Tampa City Council blocks Rodeph Sholom condo proposal a third time
For nearly three years, The Related Group has tried and failed to rezone a portion of the synagogue's land to build a high-rise condo tower.
Two earlier iterations of the plan presented in May 2023 and February this year were rejected by the city council for being too tall and out of place in the neighborhood. The first proposal called for 29 stories and the second called for 26.
The third time around, the developer and synagogue took a different approach.
Last year, Related and Rodeph Sholom filed a request for relief under Florida's land use laws. They claimed the synagogue's property value was diminished by the city's attempts to block rezoning.
All three parties entered mediation in June. They agreed that the synagogue and developer should present an amended proposal and let council decide whether to accept or reject the plan as a form of settlement.
That's what Tuesday's meeting was about. Council members Charlie Miranda, Bill Carlson, Lynn Hurtak and Guido Maniscalco voted to reject the settlement while Alan Clendenin, Gwendolyn Henderson and Luis Viera voted in favor of it.
The updated plan called for a 16-story tower with 38-condo units. It also included additional sidewalks, an enhanced crosswalk and more trees than prior proposals.
Members of the neighboring Tampa Garden Club and several nearby condo owners who turned out to oppose the measure said this wasn't an adequate compromise.
'If you start with a project that is absurdly incompatible, that doesn't make it compatible, it just makes it less absurdly incompatible,' said Richard Harrison, an attorney representing the Garden Club. He compared the plan to putting 'lipstick on a pig.'
Rodeph Sholom congregation members and other supporters said the land deal would make it possible for them to pay for necessary building upgrades and remain on Bayshore, which has been their home for more than 100 years.
They pointed to nearby buildings like the 24-story Altura Bayshore condo and the 15-story Presbyterian apartments to show the prevalence of high-rise development in the area.
'This is bigger than one building,' Lloyd Stern, president of Rodeph Sholom said. 'This is about Tampa's future. Will we be a city that embraces responsible sustainable growth, or one that caves to a small vocal opposition at the expense of progress?'
Though the proposal is stalled for now, the fight may not be over. The developer and synagogue already laid the groundwork for a potential lawsuit when they filed a petition in court last year.
In an interview ahead of Tuesday's meeting, Nicole MacInnes from Stearns Miller Weaver, the law firm representing Rodeph Sholom and Related, told the Tampa Bay Times that they would 'certainly be looking at all legal opportunities that they have to continue with this site.'
Council members Viera and Clendenin, who voted in favor of the settlement, questioned whether this was a battle worth waging considering the potential legal implications and the possibility that a future council may vote to approve an even bigger development on the site.
Hurtak, who opposed the measure, argued that voting in favor of the plan just to avoid litigation would set a dangerous precedent.
'This is exactly what developers are going to do,' she said. 'If they can get on this they are going to start high and they're going to end a little bit higher than they are allowed. We are opening the floodgates to this.'
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