St. Pete council, residents don't want new high-rise. It's coming anyway
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A rendering of the 21-story Pelican apartments. Photo: City of St. Petersburg documents
Another luxury high-rise is coming to downtown St. Petersburg.
Why it matters: Thursday's hours-long City Council debate over the project laid bare angst over the city's shifting identity — and raised questions about how much influence residents and policymakers have in shaping it.
- "You have a problem when everybody is acknowledging this is not what we want to build, and yet we're somehow powerless to stop it," Preserve the 'Burg executive director Manny Leto told Axios.
State of play: Thursday's meeting had a packed audience, mostly residents opposed to the size and intensity of The Pelican, a 21-story, 370-unit apartment building planned for a city block off Fifth Avenue North behind the Hollander and Avalon hotels.
- The site is currently home to several century-old buildings, including Cara House, an independent living facility for adults with mental-health and substance-use issues.
- But while a majority of council members opposed the project, the 4-3 vote (with one council member absent) wasn't enough to kill it. That would have required a five-member supermajority.
Catch up quick: That's because it came before council on an appeal from historic preservation nonprofit Preserve the 'Burg.
- The Pelican is proposed for the edge of downtown in an area with a height ceiling of 125 feet, per city code.
- St. Pete-based Stadler Development wanted The Pelican to rise higher, triggering a review process by the mayor-appointed Development Review Commission.
- Commissioners approved the project in January, finding that it met requirements under city code. Two weeks later, Preserve the 'Burg filed an appeal asking City Council to overturn the commission's approval.
Friction point: The debate largely came down to whether the building is compatible with its surroundings.
- The west half of the block is across Fifth from Historic Uptown, a neighborhood with a park and craftsman-style bungalows where many of the residents who spoke against the project live.
- "All development is not good growth ... and there's a certain essence and soul to each community that needs to be protected, period," Uptown resident Colleen Kodner said. "Because once you lose that soul of a city, you don't get it back."
The other side: Stadler Development's representative contended that the project complies with city policy and should thus move forward. If residents don't like it, attorney Don Mastry said, they need to change the code.
Yes, but: Preserve the 'Burg argued council still had the discretion to say no. Some members agreed.
- "It's brought to us because, yes, we have a decision to make," council member Gina Driscoll said.
- Driscoll voted against the project along with council member Deborah Figgs-Sanders, vice-chair Richie Floyd and chair Lisset Hanewicz.
Even council members who agreed with the developer's reasoning expressed reservations.
- "I side with the residents in terms of, I don't think that I would want to live next door to what this is," said council member Mike Harting, who voted to move the project forward.
- "And I am sorry for that," he said. "I truly am."