{"id":145072,"date":"2026-02-05T19:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T19:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/145072\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T19:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T19:12:08","slug":"st-pete-council-backs-brandi-gabbard-push-for-ken-welch-to-pause-gas-plant-district-redevelopment-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/145072\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete Council backs Brandi Gabbard push for Ken Welch to pause Gas Plant District redevelopment talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The St. Petersburg City Council has approved a resolution against Mayor Ken Welch\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0advancement of Historic Gas Plant District<\/a> redevelopment efforts before negotiations get off the ground.<\/p>\n

The move hands Brandi Gabbard<\/a>, the resolution\u2019s sponsor, a political victory over Welch as the future of the site has emerged as one of the defining issues in St. Petersburg\u2019s 2026 mayoral race.<\/p>\n

Gabbard \u2014 who has publicly declared her intention to run for Mayor<\/a> \u2014 told Council members that now with nine proposals on the table \u201cas varied as the opinions of our residents,\u201d the city is operating from a \u201creactionary posture\u201d and \u201cflying without a radar.\u201d\u00a0She warned the city risks repeating decades of unfulfilled promises tied to the former Gas Plant community if allowed to proceed unchecked.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we are not just voting on a resolution, we are deciding how history will remember our stewardship for St. Petersburg\u2019s most valuable remaining asset \u2014 the Historic Gas Plant site,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She pointed to repeated efforts dating back months to involve an independent planning organization, saying calls for third-party guidance were raised well before the current proposal window and were not triggered by any specific bid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThese requests went unanswered while we left space for an unsolicited bid to dictate our pace,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we are chasing a speeding bullet. I am simply asking us to catch our breath.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabbard said a pause would not derail redevelopment, noting that a third-party planning effort could be completed in roughly six months \u2014 timing that would roughly coincide with the August election, effectively delaying negotiations long enough to take matters out of Welch\u2019s hands unless he is re-elected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBest practices show that by setting a strategic rubric of priorities, we will have the best chance of success instead of perpetuating the unfulfilled promises that continue to permeate our community,\u201d Gabbard said. \u201cThis is not about slowing down, this is about leveling up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabbard said any developer serious about the project would be willing to wait. She argued that relying on plans crafted before recent hurricanes risks locking the city into assumptions that no longer reflect current realities.<\/p>\n

\u201cA six-month engagement initiative is a small investment for a massive return,\u201d she said. \u201cIt would allow us to negotiate from a position of strength, not desperation, provide a guidebook so that our residents can finally trust the process, and answer critical questions still outstanding, such as: Should we sell this land at all?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The City Council cast a 6 to 2 vote in favor of Gabbard\u2019s resolution, with Council members Deborah Figgs-Sanders<\/a> and Copley Gerdes<\/a> voting against it. They support Welch\u2019s vision and efforts to fulfill promises made to the displaced residents of the Historic Gas Plant District when the neighborhood was disrupted for a Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> ballpark.<\/p>\n

The Rays are now in negotiations to relocate<\/a> away from St. Petersburg to Tampa after backing out of a deal previously lined up with Welch\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever the process may be, I want to know that my \u2018no\u2019 is not a denial of the process and what your intent was, but I\u2019m not going to forget our descendants,\u201d Figgs-Sanders said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to forget what the original starting point of this whole process many years ago was about.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Council\u2019s action does not legally bind the Mayor, Gabbard said the vote is an opportunity to align the administration and Council before irreversible decisions are made.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing is clear. All of that uncertainty and hesitation to engage with this plan could go away tomorrow if the City Council and administration would simply agree to work together on a short exercise with a long-term benefit,\u201d Gabbard said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The St. Petersburg City Council has approved a resolution against Mayor Ken Welch\u2019s\u00a0advancement of Historic Gas Plant District…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[7354,7355,13644,2346,202,204,203,199,201,200,3815,8125],"class_list":{"0":"post-145072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-copley-gerdes","9":"tag-deborah-figgs-sanders","10":"tag-historic-gas-plant-district","11":"tag-ken-welch","12":"tag-st-pete","13":"tag-st-pete-headlines","14":"tag-st-pete-news","15":"tag-st-petersburg","16":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","17":"tag-st-petersburg-news","18":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","19":"tag-tropicana-field"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}