, motion to approve agenda item J2, A and B passes unanimously with council member Muhammad being absent and council member Gabbart being recused. with Councilor Muhammad being absent and Councilmember Gabbert being rakeez. Thank you so much. Thank you. So now we're going to go ahead and move to item J3 A and B which is also quasi judicial. Oh, thank you Madam Chair. Just quickly, just want to put it on the record that I did have three people reach out to my personal cell phone Kevin Scott carried Davis and James May those Conversations which I told them I was not allowed to comment had been forwarded to my city email So they are public record and they'll be forwarded all city council members. Thank you madam chair Clerk can you please swing and all speakers including staff. Anyone speaking on this item please stand right your hand. We have 45. Thank you. Do you work from that the evidence you're about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Can you please read the ordinance titles? Ornus 761-L. In Ornza Mending the Future Land Use Element, the Comprehensive Plan for the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, I changed the Future Land Use Designation for Block 70 and a portion of Block 69 of the Pasadena on the Gulf Section B sub division. From I institutional to R.M. residential medium, providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances and provisions thereof and providing for an effective date. The next ordinance is ordinance 794-Z and orange amending the official zoning map of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, by changing the zoning, the official zoning map designation for block 70 and a portion of block 69 of the Pasadena on the Gulf section B subdivision from NT-3, neighborhood traditional to NSM-1 neighborhood suburban multi-family, providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances and provisions thereof and providing for an effective date. And Madam Chair, we do have several parts. Thank you, Claire. So now we're going to move to our presentation and each party will have 10 minutes for their initial presentation. We will begin with the city staff presentation and joining us is our urban design and historic preservation managers, Derek Kirborn and planner Brandon Evans. Good evening. Thank you, Chair. I will be presenting the item tonight as the manager for urban planning and historic preservation. As you've just noted, also with me tonight is Brad Nevens, who is a planner from our division, who worked significantly on this case, and also we have Tom Whale and to helping answer any transportation or traffic questions that might come up. This particular application is for an official zoning and future land use map amendment covering 5.09 acres at a site generally located at 6.942 First Avenue South which was initiated by the Pasadena Community Church and is represented by an agent here this evening. Estated by the applicant, the purpose of the amendment is to allow for the development of multifamily units following the sale of the two parcels that are identified on the screen. The reason that we're here today is because there was an initial map of amendment application made to the Community planning and preservation commission. On May 14th of this year, the commission conducted a public hearing after hearing the initial presentations and conducting public comments. The commission voted zero to seven against the requested map amendment. the request to the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the instructions of City Code it also is to be considered as the map amendment request. So you will be receiving more specific instruction I believe from the City Attorneys as we kind of move through this process and what your role is in it but in order to overturn the appeal and approve what is being requested would require super majority vote of the city council which is for seven members a minimum of five votes. And like I said you'll receive additional instruction. Okay, so what we want to do is kind of cover just the application itself and what is being requested starting with the aerial image of the subject property. You can see that it consists essentially of two city blocks opposite an opposite sides of 70th Street South located just south of first Avenue South and just west of Pasadena Avenue South and they are highlighted on the aerial photo here with some notations about surrounding properties. Generally you can see to the north of the subject parcels you have commercial mixed use on those properties and then important to this discussion and the individuals who are here to speak this evening. As you move west of those parcels you'll see that it is predominantly single-family residential. And then to the south is the existing institutional use the Pasadena Community Church. What they are requesting first is a future land use map amendment. The parcels are currently I institutional, which represents the church use. But in order to discharge these parcels for either single family or multi-family development, they'll no longer be used and controlled by the church, and so the institutional use on the future land use map is typically changed. And to support the request from the applicant for multi-family. In this instance, they are requesting the residential medium RM category. On the zoning map, you can see that the existing zoning is NT3, which is a single family zoning category. The NT3 category was amended in 2022 to also allow accessory dwelling units. And so in this instance you have single family with accessory dwelling unit. The proposed zoning categories NSM, neighborhood suburban multi-family. And then as we highlighted on the aerial photo, you can see that the commercial uses north of First Avenue South are there because of the CCT1, CRT1 and CCS1 zoning categories which are all mixed-use categories allowing commercial and multi-family. These pictures here just give you some context photos of the two blocks if you're not familiar with the area. This particular picture is looking at the North East block and as we kind of move through here you'll see from that same position this is looking at the Northwest block. And as we just kind of move around the four corners here, these photos were included in the original presentation to the commission and the package of materials that you received for this meeting. There were additional photos added and those additional photos were included to show additional context around the two blocks based on just some of the public comments and feedback that had been presented to the commission and received since that time. We try to give you additional photo information to understand what is being asked for. Okay, this table is showing you a comparison between the NT3 zoning, which is existing, and the proposed NSM-1 zoning category. And this is pretty self-explanatory. You can see the side-by-side comparisons. We did want to note there have been a number of public comments coming in leading up to this public hearing. There was a public comment that came in in the last, I believe, a couple days that indicated that multifamily would be permitted up to 60 feet in overall height. And we just wanted to clarify that the 60 foot allowances only when a project includes workforce housing units. If it does not include workforce housing units, the maximum allowed height per the zoning category is 48 feet. If it was rezoned to NSM1, under the existing NT3, it is 36 feet. In looking at the comprehensive plan and making findings or determinations of consistency, the staff report includes many different goals, objectives, and policies. These are three that we highlighted for the commission in our initial presentation. We look at surrounding development, the character of the surrounding development, the densities, the flurry ratios. We also look at road classifications and traffic distribution patterns. And you can see, for example, with transportation. This map is showing the relationship of the two subject blocks, which are highlighted in yellow, to some of the roadway networks to the east and to the north. So some of what was discussed at the commission hearing, you can see the distribution of future major streets, which is highlighted in the blue color, Pasadena Avenue South, Central Avenue, and First Avenue South. The future major street for First Avenue South ends at Pasadena Avenue. It does not carry west in front of the two subject parcels. In our initial review and evaluation of this, seeing the dedicated bicycle lane, knowing the walkable distance to the intersections at Central Avenue and Pasadena Avenue and the two Sunrunner Station locations, just east of Pasadena Avenue, contributed to staff's recommendation of finding of consistency and recommendation to approve. This is kind of steps out a little bit. It shows you a broader application of the site in the surrounding zoning. And it also shows you the relationship of this site to the Central Avenue Revitalization Plan Boundary, which is now recognized on the maps as an activity center area, which you see highlighted there. For each of these applications, we also conduct a level of service analysis. The details of the level of service analysis are included in the Commission staff report. And then finally, you have obviously a lot of public comments that were contributed during the commission hearing. Also that were received between that commission hearing and this hearing tonight. Many of those comments are recorded in the meeting minutes that were included between that commission hearing and this hearing tonight Many of those comments are recorded in the meeting minutes that were included in your city council packet They're also recorded in the comments that were included and the ones that you've received directly to your office Okay for those reasons as I mentioned we going through that analysis, the city staff did make a finding of consistency. We made a recommendation to approve. The commission voted zero to seven to deny. And so the discussion tonight would require supermajority vote of the city council to overturn that commission recommendation and decision. That's it for our initial presentation. Like I said, we do have staff here to help answer your questions. Thank you. Okay, thank you. So now we have the applicant's presentation. I'm going to put it in the fridge. Okay. Okay Madam chair can I ask is this different? Yes, the binder that you received was an evidence binder that has the reports in the application and this is a Powerpoint. Oh, you already have it. That's what I was asking if this was anything different. This staff must have provided it. Sorry, or the clerk must have provided it after we emailed it. Sorry, I wasn't sure if you had a copy. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sorry. Thank you for the clarification. It is not different. You can start your two minutes. Very good. Thank you. Madame Chair, Council members. Katie Cole with the law firm of Hill Ward Henderson, 600 Cleveland Street, sweet 800. Clearwater representing Onyx and East, the agent and agent for that owner passatine of community church, who is the applicants related to this FLUM 75. I have the uninviable task this evening of asking you to approve a map amendment which we know you've received significant correspondence from neighbors opposed and which without much analytical discussion the CPPC recommended unanimously to deny. But last we are here because based on all of the analysis of both your staff, your professional team, the professional team engaged by the applicant. This request is consistent with your comprehensive plan. It is consistent with the surrounding area and yes, the neighborhood. This amendment should be approved. I'd like to introduce Rachel Markwith, the PE with Onyx and East who's a resume is also in the handouts that you receive. He's an expert in development plans and infill projects. Also with us today is Steve Henry, our traffic expert, Steve Spasotto, our planning experts, Tim Clemens, and the architect, all who have contributed to the application and the reports before you today and previously entered into the record. That'll hand it over to Rachel. Perfect. Good evening, councilmembers and neighbors from Old Pasadena. My name's Rachel Markowitz, and while I am the director of land development in Onyx and East, I'm also a Saint Pete resident of eight years. And as anybody who's lived in this city for some time, I love this city. I love its diversity. I love the presence of the arts here. And I love everything this city for some time. I love this city. I love its diversity. I love the presence of the arts here and I love everything this city has to offer that every other city in this state does not. I'm also a licensed professional engineer and have worked on projects for most of the large national home builders. I want to point out that Onyx and East is not a large national home builder. We're not a developer just turning out as many homes as we can every year. We care about the quality of the homes we build. We care about the locations and the neighborhoods we choose to put our projects in. City staff has done a great job presenting the technical reasons on why this application should be approved. So I'd like to use the remainder of my time to show you our vision for this site and why we think it complements the adjacent neighborhood. Complain policy, LU 3.6 states that planning decisions shall weigh heavily on the established character of the predominantly developed areas. So what is the character of the developed areas around this property? You can see on this area all the project location outlined in yellow. While the properties technically within the boundaries of the Old Pasadena neighborhood association, the reality is that the neighborhood is to the west and south of this property. The project is not proposed in the center of the neighborhood with single family homes surrounding it. The area shows outlined in red the extent of the church property that buffers the development from the majority of the neighborhood. This includes on the west side the location of the new preschool. Here you have the Pinellas Trail and the City Own property housing the Underground Wastewater Pump Station. After the trail you have office and commercial uses is shown on the screen. Continuing west and directly across from the property, you see mostly single story medical office uses. Although these are relatively low density uses now, the zoning allows for three to four story mixed use developments or multifamily structures. Approval of this application does not change the fact that old Pasadena is a residential neighborhood with commercial properties in the church at its outer edges. The photos you're looking at now are directly adjacent to the north. This is what's directly adjacent to the south. As I mentioned before, this is the remaining church property. When you look at a zoning map, this area can be misleading because it's technically given a residential zoning designation of NT3 But that has not been the use for the last For the period of time that the church has been here Facing east you see the city's wastewater pump station, which is currently being used for construction staging in this photo Again, this is technically zoned NT3, but that's not the actual use. It's also important to note this is the only parcel separating the subject property from the panelist trail and the future major street that is Pasadena Avenue. And here's the property facing west. This is the only portion of our project that faces an existing San Gle family home in the Old Pasadena neighborhood. Not only do we have the 70 first streets south right of way separating us from the from the existing single family home, but I want to show you the rendering of what our neighbors will see when they look into our project. Look at the similarity in these two views. We have the side of an existing single family home facing the side of a proposed single family home. The sides of both buildings are required to be 15 feet from the property line. There's a little difference between these two images. Although not required, we engage a traffic engineer to conduct our preliminary traffic analysis assessing the impact of the project on the surrounding road network, as we know that neighbors were concerned about this. In summary, all of the roadways in the vicinity of the project have more than enough capacity to accommodate the trips generated by the development. Here's our proposed site plan for the project. The Western Block, which is closer to the neighborhood, is comprised of single family lots. These are skinny lots with a narrower width than you'd typically see in the city. The Eastern Block, which is further from the neighborhood, shows attached townhomes with four units per building. We've made an intentional decision to construct two-story townhomes rather than our typical three stories, and we've located them as far from the existing neighbors as possible. You can see by looking at the aerial below our site plan that the proposed townhomes are relatively in the same location as the existing church buildings. The city has acknowledged the importance of missing middle housing and solving the state-peat housing crisis. Missing middle housing means a range of housing types and that's exactly what we're proposing here as you saw in the previous slide. NSM1, the requested zoning category in this application, is one of a few zoning designations that correlate with missing middle housing. The housing crisis in St. Pete will not be solved with only affordable housing projects. The city needs an increased supply of housing for all ranges of income, and missing middle is an important component of that. A study by Optico San AARP cited an ideal location for missing middle housing on edges of neighborhoods in a long commercial corridors. That's exactly the intersection of uses we have at this location. The reality is that there has just been less redevelopment pressure on the west side of the city. But there's a proven track record of projects like this, making sense next to neighborhoods throughout St. Pete. Here are examples of just a few. You see this in historic uptown. You see it in the Crescent Lake neighborhood and in the top right you see a photo of a block of skinny lots. You see it in historic Kenwood and in jungle tariff, shore acres, and Cocina Key. Lastly, in the historical Northeast, one of St. Pete's most desirable neighborhoods. At the commission hearing in May, a neighbor stated that old Pasadena demands high standards of development just like the old Northeast does. But the images shown on the screen, these projects didn't ruin the character of the old Northeast neighborhood. Instead, they've contributed to the revitalization of the area and added housing options needed by the extraordinary number of people who want to live there. Why would old Pasadena be the only neighborhood in the city whose characters ruined by the addition of medium density residential housing options? A lack of housing supply results in high prices. On the left, you can see here a new construction home in Pasadena that sold for over $1.3 million. On the right, you can see a resale home that's around the average resale price for this neighborhood at almost $900,000. Our average resale price for this neighborhood at almost $900,000. Our average proposed sales price for this project is around $750,000. While this obviously isn't an affordable project, it does provide the opportunity to live and own a new, well-built, high-quality home on the edge of the Pasadena neighborhood without spending over a million dollars. Here you see the frontage along First Avenue South. Now and with the proposed rendering of our project, you can see the similarity in scale, location, and height. This is by design. City Council just approved Vision 2050 that once increased residential housing close to transit, close to activity centers in walkable, bikeable areas, and outside of coastal high hazard zones. This is the council's opportunity to approve a reason that meets all of those goals. Historically the existing buildings and land uses on this property have always been unique compared to the single family homes within Pasadena. So I hope you agree that small or lots in town homes do have a place on the edge of this beautiful neighborhood. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Hold your applause, please. Thank you so much. So that the conclusion. Certainly. We certainly would appreciate your consideration of this application based on the evidence in the staff report, the application, and the experts. We do have the experts who contributed to this report who are here today to answer your questions more specifically. We know that there were concerns about storm water expressed, clearly, and traffic based on the concurrency analysis of both your staff and the experts. Those are not concerns with this decision. As you all are well aware, any stormwater issues would be resolved at the site plan process and are obligated to do so then. So with that, we would respectfully request your approval of both the Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment as well as the rezoning. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next, we'll have the rezoning. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next we'll have the opponent's presentation. 