Latest news with #TampaCityCouncil
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Tampa City Council member Gwen Henderson dies at 60
Gwendolyn Henderson, a Tampa City Council member, has died, a council member confirmed with the Tampa Bay Times. She was 60 years old. Henderson went to Florida A&M University for her bachelor's degree in education. She went on to receive a master's of education and an education specialist degree from Saint Leo University. She was the chairperson of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency board and was a board director on the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority. Council member Luis Viera said Tampa administrators notified him and other council members of Henderson's death. He didn't have information on the cause of death. 'Gwen had a passion for Black History - from 1619 to today. If you wanted to see the beauty of Gwen's heart, you should stop by her dream realized - her Black English bookstore,' Viera wrote in a text message to the Times. 'That bookstore was about the pride she had in the journey of her family and families like hers. It showed a beautiful heart. Gwen's life and values were intertwined in the journey of Black Tampenos.' Council member Lynn Hurtak said in a statement she was shocked and saddened to hear the news of Henderson's death this morning. Hurtak said Henderson, similar to herself, was a neighborhood advocate. 'She dubbed me 'Fifteen,' and I in turn called her 'Sixteen' in reference to our places in the sequence of the very few women to ever serve on city council,' Hurtak wrote. 'I deeply regret that I will no longer be able to enjoy her laughter, infectious spirit, and boundless energy as we continue our work to build a Tampa that works for everyone.' This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Check back at
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A Tampa cemetery is on sale again, reigniting debate over lost graves
Three years after the Tampa City Council unanimously rejected a land-use change for Showmen's Rest, a Tampa Heights cemetery, that would have allowed developers to build out the land, the parcel is up for sale again. This time, the cemetery isn't looking to change its zoning. But the City Council and nearby residents are still torn over a central question: Are there unknown bodies buried beneath the land? Owners of Showmen's Rest have said the portion of land up for sale has not been used for burials. But the Tampa City Council passed a motion Thursday to have city staff contact the property owner and ask if they could use ground-penetrating radar to address concerns about lost graves. 'Should there be graves there, individuals there, then we can look at steps forward,' said council member Guido Maniscalco, who made the motion. Maniscalco also requested a written report from city staff to update the council, which is due June 26. Although he did not mention the name of the property during the motion, Maniscalco confirmed with the Tampa Bay Times after the meeting that the report is about Showmen's Rest. Listed on Zillow for $750,000, the parcel of land at 3541 N. Blvd. is adjacent to the city-owned Woodlawn Cemetery. Showmen's Rest Cemetery hired a firm during the initial controversy more than three years ago that conducted two seismic studies that didn't find any lost graves. The Zillow listing states the seller will do another survey. 'The people that are going up against us keep insisting that there are bodies buried on this vacant parcel of land that we've never developed,' Showmen's Rest President John Perzia said. The cemetery has presented its seismic studies to the City Council, 'but nobody wanted to pay attention to it.' Perzia said the cemetery wants to sell this parcel, which was purchased from the city in 1971, to put it in a trust to keep up maintenance. They don't care who buys it, Perzia said, but they want to ensure their cemetery is preserved. 'I'm almost 70,' he said. 'When I pass away, who's going to take care of this place?' He said the city is welcome to buy the property, but city spokesperson Adam Smith said the administration is not looking to purchase. Perzia said neither he or his real estate broker had heard from the city on Monday afternoon. Maniscalco's motion on Thursday came after a previous council discussion of the cemetery on May 22. At that meeting, council member Bill Carlson also introduced the idea of setting aside city funds for ground-penetrating radar and addressing lost graves. 'What role can the city play? Because not everyone can pay for ground-penetrating radar and not everyone can afford just to give up their land,' Carlson said last month. The Tampa Bay Times reported in 2021 that there were 1,200 missing graves in the city, mostly those of influential Black residents, and the city is attempting to acknowledge and correct its role in erasing Black history. This year, the city erected a historical marker at Zion Cemetery, which was a Black burial ground before it was developed over. The city can't go onto privately owned land without the owner's permission to look for graves. If it does, the surveys are expensive. 'I was happy to hear the City Council is considering creating a fund for ground-penetrating radar,' said Rachael Kangas, director of the west central and central regions of the Florida Public Archaeology Network. 'That's usually the biggest issue we run into.' Kangas reviewed documents sent to her by Aileen Henderson, founder of The Cemetery Society, regarding the cemetery and its history, as well as research files her organization has on Woodlawn Cemetery and Showmen's Rest. 'According to the records I see, that entire block, including this parcel, were part of the original footprint of Woodlawn Cemetery and there is documentation from the newspaper that burials when the cemetery was first established were haphazard,' Kangas wrote in an email to Henderson that was shared with the Times. Additionally, Kangas wrote, the northwest corner of Woodlawn Cemetery was originally set aside for African American graves. She said documentation she read doesn't have details on the size of that area or where exactly the burials were. 'There is no reason to think this parcel of land is not part of a cemetery or that it doesn't contain unmarked burials,' Kangas wrote. Henderson said she also thinks Showmen's Rest could have lost graves and said she was excited to see the City Council take steps toward addressing the citywide issue. 'I don't blame the owner for doing what he has the right to do,' Henderson said. 'The reality is we have the supporting documentation that that is a cemetery.'
