Isabella Rios stepped before the St. Petersburg City Council with a focused appeal: preserve two vacant lots in Methodist Town as community space, even as the city continues its broader effort to expand affordable and workforce housing.
Her request came on the same day City Council advanced a slate of November referendum questions that will go before St. Petersburg voters.
Council gave initial approval to four measures, all of which are set for public hearings on July 23. After that, the final ballot language will head to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.
The package covers several issues: whether to remove the Methodist Town and Jamestown-area lots from the city’s protected park and waterfront map, whether to extend the city’s lease of submerged lands at Harborage Marina, whether to increase lease limits at the Port of St. Petersburg, and whether to update Charter language following the city’s move to even-year elections.
Council Members also settled on the order in which these referendums will appear, putting a $600 million general obligation bond for stormwater infrastructure at the top of the ballot.
The Methodist Town and Jamestown lots sparked the most debate. City officials are asking voters to remove these properties from the Charter-protected park and waterfront map, which would open the door to future land-use and zoning changes, and potentially allow the lots to be sold for affordable or workforce housing.
According to city staff, these lots have been off-limits for decades due to their designation on the park and waterfront map. Aaron Fisch, who oversees Real Estate and Property Management for the city, said four of the lots are about the size of standard single-family parcels, while the remaining five could accommodate roughly 37 housing units.
Rios, who leads the Methodist Town Neighborhood Association, urged Council to consider a compromise. Rather than removing all nine lots, she proposed that the referendum remove seven, leaving two as protected community space.
She told Council that the neighborhood backs affordable and workforce housing, but also needs places to gather, green space, and sites to honor local history. Rios emphasized that her request was not intended to block the ballot measure.
“There is room here to do both: build the housing this city needs and retain some of this ground for the community, including a place to honor the legacy of leaders like Dr. Swain and Chief Davis,” Rios said. “That is why we propose a middle ground. Amend the ballot language; the referendum asks voters to remove seven lots rather than nine, returning two as protected community space.”
City officials and several Council Members said they are willing to meet with neighborhood leaders before the second reading on July 23. For now, the proposal moved forward unanimously, with Council asking staff to continue discussions with advocates ahead of the final vote.
The remaining referendum items advanced with little discussion.
The Harborage Marina measure would let the city extend its lease of submerged lands, paving the way for planned upgrades.
At the Port of St. Petersburg, the proposed change would increase lease limits, giving city officials more flexibility to pursue long-term projects and partnerships.
The final measure would clean up Charter language after voters approved moving city elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years in 2022. St. Petersburg City Attorney Brett Pettigrew said the earlier referendum did not include all of the text changes needed to fully implement that shift, leaving Council to approve temporary fixes each election cycle.
Council also agreed on a likely ballot order for these measures, though a formal resolution will be needed to finalize the order when the items return later this month.