10 minutes. Good evening. My name is Shannery Barnes. I live at 318, 72nd Street South, just a couple blocks from this property. My family has been a part of this church and preschool for almost five decades. I'm a parent of three Pasadena preschool graduates and we have attended countless services and activities at the church. I care about this church. I care about this preschool and I care about the angels. They are truly angels. Who are the preschool staff? However, as an old Pasadena resident, I must oppose this rezoning application. We residents understand the desire for the church to sell their property. Although sad, we would understand if the church sold the property under the existing NT3 zoning and conforming single family homes were built. After reviewing the numbers, we know that this is a feasible option and encourage the church to entertain it. We are strictly opposing the rezoning, not the sale, which allows a significant change in landscape and character of Old Pasadena. A petition against this rezoning application at this moment contains 641 signatures, a significant amount gained in only two months. I've observed that the outspoken supporters of this rezoning application do not live in the Old Pasadena neighborhood, and most of them do not reside in the city of St. Petersburg. This includes members of the Church's Building Oversight Committee. Please consider the residential addresses of the people weighing in on this matter. In reference to the staff report regarding the relevant criteria for the application, consistency and compatibility. The requested designation is not compatible or consistent with the established surrounding land use and zoning patterns. If I can remind you of what you just saw on the map, you're continuously shown the land that is north and east of this property. Conveniently, you have not been shown the land that is north and east of this property. Conveniently, you have not been shown the land that is west and south of this property, which is an NT3 neighborhood. The word compatible as defined in the city's comprehensive plan is not having significant adverse impact with limited variation from adjacent uses in net density, in type and use of structures, and with limited variation in visual impact on adjacent land uses. This rezoning would certainly have a significant adverse impact, significant variation in net density, in type of structures, and great variation in visual impact. In paragraph five staff states that the R.M. land use and NSM1 zoning are considered appropriate at this location. A main goal 3.2 of the future land use element is to direct and manage the type distribution, density and intensity of development and redevelopment to protect and enhance the fabric and character of neighborhoods and to attain the highest level of economic well-being possible for the city and its citizens. It is wrong to state that denser or multifamily housing would protect or enhance the fabric or character of Old Pasadena. The fabric and character of the neighborhood is low density, large lots, and single-family homes. Increasing density in this neighborhood would not add value. Attaining the highest level of economic well-being possible for the citizens of Old Pasadena would be to protect their property values. Likely, their biggest financial investment. I'd like to point out in the staff report, the staff identified comprehensive plan consistency. They referred to LU 3.4, staff statement that the site is adjacent, quote, adjacent to Pasadena Avenue, South is incorrect. They have contradicted that statement in paragraph three, page four, under consistency and compatibility. It is not adjacent. It is buffered by the lift station property, all seasons, and circle park. The next statement regarding the land immediately south of the subject site, stating that it will remain institutional and under ownership of Pasadena Community Church, is pure speculation, assuming that they won't rezone and sell that land to another developer in a few years. Another staff identified comprehensive plan consistency was policy LU 3.11, which states more dense residential uses, maybe located along major streets with high frequency transit or in close proximity to activity centers. The definition of close proximity is not specified or quantified and is left open for interpretation. This property does not but any future major streets. Residents have suggested that the church sell the property as NT3, which could command a similar price point and satisfy the density concerns of the neighborhood. This rezoning decision should not be based on the financial status of the church. However, it should be noted that there is no hardship that deems this rezoning necessary. Resoning is not necessary to sell for the amount the church needs or what the property is worth. This can be illustrated in the recent sale of 7211 Fifth Avenue South, which is a vacant lot. 0.18 acres. It sold for $436,000 in April, off market, and the owner plans to build on it. There is significant value on these lots. The number six criteria number six regards the amount of availability of vacant land or land suitable for redevelopment for similar uses in the city. This is an estimate but I believe NT3 zoning takes up approximately 1,100 acres of land in St. Pete. There are almost 40,000 acres of land in St. Pete, leaving about 38,000 other acres to choose from. This property is five acres out of almost 40,000. Surely there is land that doesn't need to be re-zoned for your project. On Exynest, apparently did not have to re-zone their existing projects in St. Pete, and were able to find appropriate land to develop on First Avenue North and on 15th Street North, which I believe are CRT and NSM2 respectively. So why rezone on this property? It is evidently possible to find appropriate land for your projects. The future land-used element of the comprehensive plan, objective LU3, states that the future land-used map, map map 2 shall specify the desired development for pattern, the desired development pattern for St. Petersburg through a land use category system that provides for the location type density and intensity of development and redevelopment. The development pattern is already identified. I'm going to go ahead and move on to the next slide. Regarding the issue of housing quantity in the comprehensive plan, staff answered this as an opportunity for the subject. Sorry for the subject site to obtain residential density and intensity bonuses for the development of either missing middle housing or affordable workforce housing units. Such incentives support the applicant's interest and ability to develop the site as proposed. This is not a plan of affordable development. This is a contradiction between what the applicant, Pasadena Community Church, states is the plan and what the city is expecting based on this answer. If this opportunity is the case, then the applicant and potential owner are not being forthcoming about the actual development plans. They have tried to assure residents and stakeholders that development density would be minimal. Just an excerpt from the Vision 2020 special area plan I'd like to read. In the past decade, the city's neighborhood partnership program has worked with the neighborhood associations to develop neighborhood plans that guide the restoration and revitalization of these neighborhoods. During the same period, the new urbanist movement has gained ground. Today these traditional neighborhoods have been reclaimed and are the highly desirable sought after neighborhoods within the city. Today, these traditional neighborhoods have been reclaimed and are the highly desirable sought after neighborhoods within the city. The rules, regulations, and development standards need to reflect the existing character, so that these neighborhoods continue to be preserved and enhanced through preservation, rehabilitation, and compatible infill construction. I have a minute left, so I just want to address a couple things that the applicant stated in their opening. Misqual stated that the CPPC made their decision without much analytical discussion, which I want to firmly disagree with because they did have much analytical discussion. They are highly qualified, highly educated people, and they did analyze it. Ms. Marco-Witz, if your company cares so much, why do 90% of your projects require rezoning? In the photograph that she showed, Miss Hill's house was supposedly the only house that would face your future project, which is false. There is another house behind Miss Hill's house. Like to also state that Old Pasadena does not need revitalization, as you mentioned happened in Old Northeast. And a price point of $750,000 is not what we have been told. An average of $850 is what was in the information provided previously. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are in a quadradudicial proceeding. And we did not allow the applause. Thank you so much. So I do appreciate that. Thank you. So now we will have public comment. Clark, I know we have cards on this particular item, so everybody sit there. You hold tight because we're going to have a lot of cards on the public comment on this. Police the first two cards. And I'm chair the first two cards is Pamela Claire Smith and Donna Miller. Please go to either podium, state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes, Tredress Council. Hi, my name is Paula Claire Smith and my address is 2881, Chanceary. I'm actually the Senior Vice President for Callers, which is a commercial real estate company. I've done a significant amount of business in St. Petersburg over the years, over the past 25 years, beginning with actually with all children's hospital and then land assemblages as well as selling various office buildings and throughout the city of St. Petersburg. I had the privilege of being chosen by the Pasadena Community Church to represent them in their search for just the right buyer for their property and to recommend the process that they would take. And it was the changes that they're requesting are actually going to promote the character integrity of the family neighborhood better than leaving the property as is. It's being used right now with a multi-story building on it for preschool, which they intend to move interior, moving traffic interior also, but getting eliminating that and also eliminating the maintenance that is going on right there. So they're actually looking at this as they began their process, they went through a collective effort to outline the advantages of selling the unused soccer fields and upgrading the preschool and facility all to enhance the current church campus. That was what they wanted to do. They wanted to continue to contribute the ministry of the preschool. So much thought and discussion was involved. Multiple officers were considered, developers interviewed, surveys done. With the sensitivity toward the neighbors to the west, and yes, there are two homes. There's 250 feet which is the only common area shall we say but it by a street by 75th or 71st. And so there are two houses from the old passity and but everything else as you looked at your screen you could see we're CRT CCS which are very high density and allow for retail that the church actually has in their contract listened to the church members to preschool parents, and then also acted as City Council did last week, concerned about performance, the history of completeness with Onyx and East, a response to residents, families, they're looking for families to go there, and hopefully with the 90K moving into St. Pete that was mentioned last week, being able to grab those as contributing members and maybe new preschool, new preschools kids to go in there. So it's not, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Name an address. Okay, Madam Chair and members of St. Pete Council, thank you for having me. My name is Donna Miller, we'll call well banker. I am the number one agent for call well banker in St. Pete's Central. And the reason why I'm here today is I want to talk about diversity in the neighborhood. Excuse me, can I have your address please? Oh, I'm sorry. 54-01 Pallyway St. Peter's birth. So I wanted to talk about diversity in the neighborhood and the much needed. There hasn't been anything redeveloped, anything hasn't grown in that section of Pasadena in the past four years. It's been stagnant. We don't see growth. We have 89% of the population. We have white. We have 248 people being Latino or black in that neighborhood. And a lot of it has to do is because the median age is 69.2. So the problem with that neighborhood is that the median houses are like four to 500,000 or some are even less, that people go in, they don't move and we don't have new people moving in the neighborhood to create diversity. We don't have young families moving there, because either the houses are way too big for them. They're way too large for them, or they're older houses that the older population stays in for years and years and years. As a matter of fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 3.7 moved in that area from out of state. So with the problem that we have in housing now and our interest rates being at an all-time high, somebody buying a house for $750,000 or $800,000 is like a year and a half ago, somebody buying a house for half of that. It's so different. The prices have doubled. The prices have tripled. So we understand about single family in that neighborhood. But nobody with a rising cost of insurance, nobody with a rising cost of building rates, is gonna spend over $2 million to have businesses across the street, to have the St. Pete Trail cross from them, and to not have a quiet neighborhood. It's a very busy intersection there. You have the pump there. None of that is going to get changed. This is the same as single family housing, but it's more like city housing. So if you look at it, it's affordable housing for people who either want to get off the beaches because of flood insurance is astronomical. Are people who want to start and live downtown? But they can't afford to spend a million or a million and a half on something, but they can get on the bus and ride downtown. We have to make change. This neighborhood has had seen a significant change in the past four years. And with the way that things are going, I know that change is hard, but also sometimes change is good and change can make a difference. So I think we need to realize that change can teach us to adapt and help us develop self-resilience. But only if we understand with our own capacity for growth and learning. When change makes us better, it's because we've learned how to turn- Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. We appreciate it. The next two speakers is Warren Wilanham and Madison Rice. Madison Rice, that'll be- Madison Rice is four. Four. And the next person will be Scott Russell. Hey, Warren Willingham, 3245, Jackson Street North, 33704. I'm very much in favor of the up-zoning. I'm just jealous it's not in my neighborhood. We had a church dorm down in our neighborhood, and all we got was a handful of McMansions, because that's all that was allowed. They sure saved the character of the neighborhood, though, thankfully. This isn't out of place. that was allowed. They sure saved the character of the neighborhood, though, thankfully. This isn't out of place. It's feet away from Central. Touch as the panelist trail is a stone's throw from a sun-runner stop and a two-minute bike ride to a grocery store without even crossing a major road. It is begging to be dense. I'm happy to see even a slight increase in our anemic housing supply we need as much as we can get. Overly restrictive zoning policy such as this is holding us back from having exactly that, enough units. I have had far too many friends leave St. Pete to cheaper cities due to our lack of affordability. I'm just sad that there isn't enough affordable housing in this. I wish it was affordable. I'll take market rate if I can get it. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, name and address. Yes. Good evening. My name is Scott address. Yes, good evening. My name is Scott Russell. I've been a member of Pasadena Community Church for 25 years. And I get your address. Yes. 227th, 70th Street South. I also serve on their Building Oversight Committee. You've heard from your city staff and the developer why this rezoning is appropriate appropriate given the land use plan. In addition to others with heartfelt concerns about it, I thought it might benefit your decision making to know why our church is selling these two parcels of land. Our church has different needs today than we did 99 years ago and we opened. We do not have the luxury to hold on to acres of land that were once central to our Sunday morning services. Our aging buildings need maintenance and renovation. We say we welcome all, but in fact, our older buildings are not accessible to all. We are counting on the property sale to pay for those improvements, cut our operating expenses, and to create space where people continue to enjoy serving. We must trim church spending to preserve our vital ministries that serve our community. Even with a smaller congregation than decades ago, the community relies on our church more than ever. Every month, we feed 200 families through our food pantry and prepare and deliver meals for others in our community. Several hundred children in our community attend our preschool morning and after-school programs. Our gym is almost constantly busy with basketball and pickleball while our food ministry packs weekend food bags for hundreds of children at two local schools. We teach ESOL classes to help immigrants obtain citizenship. When hurricanes approach, beach community EMS departments use our gym as their command center. We are a polling place for elections and we host addiction and mental health groups in the evenings. And every month we supply hundreds of bags of food to St. Pete Police to hand out to our homeless population. Our campus is in service far beyond Sunday mornings. Years ago we had a visionary pastor, Dr. Jay Wallace Hamilton, served at our church and who led our exponential growth during that time. He gave a sermon on January 1st, 1961, titled Keep Moving. During it he spoke of the need for change. That sermon could be preached in churches across the country today. He said we were made to go in only one direction, no provision for retreat. Our eyes, hands and feet all face forward. Dr. Hamilton went on to say, quote, he is saying in the very construction of our bodies, get up, go on, move forward. Which is exactly what we as a congregation are trying to do. We ask you to allow this rezoning to proceed. We believe that a smaller campus footprint will allow us to make an even larger footprint within our community going into our next century of service. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Mr. Smith. So much. Thank you. Next is Richard Christian and Holly Edwards. Please go to either podium, state, your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address council. My name is Richard Chastain. I live in 7030 and Mango Avenue South. About two blocks from the subject property. My comments are concerning compliance with the goals, objectives, policies, and guidelines of the comprehensive plan, specifically addressing LU 5.3 from the comprehensive plan. In regarding the concurrency management system. The level of service impact analysis does not reflect the approved developments of the Raytheon site, the St.P. College Gibbs site, the Barrick Creek site, the 6090 project on central or the development that's planned at the intersection, well close to the intersection of Tyrone and Ninth Avenue behind the Bawa. So considering these developments that are all in the works, I think would definitely change the capacity of the existing infrastructure and facilities. And it should be noted that Commissioner Magnello suggested that we look at the development of St. Pete on a whole has a on a macro level and Handman value weight the effects of these projects, you know within Overall and on another point The reduction of green space that goes along with all these projects, I think is significant. And this will also be reducing green space within our neighborhoods. Thank you. Thank you. This may have name and address. Good evening. I'm Holly Edwards, 7023. Mango Avenue South. I am the proud owner of a 100 year old home in this neighborhood. And I can tell you the homes that you saw up on the screen are going to look nothing like mine. And I'm here to encourage you to please implement the words in your own comprehensive plan. And that is to address the concerns of the community related to growth management and the preservation of the city's characters and vote no to this land use zoning change to this historic neighborhood. Over 600 people have signed a petition asking for that same thing. The city's criteria in LU 3.6, which was cited by one of your CPPC members as a reason for his vote to deny this change, states that land use planning decisions shall weigh heavily on the established character of the predominantly developed areas where changes of use or intensity of development are contemplated. I hope each of you took the time to go drive through our unique area and see for yourself what kind of impact we're talking about here. In addition, in part E of the Standards of Review, the city states that the decision shall be guided by the following factors. Whether the proposed change is consistent with the established land use patterns of the areas in reasonable proximity and whether the proposed changes would alter the population density pattern and thereby adversely affect residential dwelling units or public schools. The bottom line is that this land has been zoned in T3 for a reason. The church property is when in the boundaries of a beautiful quiet historic neighborhood, consisting of brick streets with granite curbs, large single-family homes with large trees and yards, and historic architecture. Many of the homes in this neighborhood, which this development will be right in the middle of, or at least adjacent to it, are historical and listed in the city's master file for historic homes. There are no tall condominium buildings. The proposed development would be the tallest building for miles. There are no small densely packed homes that are 10 feet apart with tiny setbacks. This will double the plotted occupancy for those particular lots. The neighborhood is not on a major road as stated in the city's plan and it's not a destination It's not likely to be low income or workforce housing. It sounds to me like it will be very expensive housing and as a member of your CPPC committee stated there are other properties in the city with the proper zoning That are more appropriate for this type of development. This will set a precedence. The term shall weigh heavily is important here because what this is proposing will add almost 400 people to this neighborhood. That would freak anybody out. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Next to the speakers please. Kristen Brett and Carol Bining. Please go to either podium. State your name addressed for the record. You'll have three minutes to address council. Is Brett? First. Christian? Okay. Good afternoon. Madam Chair and Council members, thank you so much for this opportunity. My name is Kristen Brett. I reside at 438 Ville Grande Avenue South. You know, decisions are made from the head and the heart and there's lots of data, there's lots of good information for the head. I'm going to be speaking from the heart today. My husband, David, who is here in the audience, was born and raised in St. Pete. His grandparents moved here in the 30s and all seven of their grown children moved here and raised their families. Their children, including my husband, David, raised their own children here, and now those children are raising their families here. We have pretty deep roots. David is also working commercial real estate, his entire career, including what was one of the first redevelopment projects of downtown, the Old McNulty Fire Station, and Wilson mattress factory for those of you that remember, into offices that then brought progress energy back downtown. I worked with the city for 10 years on the team that developed the new St. Pete, Pete, Peter before retiring in February of this year. We support progress and development, thoughtful development. About four years ago we fell in love with Old Pasadena. It has an esoteric quality that isn't easy to describe, but as the chair of the Community Preservation and Planning Commission noted in the last meeting, the neighborhood has a sense of community that is apparent and incredible. During that meeting, other commissioners made these comments. This neighborhood is a treasure. This proposed development would have an impact on the character of the neighborhood. All of the support letters for this project were from church members and none of them live in the neighborhood. They referenced city policy LU 3.6 that states the established character of a neighborhood should weigh heavily on land use decisions. And of course, they voted no unanimously on the proposed zoning. Last fall, the city organized a neighborhood summit meeting that featured Peter Caguyama who wrote a book that describes the love affair between people and their places. He talks about a sense of place, which is exactly what we have in all Pasadena. There's a sense of community beyond the brick streets and the 100-year-old Ops. Neighbors not only know each other, we are there for each other. We help each other clean yards after a big storm. We watch each other's homes during trips away and bring a dish when someone's home from the hospital. There is a neighborhood vibe that will not be the same if this rezoning is approved. Hi, my name is Carol Binding. I live at 545 Group Villagrande Avenue South and I have many concerns about this, but my main one is traffic. Our streets are brick and for any of you guys who have driven over the brick streets they're not smooth, they're very bumpy, they're noisy and they were never designed to have an extra 400 people driving over them. Our neighborhood is bounded on three sides by two lane streets. They're not Pasadena Avenue is not near, I mean it is near, but it's not near where this development is going to be. So if nothing else, the traffic would be a great detriment to the neighborhood, which you've already heard. Is a great neighborhood. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next two speakers please. Next two speakers Howard Napp, Janet Napp, please approach either podium. State your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address city council. Good evening. My name is Howard Napp. I live at 7111, second Avenue South in Old Pasadena. Adjacent Pasadena Community Church's property that they are selling. I am a lifelong resident of St. Pete. I purchased my home 23 years ago due to its antique rezoning and the historic nature of the Old Pasadena neighborhood which was built in 1923 as Pasadena estates by developer Jack Taylor. Old Pasadena's defining quality is that it is a quieter neighborhood known for its wide berk streets and oversized lots. It boasts over 40 historic 1920s homes with unique characteristics. The residents of our neighborhoods specifically chose living here for these features. Our neighborhood is one of only five N T three zoned areas left in the city. If rezoning is approved for these three parcels, it will set a precedent and open the floodgates to future requests for rezoning of any parcel within our neighborhood and the other NT3 neighborhoods in our city. A change in rezoning requires proof by the appellant that this development will not significantly impact traffic, density, and property values in our neighborhood. Common sense tells us that adding 80 to 160 dwelling units will nearly double the volume of traffic and density in the neighborhood, which consists of approximately 280 homes. The fact is the appellants have not proven with any empirical data that traffic and density will not be adversely affected. It is said that three most important factors in buying a home are location, location, location. St. Petersburg's home property values are greatly determined by this factor. A home is one of, if not the most, significant expenses and financial investments of any citizen, especially in today's market. When a resident purchases a home in this city, they are making an investment in the city and its future. The city's future land use within the comprehensive plan maps the city's vision and is a commitment by the city leaders to steer our city into the future. Its purpose is to keep the course and prevent just these rezoning situations from happening and derailing that vision and promise. We trust in you our elected representatives to uphold the city's future land use as written in the comprehensive plan. I strongly urge the council to vote no on this appeal for resounding. