As rising seas, stronger storms and skyrocketing insurance costs reshape where people choose to live, one St. Petersburg developer says the answer isn\u2019t retreating from vulnerable waterfront neighborhoods \u2013 it\u2019s building them differently and making new development pay for the added risk.<\/p>\n
During a recent panel discussion at the Palladium Theater on climate change and housing, Mack Feldman, vice president of asset management for Feldman Equities, briefly floated an idea that sparked a larger conversation: Pair new development opportunities in portions of the city\u2019s Coastal High Hazard Area with impact fees dedicated to flood resilience infrastructure.<\/p>\n
In a follow-up interview with the Catalyst, Feldman expanded on the proposal, arguing that the city should embrace carefully planned redevelopment in some coastal neighborhoods rather than slowly abandoning them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an idea called \u2018retreat,’\u201d Feldman said. \u201cIt\u2019s a euphemism for cutting off waterfront neighborhoods from government investment in infrastructure. It\u2019s a policy of slow-motion abandonment of areas like Shore Acres and Riviera Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n
For most neighborhoods, he said, that\u2019s neither realistic nor desirable.<\/p>\n
Instead, Feldman envisions allowing more housing, specifically townhomes and neighborhood-scale apartments, in carefully selected waterfront areas while requiring developers to help fund the infrastructure those projects would require.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to harness inevitable new development along the waterfront in a way that best helps mitigate the risk of a changing climate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The proposal builds on impact fees: St. Petersburg already charges developers impact fees to help offset costs associated with growth, such as transportation improvements. Feldman argues the city should consider similar fees dedicated specifically to climate resilience.<\/p>\n
Revenue generated through those fees could fund projects such as hardened evacuation routes, new hurricane shelters and roadway elevations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people that want to live in flood zones should pay for the associated risk to the city of them doing so,\u201d Feldman said. \u201cOtherwise, everyone else in the city is effectively subsidizing flood-prone neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps surprisingly, Feldman said those requirements should apply equally to projects developed by his own company.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we developed in the Coastal High Hazard Area, the answer is absolutely yes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The proposal would represent a shift in how the city approaches redevelopment in vulnerable coastal neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Rather than replacing aging homes one-for-one, Feldman believes limited increases in density could produce housing that\u2019s both more resilient and, in some cases, more affordable than what\u2019s currently replacing older homes.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s waterfront neighborhoods, he said, are filled with 1950s slab-on-grade homes that flood repeatedly and sit below modern flood elevation standards.<\/p>\n
Replacing those structures with elevated townhomes and small apartment buildings built to current code would not only reduce flood damage but could also offer alternatives to the increasingly common pattern of oversized luxury homes replacing older houses.<\/p>\n
\u201cTownhomes and neighborhood-scale apartments are inherently more affordable than the massive homes that are now replacing the historical stock throughout places like Shore Acres,\u201d Feldman said. \u201cLongtime residents will have a better chance to stay in a neighborhood where they\u2019ve built their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feldman stressed that he is not advocating for widespread upzoning across the city\u2019s coastline.<\/p>\n
Instead, he said, officials should evaluate which areas remain viable over the next 50 to 75 years based on climate projections and evacuation capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to take a hard look at the next 50 to 75 years of projections and figure out where this makes sense, and where it\u2019s impractical, especially from an evacuation standpoint,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Any proposal would also have to wait until restrictions imposed under Senate Bill 180 expire in 2027.<\/p>\n
St. Petersburg already regulates development within its Coastal High Hazard Area, which covers more than 40% of the city. The designation establishes when higher-density residential projects may be considered based on factors such as building design, evacuation times and available hurricane shelter capacity.<\/p>\n
But Feldman said the current regulations stop short of creating a dedicated funding source tied to each new project.<\/p>\n
\u201cCHHA is the gate through which any upzoning proposal in these areas would have to pass,\u201d he said. \u201cIn exchange for building more homes, it requires appropriate mitigation, including payments of money or the actual construction of shelters or transportation improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n
He envisions expanding that framework with project-specific resilience fees tied to the additional burden new development places on public infrastructure.<\/p>\n
State law, he noted, already requires impact fees to be proportional to the costs generated by new development and spent directly addressing those impacts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese fees would be required to be spent on new resiliency-related capital projects that benefit the new buildings,\u201d Feldman said. \u201cThink new shelters, hardened evacuation routes and roadway elevation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal would not totally solve the city\u2019s infrastructure funding challenge on its own. St. Petersburg estimates it needs roughly $2 billion in resilience improvements over the coming decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should distinguish between the reality of the problems we have today and the incremental risk associated with building more homes in flood zones,\u201d Feldman said. \u201cThese fees should address the incremental risk associated with new buildings only.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bulk of the city\u2019s resilience investments, he acknowledged, would still have to be borne by taxpayers. Still, Feldman believes the alternative (allowing flood-prone neighborhoods to slowly decline while displaced residents move inland) is ultimately more costly.<\/p>\n
\u201cA practical impact of retreat without adding more homes is displacement,\u201d he said. \u201cIf everyone now on the waterfront moves inland, displacement in historically more affordable neighborhoods will be exacerbated.\u201d<\/p>\n
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