Comm Voice
Political Party with Adam Smith: Alan DeLisle and the city’s development
Click the arrow above to check out Political Party with Adam Smith, where St. Petersburg Development Administrator Alan DeLisle discusses the development climate in the city and talk that overdevelopment threatens the city’s character.
Hazeltine Hugh
June 4, 2021at12:40 am
Thank you Adam for the great questions. I was particularly interested is the ones about preserving St. Petersburg’ s character. I am trying to resolve Alan’s answers on that after he advocated we bring in a Margaritaville themed Marina operator.
Alan has worked in Louisville, Buffalo, and Albany, and I have walked all over those cities and each one is unique. But St. Petersburg is on a different level as far as giving its citizens a positive experience.
Mary H
June 3, 2021at7:52 am
Great open conversation, Adam.
Richard A. Ulrich
June 2, 2021at4:52 pm
Like many over the past year, I stayed home as much as possible and limited going anywhere, wearing a mask at all times. With the President Barack Obama Main Library closed, I drove down Central Ave to the Mirror Lake Library for the first time since a year ago. I concur with Adam that it’s beginning to feel like driving through canyons with all the new development. The electric bike riders are scary dangerous weaving in and out of traffic disobeying most traffic laws. In this high density over development of downtown St. Pete, there’s an obvious lack of affordable housing with an insignificant amount of new housing for “worker affordable” or “workforce affordable” housing without defining what that means on real rents. I believe it would be better to set aside townhome construction of units under $280,000 where new homeowners were offered help with down payments and financing to be able to build equity in something they own versus rents when it comes to “worker affordable” housing. As far as Affordable safe housing, not what’s been built on City properties that I’ve lived in, isn’t attractive to neighborhoods, not in our backyards, because of failures in oversight and due diligence by the non-profits funded to build and manage these properties. Often times when monies become available, it’s a money grab by non-profits despite not always having the expertise, manpower, and training to do it right. There needs much better emphasis on creating much more affordable housing but with more participation by the City. In some cases, the current affordable housing complexes would qualify as nuisance properties if the City didn’t hold the lean. I’m hoping that my health will allow me to bring these issues to the various govt. funding agencies in person and ask where have they been in oversight and due diligence, presenting problems and solutions; or, civil action.