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for opening this up to comments. We appreciate it. My name is Janet Nath. I live at 7111, second avenue south in St. Petersburg, Florida. What I'd like to address is that some information you've gotten from Pasadena Community Church. The church, first let me say the neighborhood supports the church. We have, they have always been part of our community, many of our members attend the church, many of our residents grew up in that church, parents got married in that church. They've indicated that need to sell this to this developer, on the Sunn East, for the financial health of their church. And I understand you may feel swayed by this. However, there are several factors that are not commonly known. For one, the church is stated on their website that they had overwhelming support on the vote to sell these properties. That I understand from many reliable sources is not correct. The vote was just barely over half of the membership. And currently the membership is divided as to how to proceed further working on the financial health of the church. Onyxanese are not the only developers interested in the parcel. I also have information from two local developers that they are interested in the parcels. They only build single family homes in the style in keeping with the neighborhoods. It would not require rezoning, if they're NT3, developed for homes. Additionally, a small study by our association shows that the church could sell the parcels for approximately eight million dollars if they were sold as individual lots. In the current market value, again without having to change the zoning, I gave a handout to you that shows the sources of this, which is the latest sales in our neighborhood, both by individuals and by developers. The church does not need $9 million to keep operating. I think Mr. Russell basically alluded to that too. What it needs is funds to remodel some of its older buildings and to lower its upkeep and utility expenses. The church has looked at selling property as a solution to this, but I do not believe they have fully explored their other financial options that may be equally or more beneficial. The city of St. Petersburg offers several grants and loan opportunities and partners with organizations such as theirs to offer further assistance to the community. The City also has programs to assist the church with grants and assistance from state programs. Additionally, our neighborhood is willing to help the church. Many people have come forward saying they will help write grants, help them find the funds. But, in closing, I believe that the church has other options. Thank you. Next two speakers please. Next two speakers. John Tyler, Gary Butler, please approach either podiums, state your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address city council. also. I am John Tyler I live at 3701 13th Avenue North in St. Pete. I grew up in this church I went through preschool there I went through confirmation there my sister was married in this church we have my late grandmother's a moral service in this church so I'm very familiar with that. You know, for the 40 years ago, I was in that preschool, so it makes me feel pretty old. But I'm here to speak in support of the 60 families that will be able to live there if we redevelop. This is a neighborhood where they can, once there's 60 homes there, they'll be able to walk over to the new preschool and take their kids there. They would walk over to the, there's an elementary school, just two blocks away, cross over central avenue there, two blocks away, and there's an elementary school. So they could have a period of their lives where from going to church, to going to preschool, to going to elementary school, it's all within walking this. As I have to mention, the doctor's office is a veterinarian in hospital. All within walking this, if the residents are Jewish as a synagogue right across the road, remember growing up that we would do our youth group at the church would collaborate with the youth group at the synagogue and have some fond memories of that experience. So I think we need to bring some more young families there that can take advantage of all the different amenities that are in this area that are within an easy walking, biking distance of everything that that neighborhood has to offer. So I'm very familiar. I spent plenty of time growing up there walking right in my bicycle around there, everything like that. I'm very familiar with the area. And I think welcoming those 60 families into our great city is gonna be a net positive. Thank you. Thank you. Yes sir. Yes my name is Gary Butler. I, my residential address is 11095 village green avenue and similar I am a member of Pasadena Community Church. I have been a member since 2001. Raised a single parent raised my daughter with the help of Pasadena Community Church and I've been active since. Is that okay? I was. Yeah, and a public hearing like this. It's only an open forum where it's impermecible. Okay, just wanted to make sure before you got to you all into it. Thank you. Thank you. I was a co-chair of the Long Range Planning Committee that was charged with investigating and figuring out the best path forward. And we spent a year, more than a year, looking at all the various options, determining what our facilities needed, what we needed to do financially moving forward. What resources were available? So the third party here say that we haven't looked at all the options just flat isn't true. We have looked at all the options. And what we have determined is that we have facilities. Every single one of our buildings needs substantial capital improvements to make us more inclusive, to make us more sustainable, and to make us fit the current demands of our generations as far as what they're looking for in the worship facility. We need this level of funding in order to accomplish that. If we're not allowed to realize our proper and best use of the property that we're trying to sell, then we're not going to be very limited in what changes we can make to the property in order to become more inclusive and more sustainable and more welcoming to other generations. I would like to point out that there has been a lot of speculation made by some folks that perhaps there are other people out there who would be willing to pay for this property with the current zoning. This property was marketed for six, nine months for substantial amount of time, aggressively so not a single offer was made by this property anywhere near this price using it at this current zoning. So if you want to go by speculation, you look at speculation and see what reality shows and reality shows that speculation did not come true. I think it's important to realize that the property as in its current or the future use is zoned industrial. This current petition actually makes it, I'm sorry, not industrial, institutional. It's future use is institutional. The rezoning makes it more residential, makes it more consistent with the existing plan. So the rezoning petition here before us today makes it more consistent with plots. Long term makes it more consistent with plots there. Serves our purposes and will better serve the community by filling in what we've talked about in both this hearing and previous hearings, that important missing middle housing. We're adding a small amount there without the evidence is clear without any burden on the infrastructure, without building multiple five-story towers or anything that would be unattractive like that. So we ask for your turn. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next two speakers please. Next two speakers, Joseph Bergliot and Kevin Carroll. Please approach either podium, state your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address to the council. Good afternoon. I'm Kevin Scott Carroll. I live at 301 71st Street South right across the street from the church. And I basically just had a question and I would like to actually implore the City Council to defer to their experts at the CPPC. They voted 7 to 0 unanimously to deny the request for the zoning change and I can't see why the council would not accept that and move on. I mean, certainly the applicant, regardless of the attorney for the applicant's snide remark about the staff at the CPPC. They are professionals. They are highly educated. They made the decision unanimously to not approve the zoning request. And so I would implore the council to side with them. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Joe Borser. I live at 7100 Sunset Way. I lived on Villagran for 23 years in the neighborhood, so to say. I am also on the Building Oversight Committee for the church and been a member for 30 plus years. As you heard, we have multiple offers. One offer that came in wanted to build 245 units. We didn't even consider that. That would not work for that neighborhood. Okay. We understood that. We were thinking of the church and the neighborhood at the same time. Onyx and East came in, single family homes on the empty field, which is right adjacent to the neighborhood, that's what we want it. That's what we got. Where the school is, you're talking about putting nice town homes where this dilapidated building is that needs so much work, it's not even funny. You saw all the commercial property next to it. You have the church on one side, you got the offices, you got the car repair on the corner, you got everything there. That's sort of, you can say it's in the neighborhood but it's really not in the neighborhood. It's just off of Pasadena Avenue. And as you heard, the current zoning, if this doesn't pass, I don't know if we're going to find a building that's going to come in with all single family housing on both lots, because they're not going to make their money. It's not going to meet what we need to do. So we felt pretty good by saying, you know what? Onyx and East, putting a little more density there was good with us. You're going to be right across from the street from us. 245 units, boy, we could have got a lot more families into the church, you know, for the preschool, for the care. That could have been a lot more money for us. And if it doesn't get approved, who's going to come by that? It's institutional property. You don't get taxed all is offered. Now you may not get taxed all is offered if somebody comes in with an institutional property for our. So that's really off to say. I mean, I think what's going there fits the area, fits the neighborhood. You've got single family right next to their single family To me, it's a win-win for both sides. Thank you Thank you next to speakers please next to speakers madam chair Lonnie Laney Daniels John Taylor Pres. Approach, adipotent station name and address you'll have three minutes to address city council Laney Daniels. John Taylor. Hey, who? Go ahead. Hey, I'm John Taylor. I'm at 7300 Second Avenue South. So I had a nice prepared speech here, and I was going to go completely off-scrubbed here. You know, I've heard a lot, but it all boils down to really one thing. And that is, you know, I heard some comments as though anybody who's against this is somehow anti-change. Maybe there was even some like a semi-racial kind of tone there, didn't appreciate that. I moved here from Scotty, Arizona. I own homes in multiple states. I own more than one home here in Florida. I chose Pasadena because it was unique. And somebody made the comment of, oh, what we do? We do it here, we do it here, we do it here, we improve these. Well, you know what, I could have bought any neighborhood in all of St. Pete, not the whole neighborhood, but I could have bought a home when I moved here six years ago. I chose this neighborhood because there was nothing else like it. home when I moved here six years ago. I chose this neighborhood because there was nothing else like it. So also, I'm the executive vice president, chief financial officer of a large real estate developer. I'm all about buying property and development. We're headquartered here in St. Pete. Somebody mentioned the revitalizing the old McNulty garage building. That's where our headquarters is. So it's like totally for progress, totally for moving forward. At the same time there are certain gyms that you want to, you know, make sure that you don't mess up, okay? And from that standpoint, I think that the church, you guys, there's been plenty of people, this gentleman here, you guys, there's been plenty of people, this gentleman here, you mentioned your address, and the gymnasium address is the church. I don't really know where you live, but what I mean is my address is where I live, so everybody can know. I think that I've attended your church. You probably can recognize me. A lot of people, I just gotta recognizeable face, okay? And it's a great church, but I've got to say, where does anybody have the spirit of complying with what the Bible says? Right? Are we told to listen to our rulers? Are we told to give unto, you know, Caesar, what Caesar? Of course we are. and we've got rules this council has rules this community to develop a master plan and Just follow the rules nobody's no is no is asking you not to sell it I would support you nobody ever wants knocked on my door not anybody from the church not anybody from the high price Attorneys will Ward Henderson. I know you guys. None of nobody ever said, hey, let's build a relationship with these neighbors. I mean, I love this church. I think you guys are cool. I play pickleball down there. I mean, it's good. So my encouragement is, why don't you develop a relationship with the neighbors and let us help you build something that's great. Sir, Daniels? Yes. Sir, Daniels? OK, great. Name and address, please. Sure. My name is Lonnie Daniels. built an old Pasadena. That sits within a short 300 feet from the land in question. My house was built in 1925 and the home was once the rectory for the old or for the Pasadena Community Church. I purchased the home in 2005 because I appreciated what the neighborhood had to offer. It has character, it has charm, quiet living, and so much more. And I do not want to lose the integrity of my neighborhood. I believe the city can accomplish its comprehensive plan without changing the existing zoning requirements. The land in question is approximately five acres of land that can still be developed under the current zoning and still create meaningful density that will retain the character and charm of the existing neighborhood. I'm a capitalistic heart and I believe the owners of the property have every right to develop the land they own, but these proposed changes to the zoning will heavily alter the density and adversely affect the existing residential area. The old Pasadena property is not the property to exponentially increase density in such a small defined area. I ask the council to be transparent with your actions and your vote today. If this proposal does unfortunately pass, I ask for reasonable contingencies to the development. I would request the developer create significant noise barriers, possibly doubling or tripling the setback requirements, create a calming wolf required required or living and only allow for single family housing. I believe these are all warranted compensation for what the residents are giving up not to mention the increased congestion, loss of spacious parcels of land and the loss of more green space. Sometimes in life, there is no need to maximize everything you can sell to the highest bidder, or no reason to maximize everything for the quickest solution. It's not how many houses or town homes you could squeeze on a parcel of land. It's about making the right choices to satisfy the needs of a city while maintaining the integrity and character of that same city. I strongly oppose the request to change the zoning and the future land use amendments. Keep the integrity of the neighborhood and maintain a proper density for the area. Thank you all city council. Next to speakers please. Next to speakers, Shelley Olsen, Robert Dickinson, please approach either podium. Please take your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address city council. Good evening. My name is Shelley Olsen. I'm at 6929 Boganville Avenue South in St. Pete. The CPPC board unanimously voted against this application. They are entrusted to make these important recommendations and highly qualified to do so. The board holds at least five masters degrees in areas including environmental planning, natural resource management, government, architecture, engineering, industrial management, land use, and real estate development. It consists of at least one PhD, several architects and contractors, and a published St. Pete historian. The CPPC's disapproval of this application was clear and unanimous, and I fully trust their collective expertise in this case. I also have a comment with respect to criteria number one. LU 3.8 from the Comprehensive Plan states that the city shall protect existing and future residential uses from incompatible uses, noise, traffic, and other intrusions that detract from the long-term desirability of an area through appropriate land development regulations. CPP staffs reference to the Circle Park, lift station, and Pinellas Trail highlights that there already is a buffer between the streets and the subject property and the existing homes in the neighborhood. A buffer of neighborhood suburban multi-family between the trail and the existing homes or between circle park and the existing homes is not necessary. And allowing more dense development on the property when in fact fail to protect existing residential uses from noise, traffic, and other intrusions that detract from the long-term desirability of this area. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. Name an address. My name is Robert Dickinson. I'm a resident at 71.26, second Avenue South. I live in a 100-year-old house that has been in my family, my wife's family, for 98 years. I am here to remind you that some very qualified people on the CPPC Committee voted seven to nothing to deny this request. I'd also like to remind you that you have a land use plan and a zoning plan in place. In order to change it, you need to receive significant assurances, I believe, and significant evidence that the change is not going to adversely affect the fabric and character of the existing neighborhood. I'd also like to remind you that you have a wonderful neighborhood here and you don't need to fix something that's not broken. Now I'm sympathetic to the church. Everyone wants to see the church be successful. But having the church be successful should not come at the expense of one of the best neighborhoods you have in this city. I guarantee you that if you put 80 to 160 units on these two parcels or three parcels, however you want to count them. You are going to adversely infect the traffic, the density, and the property values of all the other parcels in this neighborhood. You will also adversely affect the fabric and character of this neighborhood and the interrelationships amongst the various people who live there now, who are already citizens of this wonderful city, who have elected you to represent them, and who have relied upon the people on the CPPC to make and guide your decisions. So please vote against this change. There are other ways for the church to be successful. I am sure that a solution to maintain the church's existence can be found without having to sacrifice the entire integrity character and goodwill of this neighborhood. Please vote against this change. Thank you. Thank you. Next to speakers. Next to speakers. Rocky. Excuse me. Rocky Tingsler. Laurie Stocknew. Please approach either podium. Please take your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address City Council. I'm going to ask you to ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and ask the staff to come in and, the historic preservation value that is there. So I won't hit on those points anymore. I would like to point out within one and a half miles of this proposed zoning change is the SPC Wellness Center, the St.P. College Wellness Center that was recently approved for a zoning change and the Raytheon property. SBC Wellness Center, the St. P. College Wellness Center, that was recently approved for a zoning change and the Raytheon property. So there is some major zoning changes going on within that area, which were probably appropriate places to do that. But the old Pasadena neighborhood is not. The large lots and the historic value that we have there is worth saving. So I really hope that you guys do not approve this zoning change. And I would like to point out one more thing. I think the developers have tried to downplay the location in our neighborhood. We're in an island between Central Avenue, Pasadena Avenue and Park Street. The church is completely part of our neighborhood. I walk through there all the time, right? We have to ride our bikes and walk through there to get to the panelists trail, which they're selling as a bonus to their potential residents. So, you know, it would hinder our access possibly and it's just gonna, it, bottom line, it will change the character of our neighborhood. Old Pasadena's worth saving. It's unique and Saint Pete. And so, yeah, I appreciate your time. Thanks. Thank you so much. Yes, ma'am, name is actress. My name is Lori Stognew. I live at 427, the Lagrand Avenue South. So I'm just around the corner from where this is proposed. Ms. Cole mentioned that she thought that the property that is proposed is consistent to the current neighborhood. My block currently has four homes on the entire block. My neighbor across the street has four homes on her entire block. If you were to use the same formula to what we have right now on our block, to what is being proposed. It would be comparing that we would add only 13 more homes to what they're wanting to add in 40 town homes and 20 single family homes. That is a significant number. When we walk our dogs down the street and we look down this wide brick road and say it's safe, I can walk, I can ride, I can roller skate, I can do what I want in this neighborhood without worrying about traffic, waiting in line at it. Stop sign 16 deep. It does make our neighborhood unique and that's why I drove around this neighborhood like some kind of stalker for years to try and find a home that was for sale. And the minute I did it, I bought it because it was so desirable. I've lived in St. Petersburg for my entire, well, I don't want to tell you how long. But I've lived here. I started out in Seminole. I went to St.P. Catholic. I went to St. B. Catholic. I went to St. Jude's and St. P. this my home. And this neighborhood is a desired neighborhood, but we're also a family. So I ask that you consider that and vote no. Thank you. Thank you. Next two speakers is Don, Palagrino, and Paul Grifford. Mr. Grifford does not want to speak, but he's for it. The next person would be Jessica Acquie. Can you repeat the last not going to be? Don, Palagrino. My aunt was after Don. It was Paul Grifford. I'm Egyptian, yes, yeah. I will show my voice to spare with me. John Pellevino for the Refford 4669, 39, change the bill for the bar, I selected it being 4676, but I'm a proud resident of Old Pasadena. I apologize about that based on the following five triggers. 1346 and seven. We all have a bill that's there. It's low intensity. Not just for the old Pasadena neighborhood, but the whole surrounding area is predominantly with the two of seven single family homes. And with all the respect to this church, I do not believe that an owner, that a reason to put an incompatible element is not based on what an owner requires financially. And I said I was expected to be expected then, but I don't think that's the way to make the zone for the citizens. I was a member of the Hillsborough County Planning Commission back in the late 80s when the new drug plants were installed. And I was shared on the first year of the implementation. We had in our plan an urban service for a unit with Hillsborough County and the unforbreded and a city of champion that we were built out of our level of services as we grew. Well, it was a very focused piece. It's also rooted over the years by the development sphere. And you can see this brought across the street. I heard you, the a board rejected this unanimously. And there are citizens who are appointed, I think, to change their lives. And the United Sub-Fanfare Center. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Name your address. Hi. My name is Jessica Ackley. I live at 7116 First Avenue South. I'm one of the houses that is 300 feet from this entire thing. I had zero intentions of speaking today, but on behalf of young people that were said that don't live in the neighborhood, I live there and I have a child. So what I like to say is that I can't wrap my head around the math for this at $750,000. Quick Google search tells me you need $172,000 a year income to purchase something like that. When the average income in this city is $50,000, which is also another quick Google search. That's the only reason why I came up here. I don't know anybody in my group that is making more than 50 to 60 thousand dollars So to propose that we're gonna get families and all these things into this area It's it's not really adding up to me aside from that. I live on first time yourself like I said and it's not The road there the traffic that goes through there I can't back out of my driveway that road is being used as a bypass for people to go to work in downtown St. Pete from Largo area park street And they bypassed central lights and they come flying down that street And now they have a school zone through there and there's many mornings where that's not even Helped to standard where people are flying. I don't know if they're going 15 or 45 down that road It's just the math isn't mathing for me. I just wanted to put my face on it as a young person because we were told that we didn't live in the neighborhood and didn't have families. And I have a small house, bought it at a fraction of the price that is being said today. And I just don't see how we're gonna get families in there at that number. So, thank you. Thank you. Next to speaker. at that number. So thank you. Thank you. Next speaker is Mercedes Walker Dickinson. She does not want to speak and she's against it. Cliff Cook is next speaker and Jay Carter. Please go to either podium state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address council. Hi, my name is Cliff Cook. My address is 41101-83rd Street North, St. Petersburg, Florida. Thank you for listening to me tonight and thank you for everything you guys do. I'm just going to give you guys a read, I'm going to read some GIs. So basically a reminder of the zoning classifications according to the LDR. The NSM districts allow medium intensity suburban style garden apartments reflecting the small and large apartment complexes constructed in the 1970s and 1980s. These uses can generally be found there for street north Gandy Boulevard, Penelope Point Drive and other areas throughout the city. The purpose of the NSM district regulations is to maintain the existing multi-family densities in the districts. The purpose of the NT district regulations is to protect the traditional single-family character of these neighborhoods while permitting rehabilitation, improvement and redevelopment in a manner that is consistent with the scale of the neighborhood. The standards for each of the NT districts are intended to reflect and reinforce their unique character. Code 16.20.010.3.1 refers to preservation of single family character. NT districts are primarily single family and character, while some NT districts allow accessory units or limited neighborhood scale mix uses. The character and context along the street should reinforce the pattern of a traditional single family neighborhood, generally duplex and multifamily buildings are prohibited. So I am the basketball coach at Pasadena Community Church. I know a lot of the families that go there. I'm a coach eight to 11 year olds. The pandemic did not help Pasadena Community Church at all. We're on the rebound. I know that for sure. It sounds like they're in financial situations, but I know there's a lot of people that want to help. And going off of what has already been voted seven and a zero I asked that you guys vote no and keep our neighborhood the way it is. Thank you. Hi my name is Jason Carter, 360 of Villagrand Avenue South. I live on the zone map right at the point of where the church property ends at the South Point. I can say as far as traffic goes. There are times when you can, I can stand on my front lawn and hear cars roaring up the street, cobblestone, whatever, in it. Might not be a traffic issue, but there's a lot of traffic experts here. But living there, I experienced this. People basically trying to flip their cars, trying to get past Pasadena and first and all the other chokeholds that we're dealing with now. I ride my bike with my children to school Every day There's times on first Just like Jessica said that are like shooting the gauntlet to get to school I mean people have said this and they're absolutely right first Avenue South is not first Avenue South West or whatever it is. Everything east of Pasadena is a completely different version of that. We are privileged to have a well preserved triangle like people have been pointing out. And it's, it would get worse for sure. I'm not sure if the traffic experts have taken into consideration what it's like to actually pull out on these roads now that we have on street parking right there where the school is that intersection. I mean you just kind of drifted out there hoping someone's going to stop in time for you to pull out that's no exaggeration. I wanted to state that regarding the traffic issue. I have some other things that I'm supposed to get to, which is, well, let me just get past that, because I think a lot of people have covered a lot of this stuff at this point. We built a house and moved in four years ago. We spent a lot of years designing and building the house. I have two elementary kids. I have an Indian wife who immigrated here with her family and it's very difficult to listen to everybody say that we live in a rich white neighborhood. If that's the way it sounds. I mean I think that's ridiculous. I mean I know plenty of kids in the neighborhood. There are kids moving next door to me. I think that's ridiculous. I mean, I know plenty of kids in the neighborhood. There are kids moving the next door to me. I think there's two, three-year-old twins moving in next. Does it got flipped the house next to me? And he's got a buyer for it, but it's not, our neighborhood is not old and stale or whatever. And I'll point out that the global banker did not lend us any help and finance in our house. We did it the hard way and went through whoever else, hard on architect, we didn't go through a building firm or anything like that. And we did all of that because of the neighborhood. Everybody's already said this. This is a gym of a neighborhood. It's either Alendale or... Thank you so much. Ready. Next three speakers are not want to speak but their names is constant hearty and she's against Sherry Kelly does not want to speak and she's against and Courtney Hampton does not want to speak and she's against. And the next ones are. Kathy Kraus is not speaking and she's against. And the next ones are. Kathy Krause is not speaking and she is against. The next two speakers are Christy Howlin and Chloe Hale. Please approach either podium, state your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address city council. There I go. Who is? Good evening. Kathy. We have to hand out the staff. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I live at 75321st Avenue North. I understand the church wants to raise money due to the Climbing number of parishioners as their submission overwhelmingly reflects. I am not opposing the church selling the land and the developer buildings and the developer building single family homes and keeping with the NT3 zoning in neighborhood. In fact, I have seen calculations showing the church could likely get a similar price for selling the land as NT3 as they are from Onyx and East. I am opposing the land being re-zoned for one time monetary benefit of the church and an out-of-state for one time monetary benefit of the church and an out of state developer at the ongoing expense of the neighborhood and the people of the city. The proposed rezoning is not compatible with the surrounding neighborhood character. Secondly, Mr. Kilborn said at the May CPPC hearing that any concept planned shown to you today could change tomorrow. The only binding decision is the map amendment itself. Therefore, it's important to consider the worst case scenario of a new 173 dwelling unit development with a maximum height of 60 feet and not on Xanise's current iteration of their development plan. Apparently, developers changing plans is very common and we've already seen changes in the number of dwelling units by Onyxanise at, as pointed out by Commissioner Wanamaker at the CPCC hearing. Thirdly, I'd like to talk about the neighborhood and why the CPCC, who are experts in their field, considered the law and the St. Petersburg Conference of Plan 2020 to unanimously vote no to the rezoning. The plan states, protect and reinforce the unique character of each neighborhood. Develop rules and regulations which allow infill and redevelopment that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood context. Commissioner Wanamaker was right when she said once I crossed Pasadena Avenue it went from 40 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour. With brick all over large canopy not unlike any of the other historically designated neighborhoods in the city. The neighborhood of Old Pasadena is lined with beautiful trees, brick streets, and made up of 214 family homes of all different shapes and styles. Many of the homes are over 100 years old. The character of the neighborhood should be preserved as part of St. Petersburg Heritage, as per the St. Petersburg Comprehensive Plan 2020 and Policy LU 3.6, which calls for land use decisions to weigh heavily on the established character of the neighborhood. Across First Avenue, South, there's some doctors and lawyers offices, which are appointment only, and several of the businesses aren't even open on Friday. The structures are mostly single story and low density often with parking lots. The triplex in question is reasonably small, single story house divided into three. The rest of the neighborhood except the church is N-T-3 single family homes. Thank you. Thank you. Is my name in address? I've been sitting hand out. Oh, I passed it up. Oh, I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. I have a name in address. because I feel like that needs to be said. The City report and rezoning request states that this large residential development could act as a buffer to the doctors' offices and small mom and pop shops on Central Ave. On my block, the same size as the soccer field, there are only seven homes, which includes Jessica, who is also pretty young as well. The development could be 173 dwelling units in two blocks versus the 214 in the whole neighborhood. That's considering worst case, which could be an 80% increase in dwelling units in two blocks for the whole of the old, the old Pest City in the neighborhood. Personally, I think we would need a buffer from the proposed development. First, MSN is not a major future road, nor does the school or soccer field a future major road. The city obviously is not planning on first Ebony South becoming a major future road anytime soon. As a couple of years ago, the vehicle lane east was removed so the bike lane could be installed. First, Ebony South, between Park Avenue and Pasadena Avenue, is quite different to the continuation of Pasadena East. The portion of first avenue in question is only two lane, one lane east, one lane west. The portion has no bus lane or turn lane and only has parking on one side of the street. The other portion from Pasadena East has two lanes going east, and additional bus and turn lane and parking on both sides of the road. I noticed that the planning department used numbers of dwelling units in the applicant's application for traffic modeling, i.e. 86 multifamily units, instead of the maximum, 173. Additionally, the modeling did not take into account the population explosion in the past few years of St. Petersburg, Trezrael and South Pasadena and the many large scale projects that had been approved. Outdated traffic statistics from 2022 were used without considering the population and traffic growth. The modeling shows Park Street between Central Ave and Pasadena has 6,354 daily trips with only an excess of 348 daily trips. I would imagine the St. Pete College Development Bear Creek Commons and Raytheon site among others would significantly reduce this excess if not to zero. I feel like the images we are showing do not show how the development fits into the neighbourhood. The images generally show only that immediate land around the development or show several neighborhood districts all in one. I provided a couple of maps found online looking at the zoning from a neighborhood perspective. I've also clarified where the San Rona stations were in relation to the church property. The property is three blocks from the water. The flood model map shows the property is already within the two of the church property. The property is three blocks from the water. The flood model match shows the property is already within the two of the flood models. The. Thanks. Thank you so much. Next two speakers please. Diana Gopudas, Keith Gopudas, please approach either podium, state your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address city council. My name is Dana Gapudis. I live at 242-71st Avenue. Honourable members of City Council, I stand before you to express my strong opposition to the proposed rezoning of the land currently occupied by the preschool in the soccer field. It fails to meet our community standards. The proposed development is out of character with old Pasadena's neighborhood. Currently, there's not a single three story residential building in the area which sets precedent this proposal blatantly ignores. Also please, right now pull out Onyx and East Power Point and look at their picture of the site plan curated to the location in the neighborhood. Look at that single family home. It's the width of a car. It's superimposed over one car. A whole house. The current NT3 zoning is discussed as allowing 72 units. That's not 72 units, meaning 72 houses within T3. It's only 40 houses. You can have 32 accessory dwelling units. So let's think when we're comparing how different NT3 and NSM1 are as 40 houses versus a lot with NSM1. The City Report also shows that two and a half individuals as 40 houses versus a lot with NSM1. The City Report also shows that two and a half individuals will live in each unit no matter if the structure is in T3 or NSM1. However, we know that more than two and a half individuals would be appropriated for NSM1. NT3 structures can only be two stories. NSM1 can be three. NT3, the second story can't be more than 75% of the first story. That goes out the door with NSM1. NT3 has greater boundary setbacks. NSM1, make it closer to the rib. NT3 has a maximum building height of 36 feet. NSM1, 48 or? Let's get workpins in there with a new proposal. We'll change plans. The zoning's already in place. Go 60 feet high. The variation in structural requirements between the zoning results and significant entries in livable square footage within T3 versus NSM1. The old Pasadena district has one of the highest milligrates in the city, akin to those in some areas of Old Northeast, snow, aisle, and our esteemed waterfront homes. We have demands and high standards for redevelopment. This proposal's lack of affordable, middle-income housing options further illustrates its unsuitability for our community. It should focus on single-family homes, on larger lots, and preserve the neighborhoods integrity. In the CPPC meeting, Commissioner Jeffrey says, we have put in place zoning that allows this kind of development. But it's not being built there in other places yet, because they have to assemble lots. It's easier to say, hey, we've got this piece of land over here. It's got a lot of square footage. Let's just rezone. The Vision 2020 plan has appropriate zoning in place for town-home development. We are not precluding development of the church site, but it should stay in T3 single-family houses on respectable lots, not car width single family houses. I urge you to vote no on Flum 75 until a plan that truly fits the character and regulations of Old Pasadena is submitted. We need developments that enhance our community, all of St. Pete, respect our laws, and are developed transparently and with genuine community benefit in mind. Thank you. My name is Keith Computis and I love it to 42, 71st Ave. I'm gonna cut this short because many of the concerns that have been raised by various members tonight, I sure as well, one topic that has not come up yet is the environmental impact of this proposed rezoning. Driving through the old Pasadena neighborhood, there are already issues at times with water drainage. I'm concerned that this development adding so many units just really packed in like sardines. Unlike anything around it, I don't expect the drainage issues to get any better. I'm concerned that it does not adequately address the required impervious surface ratio of 0.65. There's no, I mean at least I don't see any provisions to manage runoff. And I think that any plan that would require, you know, such a large scale of rezoning should manage water impact effectively. I don't see that here. And I think this rezoning would just exacerbate an already existing issue. And I guess just to highlight what everyone's been saying, obviously there's been a lot of opposition tonight. This plan rezoning would change the fabric of the neighborhood. It's a shame that the church congregation is reduced in size right now, and it sounds like having some issues with funds. But this establishes a precedent. I mean, what happens when the church needs more money and wants to sell the rest of their land, or are they gonna seek more and more rezoning. If they need to sell something fine but I would just you know encourage the church to follow existing zoning rather than trying to squeeze every of Greed, please vote no on this rezoning proposal. And let's keep it as NT3. Thank you. Next two speakers please. Next two speakers, Mr. Vice Chair Stephanie Sassin. Whitney Harding, please approach either podium. States your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address city council. Go ahead, man. Hi, my name is Stephanie Sassin. I live at 670-63rd Street South. I am a Pasadena preschool parent and a nearby resident and local native. I come before you today in strong opposition of the proposed rezoning to express my deep concerns about the environmental and infrastructure implications. This proposed development will not only increase our population density significantly but also strain our existing wastewater management systems, specifically the pump station at the intersection of first Avenue South and Pasadena Avenue. Currently our wastewater infrastructure, particularly at the noted intersections, that's calibrated for a much smaller populace. The proposed increase in residences will undoubtedly overload our existing pumps leading to potential system failures and environmental hazards, as we just saw with sewage issues from her tropical storm Debbie and that was just a tropical storm. Before any decision on rezoning is approved, it is critical that a comprehensive assessment of our wastewater infrastructure capacity be conducted to ensure it can handle the proposed development without risking public health or safety. The current studies that have been done do not include any of the already approved development nearby that has been built and realized. Therefore, any data that was collected has a misleading deficit. The rezoning should not be approved until the study is complete. Additionally, this development threatens to reduce our neighborhood's tree canopy significantly. We know trees are not vital only for their aesthetic value but for their role in air for purification, providing shade, and maintaining local biodiversity. The presence of local wildlife that depends on this canopy and existing open spaces cannot be overlooked. Our thorough wildlife mitigation study must be conducted to understand and mitigate the impact of habitat loss on the local fauna. Given these substantial concerns, it is imperative that we do not rush into rezoning without proper studies and preparations. The potential environment on infrastructural impacts demand careful consideration and thorough planning we must ensure our communities health safety and environmental integrity Are not compromised for the sake of development therefore I urge you to vote no on the rezoning and I have a couple more comments Based on just a little bit of what I heard earlier is if there was an argument to attract that families at 850 K thousand that is very unrealistic for affordability and it definitely would not promote any further diversity in the neighborhood as the goal is intended. Additionally, adding high density also threatens the safety of the preschool especially since the church has no real blueprint in place for it and the neighborhood has no sidewalks because it hasn't been needed. Lastly, I understand the pull of a major activity area but there are other options and you must maintain part of St. Pete's actual charm that draws people here or less do you render the area unrecognizable? Say no to the rezoning, please. Thank you. Go ahead. Hi, my name's Whitney Hardy. I live at 335, 65th Street North, in St. Petersburg, Florida. I became a proud homeowner and the adjacent NT3 neighborhood of Lake Pasadena as states. And I have been a parent at Pasadena School for over a decade. In fact, my youngest that just graduated from there is here today. I love the preschool and I actually had a whole prepared speech. So I'm gonna talk a little bit about why I handed you these maps today. I think that this whole area needs to be considered, not just the four abutting properties. I moved here from Broward County and married a local and chose this neighborhood that I live in in this side of town. He wanted the old Northeast and I was like, I want to be close to the beach. I want to brighten my bike with my family, with my kids. We ride our bikes through Lake Pasadena, old Pasadena, Park Street historic district. We can play in the roads. Miss Cole and City staff has used the word proximity and support of their argument for which there is no definition of measurement. I find that kind of interesting. They have alleged that public transport which measures 0.4 miles to the east of Pasadena Avenue, is in close proximity, that the activity center on the central corridor to the northeast of Pasadena Avenue and central is 0.5 from the parcel is close proximity, as shown on the future land use map that I provided. I've provided you with the Coastal High Hazard map from the Comprehensive Plan, which illustrates the Coastal High Hazard area, which is 12 homes, or 0.2 miles west of this parcel, and even closer proximity. I have provided the Zoning Gismap, clearly indicating what Commissioner Michaels was stating, A C of NT three homes, residential, surround these parcels, clearly buffered by what the city put in place in their plan. A CRT1 zoning. We don't need more buffers. We have the buffer in place. You gave it to us. CCS1 in red to the north of the single parcel allows a max building height of 36 feet. CRT1 to the north allows a max building height of 36 feet. They are not within this activity center where now you have that growth. I chose to focus on the 60 feet height because we're working off of a conceptual plan, not actual plans from the person who owns the property, a developer that's interested in changing our land. You recently re-zoned a property on Central for this type of build. Three years ago, 2020, it has sat vacant, it is a danger, it is a hazard, it has no fence around it, it has a huge berm on it that people could live in. This is the place for this type of development to go. Not in our neighborhoods where you're bleeding into the areas where we live and enjoy our lives with our family. Pasadena could pursue other opportunities for sale that would continue the single family as we've heard from audience today. Thank you. Next two speakers please. Next two speakers. Mr. Vice Chair Ken Jobsopson Amy Pasadinté please approach other podium state your name and address you'll have three minutes to address City Council Ken Jopson 335 65 Street North as my wife just alluded we've been members of the church school for a decade I'm not going to read the speech we're not gonna highlight what's gone on tonight. We all swore a tell of truth. We've had church members come up here multiple times in the lie. They're addresses that there's no other offers. I can tell you when the first came up that was for sale for the previous pastor, I walked over, I worked in finance and said, I have an offer for this property. He said not at this time. The restrictions they put on that property, that whoever buys it can't open the school there of any denomination of any age group, can't be elementary, middle, nothing. So you build all these family homes out there, they're preventing what these families need, places for their kids to go to school. The church is mismanaged. They've chose to spend 300,000 on an organ and not reassure their building be safe for their congregant. So when they cry poor, it's because they've done it to themselves. And now they're seeking us, the community, to disrupt ourselves to overcome their mistakes. They