{"id":251280,"date":"2026-04-29T17:12:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/251280\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:12:37","slug":"transit-oriented-development-simply-makes-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/251280\/","title":{"rendered":"Transit-oriented development simply makes sense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the Catalyst\u2019s Community Voices platform. We\u2019ve curated community leaders and thinkers from all parts of our great city to speak on issues that affect us all.\u00a0Visit our\u00a0Community Voices page<\/a>\u00a0for more details.<\/p>\n

The City of St. Petersburg\u00a0is in the process of\u00a0creating higher-density\u00a0land use regulations\u00a0around PSTA\u2019s SunRunner stations to encourage transit-oriented development \u2013 clusters of activity where people can live, work and play.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that these new regulations are an option, not a mandate: Developers have the flexibility to choose to build with existing land use stipulations or they can opt-in to the proposed SunRunner TOD Overlay options. The new options are designed to facilitate community-oriented development that isn\u2019t just built for cars, but for pedestrians and transit riders.<\/p>\n

These higher-density areas are focused on the SunRunner corridor, which runs\u00a0between downtown and the beaches along\u00a01st\u00a0Avenue N and 1st\u00a0Avenue S, while also creating larger higher-density areas around SunRunner stops. (Of special note: The SunRunner TEC overlay adopted in 2024\u00a0is already established to\u00a0spur more development along 22nd\u00a0Street S,\u00a0which leads to the historically Black neighborhood called The Deuces.)<\/p>\n

The changes also eliminate expensive parking requirements, which allows developers to build more housing and attract people who choose to rely on transit.\u00a0The changes\u00a0will provide the opportunity to\u00a0spur the creation of more residential options for the City\u2019s residents, and in turn, new businesses that serve the folks living nearby.\u00a0Imagine going out your front door and walking to your coffee shop, doctor\u2019s office, grocery store, and a bus that can get you to downtown or the beaches.<\/p>\n

Certainly, higher density can cause concerns, whether it\u2019s worries about the height of new buildings (will they be in line with the neighborhood\u2019s character?) or about more traffic.\u00a0But density for density\u2019s sake is not the purpose. Thoughtful density which considers design, destination, and diversity builds the kind of community that people want to live in and more can afford.<\/p>\n

Based on the experience of other cities, transit-oriented development can have a significant positive impact to a community over time. And new development at reasonable heights (which this plan specifies) can create new nodes of activity to the west of downtown, tying new development to a\u00a0premium\u00a0transit line that has proven to be successful so far.<\/p>\n

As I see it, here are three key things to note as the City moves along in its approval process:<\/p>\n

Anything that can encourage more affordable housing options is welcome. The plan uses density bonuses,\u00a0workforce housing bonus provisions, and no parking requirements\u00a0to incentivize developers to include affordable units in their plans, which is promising.
\nIt makes sense to\u00a0offer an opt-in choice for developers to\u00a0reduce or eliminate parking minimums in these new areas, so the minimums can reflect the actual need. If you are looking to attract residents who need only one car vs. two per household, or no car at all, why would you require developers to create excess parking spaces?
\nNew developments should include retail, restaurant, and office spaces, consistent with the \u201clive, work and play\u201d trend in urban development. This entire concept should not require a hard sell.\u00a0And perhaps it does not, since the St. Petersburg City Council has already voted unanimously to support elimination of parking requirements along the SunRunner TOD Overlay corridor and stations as the changes head to a final adoption public hearing on May 14.<\/p>\n

As the City moves towards approval of this new\u00a0opt-in\u00a0zoning, I applaud the move and encourage\u00a0citizens,\u00a0developers, investors and retail owners to learn more about the changes. As the plans are finalized, the hope is that developers will help the City leverage the SunRunner route to grow the parts of the city that are walkable.<\/p>\n

Walkability is a defining characteristic of great cities. Downtown St. Petersburg has come such a long way, with more retailers and other services close to the condo and apartment residents downtown. Now, it\u2019s time for that same thing to happen to the west of downtown, and this plan seems to be a smart way to help that along.<\/p>\n

Larry Silvestri is a partner with the Tampa Bay-based law firm Mechanik Nuccio Hearne & Silvestri.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Catalyst\u2019s Community Voices platform. We\u2019ve curated community leaders and thinkers from all parts of our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-251280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251280","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=251280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}