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mayor Jane Castor says now is ‘Tampa's moment'
The city of Tampa is having its moment, the mayor said. During her State of the City address at the Tampa River Center Monday, Mayor Jane Castor touted the city's work in building back from last year's brutal storms, developing neighborhoods and addressing aging infrastructure. With this year's hurricane season beginning in just over a month, Castor emphasized the city's mission to become more resilient: The city has spent $94 million on waste water updates, which includes 28 pump stations, and $350 million in stormwater system maintenance. The city is also adding back-up generators to pump stations, which move residential wastewater to the city's sewer system. An audit earlier this year showed that some of Tampa's pumps haven't been maintained properly, and city officials have said the failure of infrastructure contributed to flooding in neighborhoods that did not expect any. Castor acknowledged neighborhoods that were hit especially hard, including Davis Islands, Forest Hills and Palmetto Beach. When asked after her address what residents in these neighborhoods can expect moving forward, she said the city is anticipating the results of Hillsborough County's report on how cities faired during the storms last year. 'There is no system in America, or the world, that could handle the amount of water that came into some of these neighborhoods,' she said. 'We're working to make our city as resilient as possible.' Castor said the city is working with state, federal and local partners to continue supporting residents in neighborhoods that are building back. She said the county is set to receive more than $700 million in disaster assistance, with a portion going toward the city. Under Castor, the Tampa City Council passed the Progressive Infrastructure Plan to Ensure Sustainability program in 2019 to invest in sewer and water systems. She has also focused on other infrastructure needs, such as roads, sidewalks and public transit. Castor thanked U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who represents the Tampa Bay and is not related to the mayor, for securing federal funding for the city. 'This is all disruptive,' she said. 'But temporary inconvenience in one block means long-term protection for the entire neighborhood.' Housing demand has also been a key issue affecting residents in Tampa. The city's director of housing, among other city leadership, resigned last year, and in 2023, the Tampa Bay Times reported the mayor had inflated progress on affordable housing. But Castor on Monday said the city has built 20,000 residential units, thousands of which are affordable, and rental rates are back to 2021 levels. 'While we welcome new neighbors to Tampa, we will not price our residents out of the city that they built,' she said, which was met with applause. Former Mayor Bob Buckhorn attended Monday's speech and addressed speculation he may run for mayor. He spoke to a class of students at Saint Leo University Thursday, and said he was making a bid for the seat, according to the school. But after Castor's address he said he couldn't confirm his decision yet because the race is still two years out and there are 'a lot of things to figure out.' 'I'm really, really looking hard at it,' said Buckhorn, who was Tampa mayor from 2011 to 2019. 'I think the chances are probably pretty good that I will.' Overall, Castor's message was that Tampa is 'strong,' and she gave nods to the communities integral to the city's history, and, of course, Grammy-winning rapper Doechii, who grew up in Tampa. 'This is Tampa's moment,' she said. 'We used to have to fight to get on the map. Now, we are shaping that map.'