had a school of 45 years operating flawlessly, who they fired their head person of 23 years, just recently, which is on cost and their accreditation because the person taking over doesn't have the education and care of the accreditation for the school that they claim they're gonna reopen. The reopening of daycare, but again, why would a church be truthful when they consistently stand up here and lie over and over and over again? And on a con East, why would they need a rezone, single-failing homes, if they're building single-failing homes? Why are those two lots in this? It's a deceitful manner. So when they get a rezone, they'll flip it. If they're going to build a single-failing homes, they don't need to re-zone to single-failing homes. I don't understand why it's part of this application if that's what they're gonna build. It's a seafold tactic that they're using for profit. Thank you. Amy Posadente, 2060, 63rd Street North. Members of City Council, I stand before you as a preschool parent and a long time member of the Pasadena Community Church. I have attended this church since I was a baby and have been a member since being confirmed as a teenager. The church is land and the buildings upon it have always played a key part of my life. I am also an active volunteer on the neighborhood level. Today I strongly oppose the proposed rezoning from seven to twenty homes on church grounds, grounds that have not only nurtured generations, but also embody the historical essence of Old Pasadena. This change threatens to disrupt the delicate balance of the neighborhood's infrastructure and its distinctive sense of place, eloquently defended by Commissioner Michaels and unanimously appell by the CPC against Flom75. Their decision reflects the St. Pete Comp plan 2020, which mandates that the distinct character of each neighborhood be not just recognized but actively protected and enhanced. Moreover, CPPC chair Wanamaker has urged residents to consider additional protections for their properties, recognizing the historical significance of homes in old Pasadena, some nearing 100 years old of use as you have heard. Like the neighborhood, the church has a rich history and is nearing its centennial. Commissioner Michaels pointed out that the PC sanctuary was designed by famous architect William B. Harvard. The neighborhood grew and developed around the church and its buildings. Given these robust foundations and the shared commitment of CPPC members to preserve the fabric of this community, I implore you to stand firmly against the rezoning. Our collective future should honor our past, not capitulate to high-density developments that undermine the values and the history we so cherish. Thank you for safeguarding the legacy and the character of Old Pasadena. Thank you, Nick, Superspeakers, please. Next to Speaker's Madam Chair, Karen Berkin-Rent, and Arthur Berkin-Rent, please approach Agapolian, state your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address the council. My name is Karen Burncrant and I reside at 200 Park Street South. And I'm here for an ad the advocate for the trees. There are 70 grand O trees on this piece of parcel in Old Pasadena. Now I think that we're all well aware with the St. Pete urban forestry, you know how important trees are, you know, to the beauty and to the safety and to our environment. St. Petersburg Tree canopy analysis in District 1, which we are. We only have 18% with a lowest. So on this grand plan, which I didn't see, one of the trees being preserved, I don't know how any of them will be preserved. We measure them, you have to have been ordered to be a grand tree, you have to be their circumference, it has to be 30 inches. Several of them that we measured were like 98 inches, so in order to keep the environment and providing shade and also, you know, promoting social and economic environment health and also with the drainage in our area, you know, with the root system. I really think that should be really considered and also the habitat for our animals. I mean, if you walk in the area and if you do walk in the neighborhood, I mean, many times I see, you know, I don't know the name of the woodpecker there, but, you know, whether there are new synopsis or not. But I, you know, you see them filled in the trees and it really would be a shame to remove. It takes 20 to 50 years, you know, for a tree to grow into that height, or maybe even longer. But I know there was a, I guess, after World War II in St. Pete, they had an area where they made it, it was on purpose, purposeful that they planted trees for shade. So I think with removing these beautiful gran, oh, so I think it would be just a crime, it would be a shame that we would ruin the environment. I pray often because I live on Park Street and in the center we have oak trees. And I just, you know, because of the traffic, I just say it's a matter of time. I just think, well, my God, you know, there, you know, there's another oak that will be leaving. I mean, you know, the Smithsonian in Washington, they're trying to figure out with University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania in Harvard how to go ahead and to grow live oaks in the Northeast. I mean, because it's our cultural heritage. They you know they research this. This is something that's very important and we have it. We have it here in in our own backyard. Well I'm author Bernkrant. I live at 200 Park Street South. In addition, I may not be able to speak too well, but I wanted to show everyone we try to locate where the trees were, you know, I don't know whether you can see it. But I mean you can see how many trees on the outskirts of the, this is the soccer property on the outskirts of the street. There are approximately eight to ten live folks at the city planted. Those were all city trees. And on both sides, on the first avenue and second Avenue side and interior to that are at least ten and most of those are giant live folks. And at the end of the streets, there are four to five large, large, old living there. And I wanted to point out that none of the pictures that were shown identified the location of the old. One showed a large life, and on the plan that was shown to us at the college when it was presented, there were no Oaks, when no trees are located, and the only thing said was that they would be replaced, but the replacement of a 10 foot tree for 60, 70 foot wife Oak, just doesn't measure up. And in the pictures today, there was one that superimposed the development on the background of the existing trees. Well, that's not gonna happen. And also there was no recognition of location of trees. And the last thing I wanted to address you, there's the city has a plan. Urban, urban, I forgot what it was, urban forestry or something like that. That looks forward to having a suitable cover for the city, which is a shade. Thank you so much. Next two speakers please. The next couple of cars are not speaking Madam Chair. Brett Teabassi is against. Angie Anderson is against. Henry Smith is against. And Tracy Thomas is against. The last two cars Madam Chair are Lindsey W Juarez and Max McCain. Please approach either podium, state your name and address. You'll have three minutes to address city council. Thank you. I'm Lindsay Juarez. I live at 7210, first Avenue North, very close to the school with preschool. I am 37 with three small children for the record. The housing goal and the comprehensive plan reads to facilitate the provision of decent, safe, sanitary, healthy and affordable housing, suitable in suitable neighborhoods at affordable costs to meet the needs of the present and future residents of the city while preserving and enhancing the community's physical, and social fabric, and cultural diversity, and while protecting the interests of special needs groups, and extremely low, very low, and moderate income households. It was stated that, quote, this rezoning aims to increase the overall number of available residential units within the city of St. Petersburg. In quote, according to the panelists, Realtors organization, inventory of single-family homes, town homes, and condos was up 96% in June 2024 compared to June 2023. The absorption rate of single-family homes in June 2024 was 30% compared to 71% in June 2023. This illustrates a more balanced market than previous years and not a shortage of housing. The addition of the Raytheon development, Bear Creek development, SPC development, Stromblase and the 690 development will further ease housing shortage. Furthermore, the applicant has not mentioned affordable housing regarding this property. And 700,000 to 900,000 is hardly considered affordable for many working class folks. Please vote no. Thank you. Thank you. Chair, I believe this next gentleman needs to be sworn in. Is that correct? That's correct, yes, sir. Very good. Thank you. Do you swear a firm that the evidence for about to give a truth that it won't truth and that it's about to prove? I do, yes ma'am. Are we moving? But, okay. Hi everyone. Max McCann, 2648, 3rd Avenue South. Great to see all this public engagement here tonight, but glad I get to say the last word in support of this project. My daughter goes to James B. Sanderlin, K-8 school on the South side. So why am I bringing this up? Here's the connection. They don't have a full-time nurse at my daughter's school. There's over 800 kids that go there. The nurse is only there part time because they have to split her between that school and two other schools. So there are entire days when more than 800 school kids are there all day without a nurse. And I just pray that my daughter doesn't get sick on one of those days when the nurse is not there. And the reason they can't have a full-time nurse is because we can't find a nurse who can afford to live here on that salary. So if you think that the housing affordability crisis doesn't affect you just because you already own a home, you're dead wrong. And maybe this project is not affordable or workforce housing, but it's going to add to the supply. And that's going to take some pressure off of prices. That's economics 101. Or there might be a nurse who's retired from a lucrative career, and she wants to work at this school, or even a doctor who's retired, and wants to help out at this school. We need it. We need it. We need it. I get emails all the time from the volunteer coordinator at my school. They take parents to come into the clinic here. With no, they say, no medical training required. They're that desperate for somebody to staff the clinic at the school. So it's a real problem. We need more housing. We need more diversity in our housing stock too. We need smart urban infill and if we're not going to do it close to a major corridor near transit next to the Pinellas Trail, where are we going to do it seriously. That's all I have to say. Thank you all very much. Thank you so much. No more speakers. No more speakers. No more speakers. Okay. So this concludes the pluric comment and now we'll move into our cross examination where each party will have five minutes, four cross examination. Staff, would you like to cross examine? No, staff waste. Thank you. Opponents, would you like to cross examine? Opponents? Chief. Yeah, five minutes. I apologize. I'm not really sure how this one works. I waved last time. It's to ask questions of any person who provided testimony today. Thank you. Thank you. I do have a question. I'm going to ask questions of any person who provided testimony today. Thank you. Thank you. I do have a question. I'm going to ask questions of any person who provided testimony today. Thank you. Thank you. I do have a question that I could not find an answer to. The property right now is land use institutional. And I had a number of people ask me what would be the default if it sold as is. Does it do what happens to the zoning and the land use? Does it default to are you and T3? How does that work? Derek Hillborn, manager and planning historic preservation. I'm going to go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and represented up, represented up of the church, that in the sales contract, which I know are usually confidential, but I was told this. Sorry, Ms. Chair. I think this is cross-examination if she has a specific question of somebody who, a witness, that would be appropriate. Attorney Dean. Are you getting to a question? Yes. Yes. Okay. Is there an incentive for the developer to develop more units in the project? Is there a financial incentive per the price? To whom are you asking? To you, I guess you would know. I was told that there was. Regarding traffic, where will the traffic go from the preschool that is now on first Avenue South? Because the new development would not replace the preschool traffic it would add to it. So is Cole do you know? No. There are two traffic experts here which were introduced by staff in the applicant and if the chair would allow, I'm sure that they neither testified in the case in chief. I mean, if there's a, if there is an answer, look, some of this sounds like a site plan and you're not, you're not considering a site plan today, you're considering the rezoning so that would be my only caveat there. But if there is an answer from an answer, you know, so be it. OK. I don't see one, so we will continue. That's OK. That's all right. Bear with me here. Sorry. I'm sorry. You know, I'm not sure if I have any other questions. I think that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is it applicant? Would you like to cross exam? No madam, chair. The applicant will. Thank you. So now we move to rebuttal or closing remarks. Each party will have five minutes to provide closing remarks or rebuttal. Staff, any closing remarks or rebuttal? I do thank you just a couple clarifications or answers to some comments that came up. First one thing I wanted to address there were some references to level of service being outdated. I did want to mention that each year there is an annual update to the capital improvements element of the city's comprehensive plan. Our office is required to coordinate with different city departments to annually update those numbers so that when the level of service is being reported in the staff reports, it is reflecting those annual updates. The second thing is there were a number of comments about the needs of the church and whether the church needs to sell the property. That is not a consideration in the city staff analysis. That is not something that we can take into consideration. Our role in this process is to evaluate the application against the goals, objectives, and policies of the comprehensive plan and the evaluation criteria in the land development regulations only. Third, there were some references to proximity. We do talk about proximity in our analyses. In this case, you have the proximity references to commercial mixed use immediately to the north across First Avenue. And also, we talk often about access to transportation options, multimodal opportunities. In this case, you have the Pinellas Trail at the northeast corner of the two subject blocks. And you also have sunrunner stations located within one quarter to one half mile from these two city blocks. As you know from our many conversations and other corridor discussions, we are often talking about one eighth mile, one quarter mile, one half mile proximity. So these are things that are included in our staff report analysis. Fourth, there were a number of things mentioned in public comments relating to site plan details, trees, impervious surface, drainage. Please remember that we and our role for this type of application do not do a site plan review. And our staff is consistently clear that we are looking at the map amendment, again based on the comp plan and the criteria in the LDRs, totally independent of the site plan that's being proposed. There is no development agreement here, so we are not looking at site plan details, and we often caution. We did it in the neighborhood association meeting here, that there is a concept plan that's been put forward. Once the map category is changed, if changed, there is nothing binding that that concept plan be developed. So we often caution on that. And that covers the two site plan details that I wanted to mention. That's it for now. We don't have any other comments, but we can answer any questions if needed. Thank you. Thank you so much. Does the opponent have any closing remarks? I'm both. a lot of good things were said in the hearing with the CPPC and we paid attention and we listened to their expertise. A member of the CPPC stated that a number of years ago zoning changed to a intensify to 60 units per acre between First Ave North and First Ave South going west. Neighborhoods, corridors, activity centers have already been planned and allowed for. Zoning is already in place that allows for this concept, meaning densification, multifamily town homes and multipurpose, etc. On the future major streets, so that this type of zoning change or addition would not the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, the transportation, The church has repeatedly stated that the developers planning for 60 units to be built on the property. They do not plan to max out the density allowed by NSM zoning. However, the site plan submitted by the applicant is irrelevant in this decision as just noted by Mr. Kilborn. The vote should be based on the maximum effect that this up zoning could carry. The developer is not held to their plan and plans change. During the most recent incarnation of the Old Pasadena Neighborhood Association, residents weighed in on what they love about the neighborhood. The overwhelming responses were large lots, single-family homes, historic architecture, significant tree canopy, quiet atmosphere, brick streets, and granite curbs. Several commissioners commented on the unique established character of the neighborhood, the neighborhood, not what's across any streets, but the neighborhood within the boundaries of Old Pasadena that are recognized by the city of St. Petersburg. We are a neighborhood association and we have a neighborhood map. And we were talking about what is within our neighborhood, meaning in the boundaries of First Avenue South within Pasadena Avenue on Villa Grande. It is not across those streets we're talking about. They noted that it is very similar to other historic neighborhoods in St. Pete and as someone said they recommended that we researched designating old Pasadena as historic neighborhood to further protect it. I noticed the granite curves around our neighborhood, and I believe that with a dense rezoning like this, they would likely be damaged or removed in such a development. I was going to say something about a site plan. Staff states that the proposed change is consistent with the existing land use patterns in the report to the northwest and east of the subject area. This refers to a small amount of differing land use I've shown on the zoning map. It fails to recognize the land use to the west and south of the subject area that are all consistent with the current NT3, which should be the predominant factor. Staff statement mentions the entire 1st Avenue South corridor, but excludes the area west of Pasadena. Members of the CPPC noted that first-av south west of Pasadena is an entirely different road with two lanes two way speed limit of 30 and dedicated bicycle lane. Therefore comparison of this stretch of road to the rest of First Avenue South eastward is not reasonable. The line has already been drawn with the Western and Southwestern boundary of the Central Avenue corridor activity center as well as the fact that first avenue south, as a future major street ends at Pasadena Avenue. The lines are clearly drawn. We do not have to go over those lines. They're there for a reason, they were put in place by the officials at our city when they put this zoning in place. The recommendation of the approval of this rezoning application has not weighed heavily on the established character of the area. Please consider their expertise and the evidence that has been provided to you in this matter. Thank you very much. Thank you. Does the applicant have any closing remarks or rebuttal? Yes, Madam Chair. I was serious when I said earlier that my task tonight was uninviable because clearly the neighbors feel that infill development on this site at a medium density designation will ruin their neighborhood and nobody likes to hear that and no developer wants to do that. So I want to walk through some facts that we have heard tonight. This project is adjacent to adjacent to two single family homes. It's adjacent to a nine acre institutional church property, a city waste station, and a city park. It's a quarter mile from the BRT station, and it's not only consistent with the neighborhood goals, your transit-oriented development plans and goals, the missing middle goals, all of which are in your comprehensive plan. The characterization of this property being an intrusion into the neighborhood is simply untrue. The lack of acknowledgement that this property is on first Avenue South, embuffered from these single-family homes by all of these other uses, has been omitted from any of the conversation tonight by the neighbors. These two parcels looking at the map on page three of the binder that we provided to you with the planning report shows that these are the only two parcels west of Bastadena Avenue that are adjacent to non-residential on three sides and located on a commercial avenue. The thought that this is going to start a trickle-down effect of neighborhood conversions is misplace. These facts make the characterization, again, a very heartfelt characterization that this change changes the neighborhood, simply untrue. The reliance on one policy in the plan to the exclusion of all of the other goals and policies of the city is also misguided. You may naturally be swayed by brick roads in historic homes and candidly, that's what my client was swayed by as well. That's what they want to be a part of. The same reason all of these folks love the area is why a project to introduce more residents to this area is appropriate, because people will want to live here. This request does not change that. This request proposes to provide residents to this area is appropriate because people will want to live here. This request does not change that. This request proposes to provide medium density residential on the edge of institutional uses which is on the edge of an amazing neighborhood. Respectfully if medium density residential adjacent to single family wasn't appropriate, this council wouldn't have approved the last agenda item that you just approved. Approving this change is consistent with the goals, policies, and objectives of the comprehensive plan. Your staff, which you rely upon, has been consistent in their opinion of that. They have been consistent in their analysis of the goals and policies of the plan and your land development code and how this project fits in and helps with your stated goals of introducing a mix of housing along transit corridors within neighborhoods. The applicant's presentation went through evidence of that showing in the various historic neighborhoods of Kenwood and Northeast around the community how on the edge of those neighborhoods this is an appropriate use. The applicant has presented ample evidence for this board or this Council to approve this request and we respectfully request that you do so tonight. Thank you. Thank you. So now City Council will go into executive session in having the first request to speak is council member handouts. Thank you chair and first of all I want to thank everyone for coming out here and speaking on behalf of your neighborhood and being active in what was happening a lot of times it doesn't and speaking on behalf of your neighborhood and being active in what was happening a lot of times that doesn't happen. So I always appreciate the input from the residents on these issues and zoning issues are some of the issues that we deal with that people are very passionate about and understandably so because you should be passionate about your neighborhood. And so I don't fall at anyone for being passionate about your neighborhood and being here. What I want to focus on right now is our decision is gonna be based on the factors that are set forth in section 16.70.04.1. I'm glad staff made it clear that we're not gonna consider whether or not the church is being, has to be sold, the factors surrounding that, that is not relevant to our discussion. Our discussion is really gonna be based on these factors that we have to consider, period. There are people that have opinions as to increasing density, one where the other. Again, it's all based on different cases and every case before us is different. I know we approved an item before, well that approval has nothing to do with this approval because every case has different factors. And when the courts look at our record, they're not going to look at the record of another case, they're going to look at this record. So I want to make it clear that I'm just looking at the factors