ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg is getting closer to launching its voluntary home or commercial property buyout program and has released an initial map with high risk flood areas across the city which could be targeted.
What You Need To Know
The city will use $5 million from the federal government to buy 14 homes in low-to-moderate income areas
The Voluntary Buyout Program will offer residents up to $400,000 based on the post-storm fair market value of their home
Proposed incentives include giving qualifying residents up to $50,000 to rent or purchase a new home
The guidelines were released on March 21 and the program is expected to launch before the end of the year
“We’re still finalizing those specific disaster risk reduction areas,” said Aubrey Phillips, Strategic Initiatives and Grants Director. “We’re finalizing what the specific incentives will be as part of this program.”
The city will use $5 million from the federal government to buy 14 homes in low-to-moderate income areas which flooded during hurricanes Idalia, Helene or are located in a designated risk reduction area. It’s part of the $160 million Sunrise St. Pete disaster recovery action plan.
The Voluntary Buyout Program will offer residents up to $400,000 based on the post-storm fair market value of their home, with 80 percent of the buyouts for households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income.
The proposed incentives include giving qualifying residents up to $50,000 to rent or purchase a new home, $10,000 to move to an area at less risk of flooding and $5,000 to remain in the city.
Courtesy City of St. Petersburg
“Once we do finalize those disaster risk reduction areas and open applications, the first step would be for homeowners to express their interest in participating,” said Phillips. “Our intent is that will be a really low barrier to entry for folks to be able to say, ‘Hey, I’m interested in participating.’ There’s no obligation that they incur at that point.”
The guidelines were released on March 21. Phillips said the city wants to buy groups of properties next to each other and will preferably near city land too.
“It’s really going to be important that we not just get a house here, house there, that we’re really getting a collection of parcels so we can provide stormwater benefits to the surrounding neighbors,” she said. “That requires a group of homeowners to all voluntarily want to participate in the program because we’re not doing things like eminent domain.”
Phillips presented the updated plan to the Housing, Land Use and Transportation Committee earlier this month. City Council members on the committee pushed back on some of the details. Those included ensuring residents who move stay within city limits, narrowing down the map, only allowing homestead owners to participate and excluding commercial or multi-family properties.
Phillip said the administration will use the council feedback to revise the program but cautioned against narrowing it too much.
Courtesy City of St. Petersburg
“If we get overly prescriptive into who can even say that they’re interested in participating,” she said. “We may end up launching a program only to find out that we’ve narrowed it down so much that we can’t get enough voluntary homeowners to participate to make it work.”
Committee Chair Richie Floyd said the goal of the program is to help the entire city.
“So the purpose of the program is to make our community more resilient to storms. And if we can do that while we expand storm water facilities, it makes the whole neighborhood more resilient,” he said. “We can do it while we expand park land, which makes the whole community a more holistic place to live. And so this is not just about an individual moving.”
Phillip said it’s a first of a kind program for St. Petersburg and could be a model for other communities across the country that experience flooding.
“This will give us a sense of is this a strategy that works well for the city of Saint Petersburg and whether it’s something we want to consider in other circumstances,” she said. “And can potentially be a model for not only the city moving forward, but other communities.”
The program is expected to launch before the end of the year.