Business Journals
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Tampa council unites to slow coastal development as hurricane season looms
In the wake of recent hurricane damage, Tampa leaders are reconsidering growth policies for vulnerable coastal zones, which could impact housing and jobs. Story Highlights Tampa City Council opposes intense coastal development to protect lives. Nearly 96,000 residents expected in hazardous areas by 2050. Council warns against overdevelopment as hurricane season approaches. The Tampa City Council is ready to crack down on development in the city's Coastal High Hazard Areas. During a workshop on Thursday, the council was told that nearly 96,000 Tampa residents are expected to live within the CHHA by 2050. Many residents are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricanes Helene and Milton last October. In a rare show of solidarity council expressed a unified message following the report: Tampa can no longer support intense development in its coastal neighborhoods. 'We're putting people's lives at risk,' Councilmember Bill Carlson said. 'It's not a debate anymore about developers versus NIMBYs, it's about protecting people's lives.' From 2020 to 2024, residential numbers shifted, with 52% of new residents moving into the vulnerable areas and 48% moving outside. Currently, roughly two out of every 10 Tampanians live in the CHHA, and one out of every four new residents moves into the CHHA. Planning Commission staff said they expect the trend to revert to growth patterns before 2020 as capacity is more readily available further inland. Many jobs are also located within the CHHA. By 2050, it is projected that 163,400 jobs will be located in these vulnerable areas, up from the 127,639 jobs in the CHHA in 2020. Currently, over 70% of jobs in the city are outside of the CHHA, and staff expect that this will increase to 84% by 2050. Part of the shift is simply due to many areas along or near the water being built out. The properties staff identified as being most likely to be developed or redeveloped lie further inland, and growth is expected to continue to balloon further away from the coast, where there is more available land. But without meaningful changes to land use codes, developers can continue to redevelop existing properties along the waterfront, and many are attempting to do so with greater density—for example, tearing down a single-family home and replacing it with a duplex or triplex or petitioning to rezone existing industrial property to construct hundreds of units. As Tampa recovers, the clock is ticking. In just over five weeks, the 2025 Hurricane Season will begin. Councilmember Alan Clendenin warned staff that any plan to overdevelop the CHHA would be 'dead on arrival' when it came before the council. 'These policies and the data you just presented us are only going to work if those of us in government create policies that are intentional to minimize growth in hazardous areas,' Clendenin said. 'If we bury our heads in the sand and pretend they don't exist and allow density to explode in these areas, then your data won't reflect reality.' Carlson said building the infrastructure to accommodate the flooding in the CHHA costs billions of dollars, which is not fiscally responsible when there is 'plenty of land' to build on at a higher elevation. There is also the issue of overcrowding already-strained roadways during evacuations. Outside of the downtown core—which has many buildings built to withstand hurricane-force winds and is nestled between multiple interstates—CHHA properties often see hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic as fleeing residents slowly crawl toward a major roadway. Chair Guido Maniscalco said the data following the destruction of Hurricanes Helene and Milton showed that Tampa was not fully prepared. Florida's tremendous growth has negatively affected its natural habitat, and Maniscalco said the more that is built, 'the less place the water has to go.' 'You can't beat storm surge, you can't beat hurricanes,' Maniscalco said. 'Mother Nature, in the end, depending on intensity, can always win.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Businesses harmed by construction projects could get lifeline in Senate bill
A construction zone in Tallahassee featuring a crane and soon-to-be-apartments across the street from the FSU campus on Dec. 31, 2024. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Stories of businesses being hurt by local or state government construction projects have become common in Florida in recent years. Last year, the owners of a popular Tampa cafe went before the Tampa City Council to voice concern about how a long-term construction project in front of their business was 'hemorrhaging' its cash reserves, threatening their financial livelihood. That cafe ended up closing several months later. But that company might have been able to stay afloat if a proposal that advanced in a Florida Senate committee on Thursday had already been in place. The measure from Orange County Democrat Carlos Guillermo Smith (SB 324) would create a program within the Department of Commerce providing low-interest loans of up to $100,000 for small businesses harmed by prolonged state and local construction projects that directly block access to their establishments. The businesses must show proof of demonstrable loss, including a reduction in revenue from the start date of the construction to the week before they submit an application. That proof would have to include a comparison of the applicant's average weekly or monthly revenue the year before the construction began and their currently weekly or monthly revenue. They would also have to submit photo or video evidence of the obstruction to the business due to the construction zone. Smith said the impetus for filing the bill was the closing in January of the Hammered Lamb, a locally owned restaurant in Orlando. 'They directly attributed that closure to this sewage infrastructure project that was delayed for 18 months,' he said. 'As Florida continues to experience tremendous growth, we're going to hear more about these stories, more and more. We can't as a state or a local government throw up our hands and say, 'I'm sorry. Deal with our construction.' We have to be able to offer a lifeline for those who want to stay afloat.' Those problems continue. An estimated $65 million project to improve South Tampa's stormwater system bitterly divided that community last fall, with businesses fearful the plan could shut down a section of a major street in both directions for up to two months, potentially devastating their bottomlines. In the Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development on Thursday, Hernando County Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia suggested Smith amend his bill to exclude the private business records from public disclosure. 'It seems to me that competitors would say, 'I want the P&Ls [profits and losses] of my competitor right across the street,'' Ingoglia said. The bill passed unanimously, athough Ingoglia expressed concern about giving taxpayer subsidized loans to businesses that might not be able to qualify for such a loan anywhere else. 'To get an unsecured loan for an established business is relatively easy to come by,' he said. 'Granted, you're gong to pay higher interest rates, but that loan is pretty east to come by.' The bill has one more stop before reaching the floor. However, its House companion (HB 215), sponsored by Orlando Democrat Anna Eskamani, has not received a hearing yet in any committee. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