of this case and I'm only going to weigh those factors. So with that being said, the standards of the review, the first one is compliance of the proposed use with the goals and objective policies and guidelines of the comprehensive plan. And I would like staff to come up and I'm going to start with page five of the relevant considerations of the amendments to the future land use map that was part of your staff report for the May 14, 2024 hearing before the CPPC. And that kind of went through a lot of the factors that are being considered. The first one that you listed is LU 2.5, which is the land use plan. Shall make the maximum use of available public facilities and minimize the need for new facilities by directing new development to infill redevelopment locations where excess capacity is available. Derek, are you there yet? Because I know you're very organized. I assume you are, but I want to make sure. Okay, I know you do. Okay. So when I look at this, I know the objective of LU2 is on intensive growth in activity centers. That's the focus. And central avenue quarter activity center ends east of Pasadena Avenue, right? So how is it that you apply this to the scenario? It's not an activity center. LU2.4 as a matter of fact says, the city may permit an increase in land use intensity or density outside of activity centers where available infrastructure exists, and surrounding uses are compatible. And even the objective itself talks about that the future land use element shall facilitate a compact urban development pattern that provides opportunities to more efficiently use and develop infrastructure, land or other resources and services by concentrating more intensive growth in activity centers and other appropriate areas. So could you explain to me how this is relevant? Sure. We maybe get the staff presentation up and I'll use a map to kind of force and walk you through our approach to this. You are correct. Activity centers do go through a much more extensive and detailed planning process to determine what are acceptable limits because you are using multipliers to amplify density and flurry ratio. For example, in that activity center boundary, let me just get to this map and then. In that Central Avenue Activity Center boundary, it is 60 units per acre plus 10 workforce housing, 70 units per acre, allowed within that Activity Center. That's a concentration to that Central Avenue spine. You can see at the intersection of Pasadena where it meets central in the first avenues, there still is commercial mixed-use zoning here. And on the outside of that commercial mixed-use, you have NSM multifamily zoning. So just kind of working here. So you'll see this is the CCS mixed-use zoning category. And then on the perimeter of this mixed use commercial you have these orange areas which are NSM multi-family. So if somebody was asking in this application for those activity center densities and FOIA ratio, we may not draw the same conclusion that we are drawing for NSM, which is 15 units per acre plus the workforce housing bonus. We're talking about a much smaller density number than what you would see in the activity center. And so for us looking at this, you have the commercial mixed use here. you have this existing prevalence of NSM multifamily on the outside edges of that commercial mixed use and that's why looking at the conditions in this corner, we felt that it met kind of the minimum threshold for looking at these criteria because it was a lower density, it was multifamily in a kind of matched how the other edges of this commercial mixed-use intersection and corridor were being treated. Okay, so basically everything that is kind of on the other side, north, east of the neighborhood is what that focus on is for this LU 2.1. Yes, that will. Yeah, I'll leave you 2.5. And 2.5, I mean, I was providing you a more comprehensive answer for all of that criteria on number one.1. Yes, that will. All of you 2.5. And 2.5, I mean, I was providing you a more comprehensive answer for all of that criteria on number one. Yeah. 2.5 is a little more specific to public facilities, access capacity and how you're coordinating that. We've demonstrated through-level service that there's plenty of access capacity for what we're obligated to look at. And here we did feel like this is, you know, concentrating this change in an area along a commercial mixed use corridor at a major node on the West End where these different major roadways come together. And that was our approach to this. We definitely were looking at our analysis and what was around to the north and to the east. You have the institutional church as you've heard to the south and then you do transition into the single-family homes to the west and those were the additional pictures that were not in our presentation slides on the screen but we're included in the materials that you had received before the meeting. Okay. The next one you mentioned is LU3.4. The land use plan shall provide for compatible land use transition from orderly land use arrangement, proper buffering, and the use of physical and natural separators. And then is noted that the subject site is located approximately one block south of central avenue and adjacent. Now I'm curious what is your meaning of adjacent? Does this mean a common order? A adjacent is usually there isn't a specific numerical number. Typically if something is touching in a report I would say that it's a joining. If something is touching in a report, I would say that it's a joining. If it is in very close proximity, generally, I would use the term adjacent. So in this case, we're using and applying the word adjacent as being very close to, but maybe not necessarily a joining. Right. Okay. So, to pass the DNA of any South, both of which designated future major streets. Now, isn't the site bordered by First Avenue South, which is a residential road, right? And that street type is a neighborhood collector road, right? And I don't know if you need Tom Whale and to come speak on the road situation because I'm curious about the road situation here. Tom, my own transportation coordinator at the cities transportation market management department. Good evening. Hi, good evening. So I know it was pointed out at the CPPC and when I looked at the map, it appears that the road, the road just north of the property is a residential road and what's defined as the neighborhood collector first avenue south. And then when you cross Pasadena Avenue, then first avenue south, east of Pasadena is an arterial road, a more of a thoroughfare. That's correct, yeah. Okay. Because that was in clarified, that wasn't clarified in the CPPC. Yeah, actually west of that was in clarified that wasn't clarified in in the CPPC Yeah, actually west of Pasadena Avenue first. I mean south is a local street right Okay, yes, and that's what I wanted to clarify. Thank you very much So how much of the Pasadena community church property in question is adjacent to Pasadena Avenue? Because when I'm looking at this it appears that there's another You know when I looked at the property the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of This is City Park, right? And this triangle piece here is City. That triangle piece is that owned by the church? Yeah, it's in that. There's a landscape business there. No, no, there's a little triangular piece right. Yeah, this right here is a utility lift station. Yeah, right. The city of St. Pete yeah. Right yeah so okay just why make sure because we're talking about it and you talk about it's right beside Pasadena Avenue it's not clear it's really not right it's there's another property right really not, right? There's another property, right? And so that's adjacent to the property in question. Okay. The only station in between you. Okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure. And then it is noted that there, in that same section, two blocks north of the site, there is a 4.95 acre of land zone NSM1 serving as a buffer between its respective norivably adjacent single-family residential zone parcels and the commercially zone parcels located to the south. So that's on the other side of central avenue and there, I guess the comparison was, there's a similar big property that serves as a buffer right to the other neighborhood. Correct. And that was some of what we were reviewing is this NSM zoning up here. Now, explain to me, like when you talk about buffers, then how do you classify the CCS1 that's north of it, and the CRT1 that's zoning that's north of it? How do you, is that above for also? Is that not above for, what do you mean by that? Like, maybe transitional is a better term. The commercial mixed use categories, the red CCS one, the purple CRT, the CCT and blue, those are commercial mixed use. And you do have some instances of just a hard edge where you have commercial mixed use zoning. And then right across the street, you have single family zoning or in here too. You have this hard edge of commercial mixed use across the street from single family. And the reason, yeah, and just the reason I'm asking this is because I'll give you an example, like historical, nor-Ether anything on Forest Street, right? There are commercial zone right properties right on the edge of Forest Street, CCT-1, right? It's all around there, right? That serves as a buffer to Forest Street. We had another zoning hearing right before this that the term buffer was used again for that's for for for the same type of property so that's what's confusing to me in terms of what you use as buffer because where does the buffer end how how far does a buffer go and I'm trying to really wrap my head around that because when you look at the snabahood there's a residential street then there's other zoning to me if that's a buffer right, then there's other zoning. To me, if that's a buffer, right? But then you're like, no, there's more of buffer. And what I'm trying to understand is, I mean, if that's the argument, then you could go into historical and the refee, and then the other neighborhood and say, we need more buffer. We, you know, this, these commercial properties here are enough. We're just going to continue going down the neighborhood. You see where I'm getting to. Yeah. I would say that we're not arguing a need for a buffer. We are saying that there's an application that's been made for a rezoning to a multi-family category. When you are looking at the distribution of land use classifications and categories, best practices are commercial mixed use to multifamily higher density, to multifamily lower density, to single family with ADU. So it is consistent with how you would traditionally apply land use categories, but we are not arguing in our report that there is a need for multifamily buffer to go here. Okay. Okay, okay. Then that helps me. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. In terms of LU 3.6, Lanyu's planning decision shall weigh heavily. The established character of predominantly developed areas were changes of user intensity of development or contemplated. It says here that the Southern block faces first Avenue South, every parcel located to the east of the subject site up to the terminus of first Avenue South at Bayshore Drive. Six miles east has a future land use designation with permits and equivalent or higher density as a proposed, changes proposed, right? And so there is a comparison again made to the character East of Pasadena Avenue, which by the way, completely different road, completely different road. And so, once the neighborhood collector, which is residential, and one is a thorough clear, which is arterial. And I don't think that was hashed out before. Clearly, I know that I think one of the commissioners made a note of it. So what I'm trying to understand is, how can you compare the established character of that area, with an area, by the way, that has a completely different character in terms of a road that's right beside it? So the road was a point that was well articulated in the public comments at the CPPC. It was referenced by some of the commission members. We did go back out for this hearing and for your materials to collect additional photographs to reflect some of that discussion and we can go through some of those here. In terms of character right now of the two city blocks, in addition to the other things that we've already talked about, on the two city blocks, the E-City block has institutional buildings on it. Two story institutional buildings that are running currently a preschool and we're running church functions before. So the idea of a multi-family or a single family with ADU, the character of that is going to be typically more residential than would be the institutional buildings that you see there now. That institutional building on the East Block runs the almost the entire face of the first avenue frontage and that's that's a solid Frontage without any breaks so those are the kind of things you know obviously there are two ways to look at this and it's been Articulated well in the discussion are you looking at it from the southwest corner? Are you looking at it from the Northeast corner? And our analysis, we were leaning more on looking to the north and to the northeast because it is adjacent across the street from those activities. And it was consistent with how the other three corners of that major intersection there were being dealt with. And yeah, and to your point, it's institutional now, and I know that I'm glad actually the opponent asks this question in terms of the future land use, you know, whether or not it has to be, you know, institutional, state institution. That's a good question, because the reality is, they're asking their application, is they're asking for residential medium It doesn't have to be residential medium right they can ask for residential urban they can ask for something else They can ask for planned redevelopment residential isn't that correct? That is correct so each zoning category has a compatible future land use map category in this case Their interest was in applying for a rezoning to NSM1 and the compatible map use category for that is the RM. So if it stays NT3, there would need to be, still need to be a future application to amend the underlying future land use map category from institutional to residential urban, which is the compatible land use category for NT3. Right. Okay. LU 3.7 in the report, land use planning decisions shall include a review to determine whether existing land use plan boundaries are logically drawn in relation to existing conditions and expected future conditions. And the, your report says the proposed land use boundary would be logically drawn in relation to existing and expected future conditions. I mean, this statement is a conclusionary and there's no analysis provided as whether the existing land use plan boundaries are logically drawn. I understand what you're saying. I think we've described our approach to these criteria and number one by looking at the map and how the commercial mixed use is dealt with by having a multi-family NSM transition into the single family outside of that. Okay. But it is a conclusion statement. There's just not an analysis there. I understand. Yeah, OK. So going through the other factors, factor two, it's not really applicable. Factors three, whether the proposed changes would alter the population density pattern and thereby adversely affect residential dwelling units. It does not include or public schools. Why is that when that is what our standard is? I'm sorry, could you ask that question again? So our standard under the our ordinances, the question is whether the proposed changes would alter the population density pattern and thereby adversely affect residential dwelling units or public schools. Why is public schools not included in their relevant considerations given that that is a part of our standards of review under the ordinance and what information have we been given on that? We haven't been provided any information from the applicant on that. We don't do school concurrency anymore. It's no longer required. But we do continue to report out new developments to the Pinellas County School District so that they can continue to plan for projects and changes that are being approved through the city What are you saying that even though our standards of review and maybe legal can explain this to me? Why why does it say or public schools in there if are we not supposed to consider that? Derek's right about the the stripping of currency with schools and community planning act of 2009. It could be a relic. Okay, that's what I want. And you know, look, we always look at the criteria kind of on balance. And you know, if there's some things might be addressed a little bit more than others as you go through the comp plan elements and the various criteria. Okay. Then I'm going to jump to some of the other ones that you know, four, we kind of covered five is fine six. The amount of availability of vacant land and land suitable for redevelopment for similar uses in the city or on contiguous properties. Derek, how do you evaluate the availability of consolidated lots throughout the city? Like for instance, how does a 65 acres of historic gas plant that is up for redevelopment come into plenty of analysis? I'm just wondering, there's really not an analysis to that, so I'm just trying to understand it. Right. There isn't a detailed analysis on the number of lots available. Right. We're evaluating the application that is received against the criteria, but there is no specific calculation or counting of parcels. Okay. And then number seven where the proposed changes consistent with the established land use pattern of the areas and reasonable proximity, I think your focus, and you said before, was north east of it, but not really the neighborhood and the other parts of it, is that correct? I mean, when you take proximity into consideration, and there was a lot of focus of some of the areas on the other side, how about the focus on the area south of that? Or southeast of that, for instance, as opposed to just north and northeast? Yeah, well, so the area to the south is the church. Yeah, and west and the upper and west. Right. And then going west, so this picture on the screen is an example of the single family area moving to the west. And do you consider two streets after that or three streets? I mean, how far does it go? Because I know we were considering two or three streets on the other side of central, right? A neighborhood was mentioned right on the other side in the buffer. So I was just wondering how far? I mean, you're always going to have an edge between two different zone categories. And so for us, the NSM-1 multi-family category is typically applied as the lowest, non-single family edge to a single family neighborhood. So in this case, when somebody is proposing multi-family and those multi-family tenants depend on other services within proximity. We're looking at are those available, is it consistent across the street? First Avenue South, is it available to the east? To the west, it is a single-family neighborhood. There's going to be an edge between two categories at some point and in this case, it's on that west edge of the west block Okay, that's that's just some of my questions for now. I'll let other council members weigh in With their questions before I give my final comment. Thank you Thank you vice chair girders. Thank you Madam chair. You can keep those down. Oh, sorry First I just want to thank everybody for coming out. I know these get long, and I appreciate all the input. Selfishly, it's nice to see West Sideers in here. And so I just appreciate all the input and all the work that's put into it from all the sides. I'll address just personally real quick. Listen, I went to this preschool. I learned how to sing in this church. I've been to probably too many funerals that I'd like to have gone to at that church. So that does not way am I on this decision, but I was going to identify the elephant in the room. Could we go back to page 14, the map we were on? Okay. Derek? Yeah? Having served on CPPC, I have nothing but love for you in the utmost respect, but I am going to disagree. So the NSM1, just north of CCS-1, the orange. Yep, that's never being developed, it's a power grid. So I appreciate that it's NSM-1. I'm not sure I would call that a buffer into the neighborhood with it being a power grid. And then just east of there, along Pasadena Avenue, right across from where first Avenue north hits Pasadena Avenue, that NSM1 area. Yep. So on the west side of that property, there's already developed NSM1. This council, which I voted no against, made the border of Pasadena Avenue, NSM-1, which I still don't agree with today, because it really borders on the other side of what is Lake Pasadena neighborhood, and I'm just not a huge fan of it. So the idea that there is orange surrounding that activity center with NSM1, I just think, yes, it's NSM1 is, by the way, I don't even think the townhome thing is happening. This I think, and this isn't because of you, because what you're doing is stating a fact, the picture of it is a bit misleading because the buffers just don't exist. And then the NSM1 that's attached to the power grid are all single family homes that act like NTM1s. They are not town homes. And so this just paints a different picture, in my opinion, than what's actually happening on the West side. And I just wanted to point that out. Second, I'm really glad sometimes I'm very scared of going after Council Member Hanowitz. Today I was very happy to go after her, because I thank you for bringing up First Avenue South West of Pasadena Avenue, because let me tell you, as much as I heard a couple of people talk about a traffic problem, I don't believe we have a traffic problem on first avenue south there. I believe we will have a traffic problem if this were to happen. But I don't believe we have a traffic problem today because it is a neighborhood road. The difference between west of Pasadena Avenue and east of Pasadena Avenue, if you want to call that a major corridor or a future major street, then you should drive down 38th Avenue on the other side of Tyron Boulevard and tell me that that's a future major street because it's just about the same thing. It's totally different character. The speed limit changes. The lanes change. There is median bike lanes. Now they're street parking. It is a neighborhood road. In fact, I've had complaints about cars staying too long on that road. And if you've ever, not that this is relevant, but if you've ever been at that light at Pasadena Avenue and First Avenue South, I don't know about you, but I don't want 100 more cars in front of me at that light. To get to relevant criteria, I think CPPC and again to be completely transparent, I shared CPPC for two years. Those people are so significantly smarter than me. It's ridiculous. And their knowledge, their wealth of knowledge, their understanding of how things fit into our city. When I think about Chair Wanamaker and committee member Michael's, the wealth of knowledge is something I hope to have in multiple lifetimes. And I think they, if my colleagues and anybody in the public read these, their comments, I think they hit it on their head. I look at LU 3.6 when it talks about way heavily of the surrounding neighborhood. I'll be honest with you, I even look at the single family portion of this development and I know that this is part of site plan, but when you're looking at the plot of these, even the single family homes in my opinion don't fit the neighborhood of the character. That's not even touching the townhomes. And so the character of this neighborhood, and again selfishly not part of my decision, I love this neighborhood. If I could move there tomorrow I would. But it's from a 3.6, 3.8, and then relevant criteria. Three and seven, I just can't get myself on board with this. I have pushed the limits on development in District one, Raytheon, Bear Creek, 6090, the new SPC property. When I've got elected to council, I made a big think about District 1 being the least dense district in the city. We have drastically changed that in three years. But we've done it, in my opinion, thankfully, thankful to my colleagues in a very intentional way. And I just don't see this fitting. And so, again, I'm going to go back to, I think, zero to seven from CPPC, and I think everybody knows, I don't normally go on tie raids like this. Zero to seven, CPPC speaks volumes. And I, again, going back to Chair Watermaker and Commissioner Michaels, I think they did an excellent job spelling out so I won't repeat because it's already in the record. And I could go on with some of the emotional part of this. But I travel this road probably every other day. I have a niece and a nephew that go to that school, my godson and goddaughter go to that school. I am there often. And this when I look at the criteria and relevant criteria and land use, it's just they don't jive. They don't jive for me. And so I hope that my colleague see that. I hope I have made a case for something that is within eight blocks of my family. This is a place where this council has done amazing work and bringing density to the west side in district one. This just isn't, I hope that my colleagues see the facts and the relevant criteria around this. And then please hear me when repeating that, because I really don't believe this is a spot, we need to be doing this. That's all I have for now, Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Council member Driscoll. Thank you. More lights? Yes, please. So thank you to everyone who has taken the time to be here and to speak on this. It's been really helpful to hear the different perspectives and people on both sides on each side of this speaking so passionately. It is a fantastic neighborhood. There is something very special here. I've been trying to figure out what could work here. Because I don't believe that all of it should just be single family homes. Having more people being able to live in a place where they can travel safely, whether they're on foot, whether they're on a bike, catching the bus, the proximity to the trail. I mean, to me, this is just calling out for sensible increased entity. I do wonder about, I think, is it block 69 that's the one that has this split? Where? Oh, Derek. I don't know the exact number of that one. Let me. Sorry, it's, I know you're asking though. It is the westernmost block is the one that currently has the platted alley through the center. And the easternmost block is the one that currently has the platted alley through the center. And the eastern most block is complete. There is no platted alley through the center. Right. So, so the one that has the one that has the split, the one on the western side is what I'm wondering about because could it, I asked myself could this work if those were all, if that matched the rest of the neighborhood and then we had the townhouses on block 70 on the eastern side. So I just wonder if this could be re-tooled a little bit so that it does have a little bit more sensitivity to the neighborhood. I know that's not something for us to vote on. It's kind of a rhetorical question, but it's also something that I'm posing to the development team. Okay, yeah. Thank you, Councilwoman Driscoll. I think at this point in city attorney Dima and I have had several conversations about this as we have had with staff as to what these options would be and while I think his opinion would be that's not something that you could vote on tonight it's certainly something as I very honestly said the development team desires to be part of this neighborhood and provide a product here and if there was a consensus of the council that that is something that the council could support, I know not polling, I'm not asking for that. But those opportunities, certainly the team would go back and have those conversations with the church as the seller of the property and see if that's an application that we could bring forward. Thanks. Because if we were just talking about block 70, this would be an easy thing for me to be supportive of. It's the other part that I'm concerned about. I wonder, Mr. Clemens, have you been sworn in? I would love to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind. Good evening. Thank you for being here. Anytime I see your name on a project, I know it's going to be a good one. Thank you. And part of that is because you understand our city and even more importantly you understand our neighborhoods. So tell me, and again I know we're not doing site plan stuff right now, but this is about compatibility and you know a thing or two about that. And so I'd like to get your perspective here on how, tell us why you think this is compatible? So some of the issues you were just raising or it was exactly behind our thinking in developing the site plan that there is a difference between the East Block and the West Block, that the East Block has no direct borders with any of the single-family homes in the neighborhood. Whereas the West Block does, there's the two houses to the West. And so in developing the West Block, we did separate those from townhouses into narrow lot single-family homes, so they're not the same size lots. But one of the points that we tried to look at from designing it, and that one image that was shown during the presentation is that there's two houses, there's two existing houses, west of 71st, there are two stories. They have 15 foot setbacks and they have a nice tree line of trees along the west side of 71st. What we wanted people to see then when they on the west side looking east is two single family homes, two stories with a 15-foot setback and a nice row of trees and sidewalk along that side. The fact is, those are 35-foot lots, not 60, 70, 80. A couple, there's a lot of double lots in the neighborhood that are 100-foot or more. So yes, the rhythm along first avenue south would be different. But in the rhythm along second avenue south facing, the church to the south would be different But what you would see from one side of the neighborhood looking towards this new development would be very very similar in scale and in arrangement Is that answer your question? I'm right and then And then in terms of the east block, again, that's where we did step up the intensity to townhouses. But even there, we divided them into four unit buildings. It was not one continuous row. And that block is where the existing church support buildings are located. So again, as we showed, those buildings are two-story, gable roof parallel to First Avenue South. And it's a series of buildings that are relatively close together and have a certain setback from the street. So we've done a series of five, four unit buildings, two stories tall, a gable roof parallel to the street. And in a similar location, although I'll note that, it was not pointed out, the existing institutional buildings have a road parallel parking, a road, not parallel parking, road perpendicular parking, adjacent to first Avenue South, and that would go away with all the parking brought to the middle of the block so that we would actually, in our opinion, improve the streetscape along First Avenue South by bringing front yards and more landscaping to that area. And because we were setting them back enough, again, because it has raised as a point, preserving as many of the existing street trees as possible. Thank you. Speaking of things going away, will these plans eliminate everyone else's access to the panelists trail? That was mentioned by one of the speakers. So in what way would, what was the question? Would it, would it eliminate the access? No, no, no. No, no. OK. OK. Thank you. Now, as someone as an architect with extensive experience in infill development, and again, you know, this is about character. Yeah, I think there was a lot of good points raised today by members of the community. And I think there's been some good responses we've heard already from council that, you know, how people do care about their communities and how important that is for St. Petersburg and always has been. You know, I've been consistently an advocate for over 30 years now of having a diversity of housing types in our city. And always those things are going to raise questions and they're gonna raise disagreements about where's appropriate and how it is done is appropriate. And my experience in working in St. Petersburg and doing, being one of the very first person, very first person, actually I did the very first fee simple townhouse project in St. Petersburg because we didn't have any rules for fee simple townhouse projects at the time. And so, you know, and I live in a three-story fee simple townhouse. So, I guess, I'm, you know, one of those people that don't think of them as being a bad thing to live in, or to live nearby even, you know, who my neighbors don't think I'm a bad neighbor because of the kind of house I live in. But I understand that that's, you know, that different neighborhoods have different characters. But I also believe that neighborhoods can have variety and that that can be a good thing, a good thing in a neighborhood. And again, but I also understand that there can be a lot of difference of opinion on that. I do believe that these type of uses can be appropriate transitions, I think, as a term that they're preferred, between different types of components of our neighborhoods. And also often in St. Petersburg, we've used the word neighborhood to mean homes. To mean neighborhoods are places where people live but also go to school, also work, go to shop and worship, all those things together, what make neighborhoods. So they're not just one use. And then how you combine those uses and mediate between them is really important. And that's what we're here today to discuss. All right. Thank you. Let's see. Those were answered for the attorneys. Just procedural questions. Would these two items, do we need to take up each one separately? No, you can take them together like you would normally do in Alan and Z ordnance. It just happens to be in the context of an appeal. Right. Right. This is standard, otherwise. Okay. Okay. And then, um then in order for the appeal to pass, we need a super majority. That's correct. And with Council Member Mohamed absent today, a super majority of the council is five affirmative votes. Okay. And could you explain to everyone what a yes vote means? Yeah. Could you explain to everyone what a yes vote means? Yeah, so the presumptive motion will be made in the affirmative to grant the appeal and a yes vote means you're approving the rezoning. A no vote means you're denying the appeal and thus denying the rezoning. So it's straightforward. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. We've had many conversations as a council and with different developments that have come before us regarding the need to increase our housing stock and as one of the tools in our toolbox to increase affordability and missing middle housing is a big part of that. There's not a whole lot of area left in St. Petersburg where that can happen on a scale like this. I like the idea that it is primarily townhouses, in single family homes. We're not talking about a tall condo building or large apartment building here. But this is the type of, this is the type of moderate density increase that we've talked about and that I have supported all the way. And I know some of this team, and I know that when it comes down to the design and creating something that will truly blend with the neighborhood and be something that everyone can ultimately embrace, I have a great deal of confidence in this team. And I know that they can continue to listen that perhaps with some changes and you heard everybody wants more detail. Everyone already gave opinions on things they have to do with the site plan. So you've got some marching orders here. But I think that you have put forward something that is reasonable and that will really help to have more people being a part of this wonderful neighborhood. So I am supportive of it and I'll move approval. Second. Councilwoman Muttoni. Thank you. I too wanted to thank both everyone that came out today and also all the emails that we were sent. You can tell that everybody that lives in this neighborhood loves the neighborhood. And you know, we all love our city. I wanted to mention, because a lot of people talked about the CPPC. I too served on the CPPC before I was elected to the city council. I know I've got a lot of friends on the CPPC and still do. And I'm glad that we always respect everybody that serves on these boards. And they volunteer to our city. They do this in their spare time, and they do a wonderful job. I also was in church leadership in my church for a long time. So I know about churches. And I know churches right now are going through a lot of financial hardship. Membership has been affected by COVID, had a big decline during COVID and really hasn't gotten, hasn't, hasn't recovered yet. So I'm sensitive to church leadership and churches, especially this historic church that we have in our city. What a beautiful building. And somebody brought up about William Harvard. And he's the person that not just designed this church, but designed the inverted pyramid in the van show right here in Williams Park and other things in our city. So I want to start with some questions. Some of the comments people talked about level of service standards. So Derek, can I kind of pick your brain a little bit? And can you, on page 10 of the staff report, it gets into level of service standards and compatibility with the comprehensive plan? Can you talk about that? Because people question, had traffic issues, storm water issues, and wastewater issues, but there's a lot more when it comes to the level of service standards. Can you kind of talk about why in our comprehensive plan we have these things and before this these sorts of developments or these rezoning come to us, they need to meet the criteria that we have in our comprehensive plan. We're required to, but also it's important to have these. I mean this is why we do oftentimes do planning work. So level of service is a key consideration whenever we're looking at these. Hearing the public comments, it was important to me. That comments, it was important to me, that's why it was important to me to clarify in our closing remarks that these considerations are updated annually in the fall through that capital improvement element update so that we are staying up to date and relevant as these changes come through and get implemented over time. So in addition to updating the numbers state and relevant as these changes come through and get implemented over time. So in addition to updating the numbers, that then influences the decisions that are made in the capital improvement budget and plan for the city on a five year rolling projection going forward. So all these things are connected, which is why it is such an important part of the analysis that we do and the map decisions that are made. Okay. All right. Thank you. Another issue that came up by a lot of people that spoke here tonight was Vision 2020. Vision 2020, I believe was approved in the early 2000s, 2002 or something like that. And can you talk a little bit about Vision 2020 and Vision 2050? Because can you talk about why those, those visioning exercises were done? Sure. Fortunately, I've been around long enough to address both of those. Well, I started with the city in 2000, fall of 2000, and shortly afterwards, the city started the process of the vision 2020 conversation in the community. That ultimately led to a total redesign and revamp of the city's approach towards zoning. So at that time, we were using a zoning code that was designed and adopted in 1977 and had a very suburban model of design regarding building height setbacks, lot sizes, and it was very incompatible with the physical development that existed in the city. So I think when that was adopted in 1977, there was a hope at that time that the city would grow into this suburban model. That was popular. Over time, because that really created a lot of problems problems I think there was an understanding that we needed to change that code and do a better job recognizing and reflecting the existing physical conditions in the city. And so there was essentially a parcel by parcel analysis to identify what are the lot sizes, the lot width, the building heights, the building setbacks, the design standards, and design zoning ordinance that acknowledge that and then attempted to maintain that character going forward, but still allow for consideration that communities do evolve and change over time. Populations in the community itself kind of shift from one region to the city to another. So making sure that we're preserving procedures to address cases as they may come up going forward. Probably the biggest change that we made at that time was to organize the zoning categories into a neighborhood corridor and center concept. The idea was that we would expand mixed use opportunities, but we would concentrate them along corridors and also where those corridors intersected, we would have more intense centers. And so that zoning is now center corridor neighborhood. And the neighborhood suburban multi-family that is proposed here is the lowest multi-family category, generally that we have in our menu of options, which is why it has neighborhood and its title. And across the street, you start to get into higher density mixed use. So we start to change the nomenclature to corridor commercial zoning or corridor residential because now you're indicating something different that's higher density, higher intensity associated with a corridor in a center. So in this case it is on a corridor, but the category that's proposed in the application is not a corridor category. It is more of that transitional neighborhood-scale density and design. Okay, and so we had vision 2020. That's vision 2020 and then and then about five years ago the city adopted vision 2050. Yes right at the beginning of COVID. So vision 2020 was just to answer your earlier question it was adopted there was a preliminary adoption in 2006. It went into effect September 10, 2007. And then there was always this idea that we would come back and evaluate how is the city doing with the Vision 2020 plan as it going the way that we thought. Now over that time, we have consistently brought forward changes to this council a year-to-year and tried to stay in front of any evolution of ideas or changes that our community is considering. That's a little different than how was handled before interpretations would get written and stuck in a three-ring binder and tucked underneath the zoning counter at the front desk. That wasn't a very transparent way of dealing with our code. And so since the adoption in 2007, we've really worked to make sure any of those changes are coming through this council through formal text amendments. With 2050, we did an analysis. Obviously, you probably remember that through the 2050 discussion, there was a lot of focus on neighborhood character and how's the community doing in protecting its neighborhood character. So we continue to be very sensitive to that. Some of that information is going to feed the residential LDR update that our Development Review Services Division is in the process of executing right now. And then we still have comprehensive plan text amendments that need to come forward to reflect those St. P 2050 inputs. But obviously we have been prioritizing the application with the warehouse district area and the Pinellas Sun runner, central avenue corridor. And we've been working on those as you know. But once those are wrapped up, then we'll be resetting to the implementing the 2050 updates to the comp plan too. Thank you. So so we have we've had these two vision and you know, being a somebody that serves on the planning commission for a long time, the city has always been known for our zoning. Going back to the Nolan plan back in the 1920. So the city has always been very smart when it comes to zoning, land use, and zoning. Where I'm going with this is when we did the 2050 plan, we started with the demographics in a forecast of where we're going. And when you have 1,000 people a day moving to your state and your city's growing at over 1% a year, you've got a lot of people moving to St. Petersburg and where they're going to live. What sort of services do we have to provide to, and that's where the level of service comes into play here. So let me shift a little bit to slide number 10, which compares NT3 and NSM1, and it talks about density. And we had some of the speakers this evening talk about how much density, and I figured I did a calculation myself, but what's the maximum density that we can have on this parcel under NSM1? How many total units? Our calculation was 152. If they were using the missing middle bonus option, then it would be 152. And that was reflected in the materials that were prepared for you already. missing middle bonus option, then it would be 152. Okay. And that was reflected in the materials that were prepared for you already. Good, good, thank you. I wanted to just touch base quickly on some, the LW3.6, which was referred multiple times in the by by speakers. The other one I wanted to talk about was L.A.U. 3.15, which states that the land use plan should provide housing opportunities for a variety of households, of various age, sex, race, and income providing a diversity of zoning categories within a range of densities and lot requirements. Can you just expand on the response that's written down there. Sure, so LU 3.15 as you just read the description. So our response to that was brief. It simply says that the proposed amendment to the NSM-1 zoning district will allow for an increased-based density as well as a workforce housing and missing middle housing density bonus to provide housing opportunities to citizens of a variety of ages, sex, race, and income. So it's a very general statement that is confirming these are providing additional housing typologies through the multifamily zoning, but it's not dictating the application itself. Although you have a concept plan again, we're very careful about speaking to details on a concept plan. So for us, we just are making a general statement here without any specific detail related to anything that's been provided by the applicant. Okay, thank you. Well, let me just kind of wrap this up and just state that I too look at what can we do here and what you know of uses within that neighborhood. It's not just all single family homes. We have apartments, condos, town homes and both of those neighborhoods. And what has been stated here today. To me, it just passes, is this a reasonable way to go? And that's where I land on this. So I'll just leave it right there. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Councilmember Gever. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I just want to start out by thanking everyone for coming here this evening and spending your night with us. We've all been here since 8 o'clock this morning. So we're still smiling. You're still smiling. Hopefully we're smiling when it's over. Thank you, staff, for all of your hard work on this. And I want to thank the CPPC for their hard work. I so thoroughly appreciate their expertise. I agree. Some of the smartest people we have volunteering for our city. And so when I first started reviewing all the materials immediately had to lean towards this zero to seven vote because that speaks volumes to me. I have always been a proponent for density along our corridors, much like Councilmember Driscoll said, near the trail, that to me speaks volumes as well, and then the increase in the missing middle housing. Those are things that I've worked very hard on, things that I have always encouraged across our city. This particular section I'm struggling with. It's this is really kind of getting me in a place where I just don't, I probably won't know until I push my button where I'm gonna land. But Council member Gertis, I purposefully to not push my button earlier because I wanted to hear from you. I appreciate your love for your district, your, born and raised there. You know it better than anyone else. And I share with you the concerns specifically over LU 3.6, the character of this area, that to me I continue to go back to. Very much have a concern about changing the character of this area. So, Derek, I kind of want to talk a little bit more specifically and pardon me if I'm going to beat it to death a little bit on NSM1 and what is allowed there compared to right across the street on First Avenue South where it is already zoned CRT. And looking at Google Earth, it looks like across the street there is really like doctors offices and one scale buildings and things like that. So if we're kind of thinking about, you know, potentially what could happen in this area across the street, let's say all of those doctors offices got together and decided to sell to a developer. Tell me about what could go across the street there. Sure. I appreciate bringing this comment up because there is, there was a comment from City Council member Copley Gertis that was talking about the utility substation to the north that has the NSM1 zoning on it. Again, whenever we approach these, we're looking at a very macro level based on map category because nothing's permanent and these things do change over time. So in this particular case to your point, it was mentioned in public comments that the buildings across the street are primarily single-story office buildings today but you are correct they could be consolidated and they could be redeveloped under CRT one zoning that would allow a base 24 units per acre, up to 32 units per acre with the bonus and the height there would be 36 feet. So see, that's where I'm torn, is because I'm very familiar with what First Avenue South is in that, and I agree with you, Council Member Gertz, that's very different than First Avenue South continuing east, right? But I'm very familiar with what that is, and then I have to think if that could have been allowed across the street already Then why would we not look at sensible density bonus on this side of the street? And so that's I'm very very sensitive to the character of your neighborhood. I am. I know your neighborhood. I just have a hard time saying if it could be allowed right there more so than what we're talking about, why would I not vote for this to be able to be resumed? And so that's just where I'm at. I can't seem to most of the time I've got a pretty definitive thought process by the time I get to this point. I'm still really, really struggling with it. The other piece that I'm struggling with a little bit is the traffic addition, as I said, I'm familiar with this roadway and that it's very different than first Avenue South heading east. So remind me, I looked it up, but I want to make sure I'm right, sun runner. We talked about sun runner and access to transit. But isn't the closest stop 66? Close to stop is Penelope's way south at first 70 south to go eastbound. And then the westbound stop is first out of the South at first 70 South to go eastbound and then the westbound stop is first out of the north at 66th Street. Okay. Okay. And how far is that closest stop? I think it's within half mile. From the northeast corner of the proposal to the station it's a quarter mile. Okay. From the northwest, further northwest corner to the station it's closer to a station. It's a quarter mile from the northwest, further northwest corner to the station. It's closer to a half. Okay. All right. I just wanted to make sure that I was accurate on that. So like I said, I'm sensitive to everything that has been said here this evening. I want to continue to hear my colleagues and thankful for all the questions that they have asked as well. I'm really torn on this. So just know, regardless of how I vote this evening, I want what's best for this neighborhood. And I want what's best for our city as a whole. And so I'll continue to listen and contemplate. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Councilmember Hanoi. Thank you, Chair. And I pressed my button because nobody else pressed her but I know other council members haven't spoken but Councilmember Gabbard brought up something and it made me think about and there could be fun to come back. In terms of the what can be done in the area. So right now the institutional use there let let's say this is approved, right? And let's say the church is doing really bad. And they want to sell the rest of the institutional land. And now you've created a situation where it's like, well, now you have, are you on the other side? Because there was a comment that there could be no trickle-down effect to this, right? There's no trickle down effect. But we know the reality is once you change the zoning there, you have the institutional use where the church is in that whole area. And we could get another application, right? With the same basis, right? It's like, well, you change it here. And now you go down right further. Could that happen? Just like the change of use can happen on the other side of first avenue, South. Sure, anything can happen. They can submit an application to rezone and change the categories there, absolutely. Right, now I'm just thinking, because I mean, this is a huge piece of property. And so when I think about it in terms of NT3, that neighborhood, and look, historical northeases in my area, I will tell you, you cannot just compare one neighborhood to the other. The sizes are much different. Rosa Park is a small area. This is not a huge area. If you put this beside old north, Old Northeast is much bigger. So whatever impact that you have in terms of changing, it changes. I don't, to me, when I look at all these cases, to me, they're all different. I can't look at something. And that's why sometimes people think, well, if I voted somewhere in one of the cases before us, a certain way, then, oh, she's probably gonna know. Every case is different, every neighborhood is different. Do we agree that we need density in our city? Yes, the issue is where? Because you do have to have the whole analysis. Then city just one part of it, there's all the other questions you have and all the other. So I think that does matter because I do worry about that change. As soon as you change it, that's a huge part of that neighborhood. I mean, how much land is the institutional land total? I don't know if we have the acreage number of the entire church property. OK. OK. Well, anyhow. Okay. That's what I just wanted to say. And just to finish off before, because I want to hear from everyone said, look, to me, it is hard. I have neighborhoods in my district, and I do believe in diversity of housing. I have it in my district. Crescent Lake neighborhood. Crescent Heights. Historical Northeast. They have a diversity of housing. I have it in my district, Crescent Lake neighborhood, Crescent Heights, historical Northeast, they have a diversity of housing. And I've had neighborhoods that come, and they're like, oh, we only can be single family. But this is not, whatever your neighborhood is today, it's not gonna be what it is 10 years from now or 20 years from now. None of our neighborhoods are. The question is whether this is the right thing now. Based on our land use and right now are zoning throughout the city, I think commission or Jeff rementioned, we have lots of areas where we have planned and increased zoning, including by the way in your neighborhood when we added accessory dwelling units, not that long ago. So it's not like we aren't doing things throughout the city, targeted, really targeted, whether it was the NTM, whether it was, you know, expanding accessory dwelling units, you know, all the central avenue quarter, all those things are really targeted because we want to drive the development certain areas. And then you have all these other cases that come before us, these applications, that we are also increasing zoning throughout the city. I can't even count how many. I would want to actually I may have to have that sit down conversation to see how much zoning have we increased on parcels like this throughout the city that we change parcel by parcel so so we are tackling the issue of adding I think density but I can't get past and by the way the missing middle housing they mentioned the house in Crescent Lake and there was a picture there I know exactly where that's at that's's in my neighborhood. That sold, one of those sold for $900,000. It sold more. This is missing middle housing. It sold more than some of the single family homes in my neighborhood. So sometimes you have single family homes that are actually more affordable than some of the new development or the townhouses or whatever. So I look at things much more broader and I just, I'm not convinced right now that based on the factors that have been shown that Appellant has met the criteria and I wanna put it on the record. They have not met the criteria based on our comprehensive plan. We have a higher standard. We're reviewing a unanimous decision by the CPPC. And the supermajority is needed to overturn that CPPC decision. That is because of the difference we give to our CPPC and their expertise. And I have a really hard time with the facts of this case and knowing that and seeing what they said and approving this. I cannot. And so with that I'm going to be a no on this because there is no way that that I would be able to prove based on these factors. I don't think that appellant has met their burden based on the questions that I've asked them today. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. I'll go ahead and go. I do know, I say Councillor McFlood, you haven't gone. Would you like to go prior because I'm supposed to go late? I mean it's at your discretion chair. I'd be happy to go after you or before you. Go ahead. Okay. I'll keep it simple. I've been contemplative this whole time trying to weigh the factors. The thing to me is that zero to seven CPPC decision is significant to me. I've leaned on the CPPC's advice before, but at the same time, I look at what we're being requested to do and only what we're being requested to do. I'm not speculating as to anything that might happen there. Any reason why it's happening. I'm just looking at, you know, is this the right place to put NSM1 zoning? And I'd say, when I do that, I look at what the CPP said. And I understand where they say, you know, it's maybe a character change for the neighborhood. Maybe they considered that it's not directly a budding a major street, where a staff was looking at it from a different perspective. It's very close to an activity center. But ultimately, where I've fallen is exactly where oddly enough, council member Montenegri mentioned at the end, which is I tried to consider it in respect to other places in the city where I live is not applicable at all. It's much more urban. I live literally right next door to corridor commercial and just a block away is neighborhood suburban so it doesn't seem very applicable. But I pulled up the maps and I looked at neighborhoods more like this and choreakers and snail Isle or what came to mind. A heavily residential single family home neighborhoods. And there is neighborhood suburban multi-family. And it's the gentlest way for us to increase density and in certain areas. And I think those neighborhoods are some of the, aside from when it rains too much, thriving, most thriving beautiful places in our city. And so I just have a hard time thinking if I put blinders on like I have to for this decision, and I see that NSM1 is what's being asked for and that it only abuts the neighborhood with two single-family lots. I do struggle to say that it is going to be as impactful as that it's going to be too impactful. And so I understand the difficulty that this decision's made with, because like I said, it goes back to relying on the CPP's expertise a lot. But I just don't see how it's gone overboard. And I do like the comments about how we can, maybe if this doesn't happen in the future, be more responsive to the neighborhood's needs and talk about the different parcels. And I'll leave that up to the applicant to think about. But that's speculative in the future. But yeah, I end up falling similar to where council member Montenegri is. It's NSM1 is a very gentle increase in density compared to even the chart that we had up and what is nearby and could be possible. And I think there's an argument to be made for, not saying I would support it or anything, but there is an argument to be made that you could request a different, more intense zoning category here, because it's actually right across the street from a more intense zoning category for NSM. So do think there could, someone could make that argument. Again, not saying I would support it or anything. But so, MSM does seem to be a light touch and generally fit in with a lot of comparable neighborhoods in the city. So I'll leave it there. I just figured I'd let everyone know what I was thinking. Young Samu Regisco. Madam Chair, I've already spoken. If you'd like to go ahead. It does not matter. I hope that you were voting soon. I will do this just to make sure. So again, thank you to everyone that came out. And this too is super, super difficult for me because we've been here before. And lived experiences mean so much to some of the decisions that I make. So when we talk about the CPPC, again, that 07 is crucial. It's valuable to me. But then when I look at a lot of the committees and boards and commissions that I've served on. The committees are comprised of those at the time. And I know that we're looking at what we think is best today. But when I think about where we were as a city five years ago, ten years ago, and the commitment that I made to housing, I'm struggling. Sitting on a board where you've made recommendations and those recommendations are not received, it's disheartening. The level of expertise we have on CPPC is phenomenal. But then I'm looking at the overall goal of this particular vote is to provide the housing. Now is $850,000 workforce are affordable. Absolutely not. I couldn't afford it. I couldn't afford it. I couldn't afford it. So I'm struggling with the balance is housing. Yes. It's going to be very nice housing. So you're going to have some nice neighbors because they can afford to purchase that. So you're not going to have the issues that some brought before in regards to affordable housing. So I'm thinking about it. But that 07 set a lot. Still set a lot. So I'm going to, I don't know if anyone else is going to speak, but I am more prone to, because I think about where I live. And when we purchased our house, it wasn't, you know, you think that you built, you buy in an established neighborhood, you're good for life. No man, no certain. I've had people die, homes be purchased, demolished, and something completely different. Put up right across the street for me. I have a church that went through the same thing. They were in Daya Straits, and they wanted to sell their land, and they called and asked me, what do you recommend we do? I said, put housing on it.? I say I put housing on it. I Ask them to put housing on it So my my perspective is more toward housing I don't I'm huge with preserving the look of the community and I've heard heard the comments and the recommendations as to how can we confer what the importance of maintaining that character looks like. I don't know if that's what we're voting for today. I'm not sure. But that's 0 to 7 still resonates with me. So I'm going to leave that, I am freezing, you're not cold. Oh my gosh, I'm freezing. But that zero to seven, it really stands out to me but also the need of us wanting to address our housing stock. It says just a little bit more. So I'm going to leave it there. Council member, just go. Thank you. And Chair, for your seniors, you just reminded me of one of the criteria that we're not able to consider, which is the price of the homes. Neither are we able to, nor are we able to consider the criteria. This does not include who's buying the property, who else could buy the property, what else might happen with the property. The terms of the sale, the price of the homes, the age of the trees, whether or not the trees are going to be taken out. The age of the current residents or the potential future residents, or speculation regarding adjacent zoning and what might happen to that in the future. Right? There was a comment that was brought up and I believe that council member was addressing that comment, but a slippery slope argument about future speculative zoning is not relevant evidence for your consideration. That's correct. Thank you. I appreciated Councilmember Floyd's comments as well. I'm talking about different neighborhoods and how you often have, especially around the edges of a neighborhood, some moderate increased density. I think about Cokina Key, which was one of the examples that was given. And when you first go over the North Bridge to Cokina Key, you come onto the island and the first thing you see is townhouses. They've been there for quite some time and there are actually a few more that are being built right now along the water. Those have been there for a while and if you go back on the southern end of the island, more townhouse, more condos. And you've got duplexes and things like that. There's just about anything you can think of, mostly single-family homes. And I live in one of them. And we also have a mix of different price points, if you will. And it actually makes for a wonderful neighborhood. that we're talking about, it makes them more interesting. Now, this is a neighborhood that doesn't need anything added to it to make it more interesting, but we do need more housing. And having this very careful density increase at the edge of this property where you've got commercial around it and you've got that incredible access to multiple modes of transportation just makes sense. I am very thankful for all of the work that was done by City staff, by the applicant, and by the CPPC reading the report from them and the way that they handled this was admirable and I always put great value in their input. This is one of those few times where I'm seeing things a little bit differently. But I think that if this passes today, I think we're going to end up with additional good housing for families who are able to live in St. Petersburg and really get that same bite of the apple that we all are so proud to have gotten ourselves. We need to be able to share St. Pete with more people and this is a great way to do it. Thank you. Okay, seeing no further requests to speak. This J3AMB has been motioned in properly seconded. Can you please open the machine for voting? Council members, catch your votes. Now that all the present council members have voted, can you please tell in and out the votes? Madam Chair, I'm motion to approve agenda item J3AMB. Passes five to two with council members Gertis and Hannah Whitsvoting No. Council members, Driscoll, Fick Sanders, Floyd, We pass this five to two with council members Gertis and Hannah was voting no. Council members Driscoll, fix Sanders, Floyd, Gabbard and Montenegro voting yes. And council member Muhammad being absent. Thank you. So now we're going to go ahead and move. We're going to move. We're going to move. We're going to move now to item J4 which is continued from last week's City Council meeting and is quasi judicial. I'm sorry, I'm not in trouble here. You have no hurry. Are we taking this up? What are we doing? Okay. Are we taking that, sir? What are we doing? Yeah. You might listen to me. I know. What are we doing? Yeah. What are we doing? Yeah. What are we doing? Yeah. What are we doing? Yeah, I know. It's not easy. Okay. Could you go ahead, Patty? Can you please swear in all your speakers including city staff who's here needs to be sworn in. No boy. Okay, he's okay. You dare to see. Can you close the door? I might be the only one. Do you swear from the heavens? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Can you also please read the ordinance title? Yes, Madam Chair. Ornith's number 793-Z. In Ornith's amendment the official zoning map of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, by changing the zoning of seven publicly owned parcels, generally located south and west of Propokana Field, and bounded by I-175 to the south, and 18th Street south to the west. From downtown center-2, DC-2, to downtown center-1, DC-1, providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances and provisions thereof, and providing for an effective date. And Madam Chair, we did not have any cards on this. Little cards, okay. So moving on to presentations, we'll begin with the City staff presentation and of joining us who've been here with us. And Chair, we don't have to do the whole song and dance today. I think the presentation will be limited to evidence that it's responsive to Council Member Driscoll's request from last week. Okay. And given that there's no other folks here, there will be no cross or comments. No cross, no closing remarks, none of the above. So after Mr. Kilborn presents the new information, go straight into executive session. Yes, ma'am. Okay, thank you. Mr. Kilborn, show us yours. Do you need, again, thank you, Derek Kilborn, manager of and planning historic preservation. Given my dance background, I'm really disappointed. All right. I was really appreciative. What a life this song and dance. I'm just saying. I'm essentially at third reading right now. So I am here tonight. I'm substituting in for Liz Avernathy. You had a prior commitment. And I'm here to give you an update in response to the question that was raised at the last public hearing. I think in your back on materials you've been provided copies of the email exchanges that had occurred with Mr. Rob Roth. Initially, Rob Roth had contacted our office as identifying as the HOA president for the Central 16 Home Owners Association. And in that particular email had identified several concerns relating to future design aspects of the project and particularly property located across the street in response to that email which was first received on April 17th. It was several hours later on that same date. April 17th that we provided back to Mr. Roth an email acknowledging receipt. A statement that his comments would be included in the official record for the project moving forward and that it would also be included in the agenda packet. We closed that email by stating that if there was anything else that he needed further inviting him to contact our office. After that there was no follow-up and then of course we moved into the public hearing presentation by Liz Abernathy, Director for Planning and Development Services. Just in the last couple of days there have been a number of emails going back and forth between Ms. Abernathy and Mr. Roth. Ms. Abernathy provided him some additional detailed statements relating to the development agreement and specifically articulating that there is a traffic parking management and micro mobility plan that is going to be required as part of future design phase of the project, that the development agreement also required an increase in the open space, which was a second concern from 10 acres to 12 acres, and also identifying, we're describing in a little more detail, the location of the parking garage under the existing zoning and the proposed zoning. Parking structures are in excess reuse in the existing zoning. So the rezoning, whether it's approved or not, does not directly affect the location of the parking structure because it is allowed under the existing zoning today as an excess reuse. Just prior to the start of this public hearing and apparently after the earlier presentations, thank you by the way for the sister city engagement that you provided those students over the couple weeks. Their engagement from Miss Abernathy and Miss Mr. Roth, he initially indicated he was going to attend this evening. Prior to this exchange, I don't see him here now. And that may be because in his final exchange with Miss Abernathy, he was stating again that he was OK with the lot being re-zoned as long as the feedback would be considered at the appropriate time. And then Liz was, Abernathy was responding to him stating that his concerns would obviously be considered at the appropriate steps in the design phase and that they would be forwarded and Included and that lays also again Miss Abernathy also agreed to follow up when those points come up in the timeline That can that concludes our update here and we have additional team members here who can maybe answer any other questions you might have. I want some over at Driscoll. Thank you. And thank you, Derek. That is exactly what I was looking for. It was kind of disappointing when we did get the response and it was just basically confirmation of receipt. So I am absolutely thrilled to hear that a conversation is taking place. As you know, I could not talk to him. And so it was a little frustrating that I was hoping that this resident who actually represents a development, you know, not just himself, but neighbors as well. It was important that he's being heard. And what you're telling me now is that not only that, but that he has made a real connection with Ms. Abernathy and both certainly be kept in the loop and valued as we move forward with this. And by the way, that was fantastic. I mean, is it Leland? What a great presentation. You should be so proud. And that was just really cool to see. So I'm happy for you and for him and tell him that he did a great job. I will. Um, did we, so in the last, when we left off last time, was there already a motion in a second? No, I don't believe so. I would confirm with the clerk. Just yours. Just yours to continue to this meeting. Right. Oh, okay. That was the only. All right. So we're at a clean slate now with time. Sure are. All right. Thank you. Little bro. Now that we have a motion has been properly seconded and no further requests to speak. Can you please open the routine for voting? Council members Now that all members are voting and you please tally and announce the Madam Chair motion to approve a gen item j4 passes 5 to 2 with council members Floyd and Hannah was voting no Council members Driscoffic Sanders, Gabbert Gertis and Montenegro voting yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And so now we will move on to open form. And do we have cars or anyone on Zoom? No one on Zoom. Beverly, mom's talk. I think she made me a small mess. And how about Fred? No, that's it. Nope, that's it. Okay, do we have any announcements? Right? I would like to announce for those we are looking for a city representative for the PSTA board. The applications and requirements are on our website. If you would like to apply for that position, they are due August 15th for us to decide and vote on on August 22nd. But again, if you would love to engage in your civil participation with the working on behalf of the committee and the city, please go out and complete an application by August 15th. Any other announcements? Any other announcements? See you August 8th. Council meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.